History #
The George W. Adams was a schooner-barge built in 1875 by Bailey Bros. in Toledo, Ohio. Originally constructed as a four-masted schooner, it was a wooden vessel with dimensions of 231 feet in length, 40 feet in width, and 20 feet in depth. The schooner had a gross tonnage of 1,444 tons and a net tonnage of 1,372 tons.
Tragically, the George W. Adams met its fate on December 11, 1895. While being towed by the steamer Caledonia and bound from Cleveland to Chicago carrying coal, the vessel encountered ice near Colchester shoal in Lake Erie. The hull of the schooner-barge was crushed by the ice, causing it to sink in five fathoms (30 feet) of water. Thankfully, no lives were lost during the incident.
Following the sinking, efforts were made to salvage the wreck during the summer of the following year, but the salvage operation proved unsuccessful. The George W. Adams was owned by James Corrigan of Cleveland and was valued at $30,000, with insurance coverage of $24,000.
The wreck of the George W. Adams caused an obstruction in Lake Erie near Colchester Reef. It was eventually located and examined by the Dominion cruiser PETREL, which reported a water depth of as little as 14 feet over the wreck. The wreck was later removed by the Michigan Wrecking Co., clearing the obstruction in the lake.
At the time of its construction, the George W. Adams was considered one of the largest sail vessels on the Great Lakes. It had a notable history as a carrier and held the record alongside the David Dows until the introduction of the Golden Age in 1883. The vessel had undergone rebuilding and updates under the ownership of Corrigan, keeping it in line with modern standards.
The George W. Adams is listed in the Merchant Vessel List of the United States in 1885, indicating its official number as 85393 and its homeport as Toledo, Ohio.
