The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is a United States National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Michigan off the coast of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It protects 38 known historically significant shipwrecks ranging from the 19th-century wooden schooners to 20th-century steel-hulled steamers, as well as an estimated 60 undiscovered shipwrecks. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 28 of the wrecks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [6]
| Ship | Ship type | Build date | Sunk date | Depth | Notes | Coordinates | NRHP status | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance | Wooden schooner | 1853 | 1885 | 85 feet (26 m) | On September 8, 1885, the 180-ton, two-masted schooner foundered southeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, with the loss of five members of her crew. [1] [7] | 43°36.71′N087°42.973′W / 43.61183°N 87.716217°W | Listed |  |
| Ahnapee | Wooden scow schooner | 1876 | 1884 | 0 to 7 feet (0.0 to 2.1 m) | On June 9, 1884, the two-masted scow schooner ran aground on Sheboygan, Wisconsin's North Point in a fog. Her crew of six survived. Salvage attempts failed and she was abandoned. [1] [8] | 43°47.110′N087°42.635′W / 43.785167°N 87.710583°W | Not listed | |
| Alaska | Wooden scow schooner | 1869 | 1879 | 5 feet (1.5 m) | On March 23, 1879, the two-masted scow schooner was blown ashore near Two Creeks, Wisconsin, during a gale. Extensive salvage efforts failed to make her seaworthy, and in June 1881 she was declared a total loss. Set adrift and abandoned, she came to rest on the coast of Wisconsin south of Rawley Point. [1] [9] | 44°11.607′N087°30.677′W / 44.193450°N 87.511283°W | Listed |  |
| Algoma | Steam dredge | 1918 | 1919 | 85 feet (26 m) | The steam dredge, also referred to as the McMullen and Pitz Dredge, sank in a storm off the coast of Wisconsin off Cleveland between Manitowoc and Sheboygan on November 18, 1919. [1] [10] | 43°53.518′N087°40.301′W / 43.891967°N 87.671683°W | Not listed | |
| America | Wooden schooner | 1873 | 1880 | 130 feet (40 m) | The three-masted schooner sank on September 28, 1880, after striking a scow under tow by the steam tugs A. W. Lawrence and M A. Gagnon just south of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, approximately 9 miles (14 km) north of Two Rivers Light and 4 miles (6.4 km) off the coast of Wisconsin. [1] [11] | 44°21.048′N087°26.850′W / 44.350800°N 87.447500°W | Listed |  |
| Arctic | Steam tug | 1881 | 1930 | 15 feet (4.6 m) | The steam screw tug was beached and abandoned north of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1930. Her enrollment documents were surrendered on January 17, 1930. [1] [12] | 44°06.843′N087°37.869′W / 44.114050°N 87.631150°W | Listed |  |
| Atlanta | Passenger steamer | 1891 | 1906 | 17 feet (5.2 m) | The steam passenger ship burned to the waterline south of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on March 18, 1906. [1] [13] | 43°34.253′N087°46.962′W / 43.570883°N 87.782700°W | Listed |  |
| Byron | Wooden schooner | 1849 | 1867 | 135 feet (41 m) | The two-masted schooner sank 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on May 8, 1867. [1] [14] | 43°36.310′N087°41.268′W / 43.605167°N 87.687800°W | Listed |  |
| Continental | Wooden steam barge | 1882 | 1904 | 15 feet (4.6 m) | The wooden steam barge ran aground on a sandbar off the coast of Wisconsin north of Rawley Point Light during a snowstorm on December 12, 1904. She broke up over the winter of 1904–1905. [1] [15] | 44°13.932′N087°30.462′W / 44.232200°N 87.507700°W | Listed |  |
| Ella Ellinwood | Wooden schooner | 1870 | 1901 | The three-masted schooner ran aground in smoke and mist on September 29, 1901, south of Port Washington, Wisconsin, near Fox Point, 14 miles (23 km) north of the Milwaukee harbor entrance. She became a total loss. The wreck's location reportedly is known but not on record with the State of Wisconsin. [1] [16] | Listed | |||
| Floretta | Wooden schooner | 1868 | 1885 | 170 feet (52 m) | The two-masted schooner foundered 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, during a storm on September 18, 1885. [1] [17] [18] [19] | 43°57.24′N087°32.20′W / 43.95400°N 87.53667°W | Listed |  |
| Francis Hinton | Wooden steam barge | 1889 | 1909 | 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) | The wooden steam barge ran aground on the coast of Wisconsin in Maritime Bay 1.9 miles (3.1 km) northeast of the Manitowoc River during a storm on November 16, 1909. Her wreck eventually broke up and sank. [1] [20] | 44°06.67′N087°37.876′W / 44.11117°N 87.631267°W | Listed |  |
