Shotline Diving Wreck Profile
- Name: H. L. Lansing
- Type: Wooden, three-masted schooner (sometimes classified as a bark)
- Year Built: 1852
- Builder: Bidwell & Banta, Buffalo, New York
- Dimensions: Approximately 140 ft (42.67 m); Beam; Depth of hold
- Registered Tonnage: ≈ 362 tons (old measurement, OM)
- Location: Near Chicago, Lake Michigan, U.S.
- Official Number: Not recorded
- Original Owners: Whitaker & Co., Detroit
- Number of Masts: Three
Wreck Location Map
Vessel Type
A mid-19th century merchant sailing vessel, intended for bulk freight like coal; its rig (3-masted) permitted efficient handling of laden cargoes across the Great Lakes.
Description
Constructed of wood with three masts, the H. L. Lansing was rated at approximately 362 OM tons—a full-sized cargo schooner by period standards. No precise dimensions are given, but comparable vessels ranged around 140 feet in length, shallow draft for Great Lakes service. Built for coastal and inland freight routes.
History
- Commissioned in Buffalo in 1852, the Lansing served routes connecting Detroit, Chicago, and other Lake Michigan ports.
- Understood to be part of Whitaker & Co.’s coal transport fleet out of Detroit.
- Repairs: documented grounding on Colchester Reef in November 1864, followed by major repairs; previously stranded in 1856 near New Buffalo, MI, though later salvaged and repaired after winter delay.
Significant Incidents
- Incident: On October 27, 1865, encountered a storm while approaching Chicago harbor. She became stranded and was destroyed in the gale, breaking apart.
- Casualties: No loss of life reported.
- Insurance/Inquiry: Not documented in publicly accessible accident registers; appears in contemporary NC Great Lakes incident lists as a “total loss” due to stranding in a storm.
Final Disposition
No known modern identification or dive site; wreck presumably fragmented nearshore—no recorded contemporary or modern salvage beyond initial abandonment.
Current Condition & Accessibility
No recorded Notices to Mariners or buoy/hazard warnings noted for this site in period navigational bulletins.
Resources & Links
[shotline_reference_links slug=”h-l-lansing-1852″ title=”References & Links”]
The H. L. Lansing was a substantial mid-century Great Lakes sailing vessel built in Buffalo (1852), owned out of Detroit, and engaged in transporting coal. She was stranded and destroyed in a gale on October 27, 1865, off Chicago—her hull and cargo lost, but notably with no reported fatalities. She survives in the historical record only through clerical wreck listings and wreck registers. Further archival research—especially in shipping company records, newspapers, and Great Lakes boarding/enrollment logs—may yield more detailed personal or legal information.
Full Wreck Record — complete historical article, construction details, voyage logs, incident reports, dive conditions, and all research sources.
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