Shotline Diving Wreck Profile
- Name: Mitchell, Claud
- Type: Wooden, two-masted schooner (operated as a barge)
- Year Built: 1870
- Builder: Bay City, Michigan
- Dimensions: Length 97 ft (29.6 m); Beam 25.5 ft (7.8 m); Depth of hold 4 ft (1.2 m)
- Registered Tonnage: ~58.21 net tons
- Location: Sydenham River (likely near Wallaceburg or Port Lambton)
- Official Number: C72981
- Original Owners: George Mitchell, Wallaceburg, Ontario
- Number of Masts: Two fore-and-aft rigged masts
Wreck Location Map
Vessel Type
A modest-sized schooner-barque used primarily as a grain or cargo barge on Lake Huron connections and the Sydenham River for short-distance operations.
Description
Wooden hull with two fore-and-aft rigged masts, lacking auxiliary propulsion—used as a towed barge. Constructed flat-bottomed for shallow-draft river navigation.
History
- 1870: Built in Bay City, MI for regional hauling
- May 1875: Registered under George Mitchell in Wallaceburg, ON
- 1879: Sank and abandoned in the Sydenham River—likely a boiler or hull breach; no records of salvage or prior incident
Significant Incidents
No significant incidents reported prior to sinking.
Final Disposition
The vessel sank and was abandoned in situ. No notable salvage or historical record of removal; remains may have been left in-river, deteriorating over time.
Current Condition & Accessibility
No records of rediscovery or survey. The remains are possibly still buried in riverbed sediments, inaccessible to recreational divers.
Resources & Links
[shotline_reference_links slug=”claud-mitchell-c-72981″ title=”References & Links”]
Mitchell, Claud represents a small, workaday schooner-barque employed briefly in Great Lakes–connected river transport. She met a quiet fate—sinking and abandonment in 1879 along the Sydenham River. Little remains are known about her operational life beyond registration records.
Full Wreck Record — complete historical article, construction details, voyage logs, incident reports, dive conditions, and all research sources.
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