| Gallinipper | Wooden schooner | 1833 | 1851 | 210 feet (64 m) | The two-masted schooner capsized 8 to 10 miles (13 to 16 km) off the coast of Wisconsin between Manitowoc and Sheboygan on July 7, 1851, and was abandoned. She was still afloat on July 9 and later still was seen 10 miles (16 km) southeast by south of Manitowoc. She eventually sank, becoming Wisconsin's oldest known shipwreck. [1] [21] | Listed |  | |
| Helvetia | Wooden schooner | 1873 | 1921 | 165 feet (50 m) | The barge, a former three-masted schooner, was towed out into Lake Michigan on September 10, 1921, and deliberately set afire as a means of disposal. She burned to the waterline and sank approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. [1] [22] | 43°47.401′N087°36.429′W / 43.790017°N 87.607150°W | Not listed | |
| Henry Gust | Wooden fish tug | 1893 | 1935 | 85 feet (26 m) | The wooden steam fish tug was towed into Lake Michigan off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in August 1935 and set afire as a means of disposal. She remained afloat, so a United States Coast Guard vessel rammed and sank her. [1] [23] | 44°08.398′N087°29.29′W / 44.139967°N 87.48817°W | Not listed | |
| Hetty Taylor | Wooden schooner | 1874 | 1880 | 105 feet (32 m) | The wooden schooner capsized and sank in a squall about 5 miles (8 km) off Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on August 26, 1880. She came to rest on the bottom with 8 feet (2.4 m) of her main topmast protruding above the surface. [1] [24] | 43°40.890′N087°39.290′W / 43.681500°N 87.654833°W | Listed |  |
| Home | Wooden schooner | 1843 | 1858 | 170 feet (52 m) | The two-masted schooner sank on October 17, 1858, after colliding with the schooner William Fiske in a dense fog southeast of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. [1] [25] | 43°56.932′N087°33.211′W / 43.948867°N 87.553517°W | Listed |  |
| I. A. Johnson | Wooden schooner | 1867 | 1890 | 93 feet (28 m) | The two-masted scow schooner sank on September 23, 1890, off Centerville, Wisconsin, 8 miles (13 km) north of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, after colliding with the schooner Lincoln Dall off the mouth of the Black River just south of Sheboygan. [1] [26] | 43°53′32″N87°39′06″W / 43.892163°N 087.651535°W | Listed |  |
| Island City | Wooden schooner | 1859 | 1894 | 135 feet (41 m) | The two-masted schooner sank 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Port Washington, Wisconsin, during a storm on April 8, 1894. [1] [27] | 43°14.39′N087°50.73′W / 43.23983°N 87.84550°W | Listed | |
| LaSalle | Wooden schooner | 1874 | 1875 | 12 feet (3.7 m) | The three-masted schooner was driven ashore at Two Rivers Point (now Rawley Point) on the coast of Wisconsin during a gale on October 25, 1875. The wreck was stripped and abandoned. [1] [28] | 44°11.524′N087°30.591′W / 44.192067°N 87.509850°W | Listed | |
| Linda E | Steel fish tug | 1937 | 1998 | 260 feet (79 m) | The steel-hulled fish tug disappeared on Lake Michigan near Port Washington, Wisconsin, on December 11, 1998. Her wreck was discovered on June 18, 2000, 7 miles (11 km) off the coast of Wisconsin, and a subsequent investigation concluded that she sank with the loss of her entire crew of three men within a few seconds of colliding with an integrated tug and barge on the day she disappeared. [1] [29] | Not listed | ||
| Lookout | Wooden schooner | 1855 | 1897 | 10 feet (3 m) | During a gale, the three-masted schooner was stranded 200 yards (183 m) off Rawley Point on the coast of Wisconsin approximately 5 miles (8 km) north of Two Rivers on April 29, 1897. [1] [30] | 44°11.707′N087°30.596′W / 44.195117°N 87.509933°W | Listed |  |
| Mahoning | Wooden brigantine | 1847 | 1864 | 55 feet (17 m) | The brigantine ran aground near the mouth of the Black River 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, during a gale on November 4, 1864. She was refloated, then sank on December 2, 1864, while under tow to Milwaukee for repairs. [1] [31] | 43°20.432′N087°51.215′W / 43.340533°N 87.853583°W | Not listed |  |
| Major Anderson | Wooden brigantine | 1861 | 1871 | 3 to 10 feet (0.9 to 3.0 m) | Sailing in dense smoke from forest fires and heavy gale conditions, the three-masted barkentine ran aground on October 7, 1871, on the coast of Wisconsin on Rawley Point near the mouth of Molash Creek 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Two Rivers. [1] [32] | 44°10.928′N087°30.978′W / 44.182133°N 87.516300°W | Listed | |
