Gertie Wing US 85665

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Gertie Wing
• Type: Two-masted schooner
• Year Built: 1880
• Builder: Patrick Moran and Jeremiah Daniels
• Dimensions: 41.40 ft (12.62 m); 12.80 ft (3.90 m); 5.60 ft (1.71 m)
• Registered Tonnage: 16.99
• Location: Lake Michigan, 0.5 miles north of the Port Washington piers, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin
• Official Number: 85665
• Original Owners: William & Byron Burmeister, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
• Number of Masts: 2

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

• Type: Two-masted schooner
• Propulsion: Sail only
• Rigging: Schooner rig, 2 masts
• Intended Service: Small-scale freight and seasonal trade on Lake Michigan

Description

The Gertie Wing was a small wooden schooner typical of local Lake Michigan fruit and freight carriers in the 1880s. Built to operate along the Wisconsin and Michigan lakefront, she had:

• A shallow draft for entering small harbors
• Two-masted schooner rig for ease of handling with a small crew
• Cargo capacity suitable for light loads, including farm produce and seasonal goods

Her wooden hull, modest dimensions, and gross tonnage of just under 17 tons placed her among the smallest commercial vessels on the Great Lakes in the post-Civil War era.

History

• Built: 1880, Manistee, Michigan
• Builders: Patrick Moran and Jeremiah Daniels
• Owners: William & Byron Burmeister, Manitowoc, Wisconsin – sole owners throughout her career
• Primary Trade: Regional coastal trade carrying light freight (produce, small goods)
• Notable Cargoes: Apples, seasonal produce from Wisconsin farms to northern Lake Michigan ports

Enrollment History:

• Registered at Manitowoc, WI
• Last document of enrollment surrendered November 3, 1888, citing “Total Loss”

Service Life:
The schooner made routine lakefront voyages between Manitowoc, Port Washington, and other nearby ports.

Significant Incidents

• Date of Loss: September 25, 1886
• Cause: Stranding in heavy seas; parted anchor chain after losing steerage
• Voyage: Departed Port Washington for Manitowoc carrying 5 tons of apples
• Event Sequence:
  • Became unmanageable in a heavy sea shortly after departure
  • Dropped anchor to arrest drift; chain parted
  • Driven ashore ~0.5 miles north of Port Washington piers
  • Cargo offloaded; no lives lost
  • Vessel left to break up on the beach
• Aftermath:
  • By the time a tug arrived, she was irretrievably grounded
  • Her wreck remained visible for two years
  • Officially documented as total loss in 1888

Final Disposition

• Condition: Broke up in the surf; wreckage dispersed
• Visibility: Wreckage reported visible until 1888; no modern recorded dive site
• Status: Likely destroyed by storms and ice over subsequent decades

Current Condition & Accessibility

• No known formal Notices to Mariners issued; wreck in shallow surf zone likely cleared by natural processes

Resources & Links

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The Gertie Wing represents the class of small, regional schooners that supported Wisconsin’s agricultural and local freight economy in the late 19th century. Though small and relatively obscure, her wreck illustrates:

• The vulnerability of small wooden schooners to rapid weather changes on Lake Michigan
• The short operational life of many late-century freight schooners
• The transition period before small steamers replaced these modest sailing vessels in nearshore commerce

Today, her story survives primarily in customs records and regional shipwreck literature, with her physical remains long since lost to Lake Michigan’s waves and ice.