Shotline Diving

Connecting You to the Depths of the Great Lakes

C.P. Fish (1877)

Explore the wreck of the C.P. Fish, a wooden schooner lost to fire in Lake Huron in 1888. A significant part of Great Lakes maritime history.

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

  • Name: C.P. Fish
  • Type: Schooner
  • Year Built: 1877
  • Builder: Undocumented (records do not specify yard)
  • Dimensions: Length X ft (Y m); Beam; Depth of hold
  • Registered Tonnage:
  • Location: Lake Huron
  • Original Owners: Undocumented (records do not specify)

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

The C.P. FISH was a wooden schooner, a typical design of the period, used primarily for carrying bulk cargoes across the Great Lakes. Schooners were widely employed during the late 19th century for the grain, lumber, and coal trades.

Description

Launched in 1877, the C.P. FISH worked as a standard lake schooner, likely moving typical regional cargoes, though specific voyages and owners are unrecorded in surviving documents. On 27 November 1888, the schooner was destroyed by fire while on Lake Huron. There is no record of casualties, but the damage was considered a total loss, and the vessel’s enrollment documents were officially surrendered the following March at Port Huron, Michigan.

History

Declared a constructive total loss after the fire; no salvage reported.

Significant Incidents

  • Lost to fire on 27 November 1888.
  • Document surrendered at Port Huron on 30 March 1889, endorsed as “total loss.”

Final Disposition

Declared a constructive total loss after the fire; no salvage reported.

Current Condition & Accessibility

Unknown; presumed destroyed beyond recovery.

Resources & Links

[shotline_reference_links slug=”c-p-fish-1877″ title=”References & Links”]

The loss of the C.P. FISH by fire underscores the ever-present risk of shipboard fires on wooden vessels operating under sail. Its story is typical of many smaller lake schooners whose final resting places are undocumented but whose histories continue to shape Great Lakes maritime heritage.

Legacy Notes & Full Historical Record

This section preserves the original unedited Shotline content for this wreck so that no historical detail is lost as we transition to the new logbook format.

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

  • Name: C.P. FISH
  • Year Built: 1877
  • Vessel Type: Schooner
  • Hull Material: Wood
  • Number of Decks: 1
  • Built at: Undocumented (records do not specify yard)
  • Original Owner: Undocumented (records do not specify)
  • Dimensions (Measurements unavailable in current records)
  • Final Disposition
  • Final Location: Lake Huron (exact position not recorded)
  • Date Lost: 27 November 1888
  • How Lost: Destroyed by fire
  • Notes: Document surrendered at Port Huron on 30 March 1889, endorsed as “total loss.”

Vessel Type Description
The C.P. FISH was a wooden schooner, a typical design of the period, used primarily for carrying bulk cargoes across the Great Lakes. Schooners were widely employed during the late 19th century for the grain, lumber, and coal trades.

History
Launched in 1877, the C.P. FISH worked as a standard lake schooner, likely moving typical regional cargoes, though specific voyages and owners are unrecorded in surviving documents. On 27 November 1888, the schooner was destroyed by fire while on Lake Huron. There is no record of casualties, but the damage was considered a total loss, and the vessel’s enrollment documents were officially surrendered the following March at Port Huron, Michigan.

Final Disposition
Declared a constructive total loss after the fire; no salvage reported.

NOTMARs & Advisories
No current Notices to Mariners are associated with this wreck.

Located By & Date
No modern location or archaeological survey has confirmed the wreck site.

Current Condition & Accessibility
Unknown; presumed destroyed beyond recovery.

Resources & Links
• David Swayze Shipwreck File
• Maritime History of the Great Lakes
• Great Lakes Vessels Index (BGSU)

Conclusion
The loss of the C.P. FISH by fire underscores the ever-present risk of shipboard fires on wooden vessels operating under sail. Its story is typical of many smaller lake schooners whose final resting places are undocumented but whose histories continue to shape Great Lakes maritime heritage.

Keywords: schooner, Lake Huron, fire loss, wooden sailing vessel, Great Lakes shipwreck

c-p-fish-1877 1888-11-27 09:50:00