| Niagara | Wooden paddle steamer | 1845 | 1856 | 55 feet (17 m) | The palace steamer, a sidewheel paddle steamer, burned to the waterline and sank northeast of Port Washington, Wisconsin, on September 24, 1856, killing 60 of her 300 passengers. [1] [33] | 43°29.31′N087°46.490′W / 43.48850°N 87.774833°W | Listed |  |
| Northerner | Wooden schooner | 1851 | 1868 | 140 feet (43 m) | The two-masted schooner capsized and sank in a storm off Ula, Wisconsin, southeast of Port Washington on November 29, 1868. [1] [34] | 43°19.00′N087°48.64′W / 43.31667°N 87.81067°W | Listed |  |
| Pathfinder | Wooden schooner | 1869 | 1886 | 15 feet (4.6 m) | While under tow, the three-masted schooner broke her towline in a gale and snowstorm and ran aground on the coast of Wisconsin 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Two Rivers on November 18, 1886. She broke up a few days later. [1] [35] | 44°14.429′N087°30.397′W / 44.240483°N 87.506617°W | Listed | |
| Robert C. Pringle | Wooden tug | 1903 | 1922 | 300 feet (91 m) | The steam screw tug struck a submerged object while towing the steamer Venezuela and sank immediately southeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on June 19, 1922. [1] [36] | 43°41.508′N087°33.292′W / 43.691800°N 87.554867°W | Listed |  |
| Rouse Simmons | Wooden schooner | 1868 | 1912 | 165 feet (50 m) | The three-masted schooner was last seen flying a distress signal 5 miles (8 km) off Kewaunee, Wisconsin, during a gale on November 22, 1912. In 1971, her wreck was discovered 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Rawley Point and 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. [1] [37] | 44°16.640′N087°24.863′W / 44.277333°N 87.414383°W | Listed |  |
| S.C. Baldwin | Wooden steam barge | 1871 | 1908 | 70 to 75 feet (21 to 23 m) | The steam barge capsized, then righted herself and sank northeast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on August 27, 1908. [1] [38] | 44°10.873′N087°29.179′W / 44.181217°N 87.486317°W | Listed |  |
| Selah Chamberlain | Wooden steam bare | 1873 | 1886 | 90 feet (27 m) | The steam barge sank off the coast of Wisconsin 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Sheboygan Point, on October 13, 1886, after colliding with John Pridgeon Jr. [1] [39] | 43°46.196′N087°39.401′W / 43.769933°N 87.656683°W | Listed |  |
| Senator | Steel cargo ship | 1896 | 1929 | 460 feet (140 m) | The steel-hulled steam cargo ship, a bulk carrier converted to carry automobiles, sank off the coast of Wisconsin 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Port Washington on October 31, 1929, after colliding with the bulk carrier Marquette. [1] [40] [41] | 43°20′08″N087°34′11″W / 43.33556°N 87.56972°W | Listed |  |
| Silver Lake | Wooden scow schooner | 1889 | 1900 | 210 feet (64 m) | The three-masted scow schooner was cut nearly in two in a collision with Pere Marquette on May 28, 1900, and sank northeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. [1] [42] | 43°48.37′N087°34.66′W / 43.80617°N 87.57767°W | Listed |  |
| Tennie and Laura | Wooden scow schooner | 1876 | 1903 | 325 feet (99 m) | The two-masted scow schooner capsized in a gale on August 2, 1903, off the coast of Wisconsin northeast of Milwaukee and 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Port Washington. [1] [43] | 43°41.494′N087°33.298′W / 43.691567°N 87.554967°W | Listed |  |
| Toledo | Wooden cargo liner | 1854 | 1856 | 20 feet (6.1 m) | The steam screw cargo liner ran aground just north of the entrance to the harbor at Port Washington, Wisconsin, while trying to dock at Port Washington during a storm on October 22, 1856. She sank with the loss of approximately 40 lives and subsequently broke up. [1] [44] | 43°23.331′N087°51.333′W / 43.388850°N 87.855550°W | Not listed | |
| Unidentified wreckage | Wooden vessel | 10 feet (3 m) | The scattered wreckage, possibly of a wooden schooner, lies on the coast of Wisconsin 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Sheboygan. [1] | Not listed | ||||
| Vernon | Wooden cargo ship | 1886 | 1887 | 210 feet (64 m) | The steam screw cargo ship sank off the coast of Wisconsin northeast of Two Rivers on 29 October 1887, during a gale. [1] [45] | 44°12.125′N087°24.738′W / 44.202083°N 87.412300°W | Not listed | |
| Walter B. Allen | Wooden schooner | 1866 | 1880 | 165 to 170 feet (50 to 52 m) | The two-masted schooner was under tow to a shipyard for repairs when she sank northeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on April 17, 1880, in a gale and heavy snowstorm. [1] [46] | 43°49.821′N087°36.522′W / 43.830350°N 87.608700°W | Listed |  |
