Keweenaw (1866)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Keweenaw
• Type: Schooner-barge
• Year Built: 1866
• Builder: McDole & Lester
• Dimensions: Length ≈ 133 ft; Beam ≈ 27 ft; Depth ≈ 11 ft
• Registered Tonnage: 272 gross register tons (GRT); 245 net register tons (NRT)
• Location: Harbor at Grand Marais, Michigan
• Official Number: Not listed
• Original Owners: Not documented
• Number of Masts: 2-masted

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

• Originally built as a schooner, later converted into a schooner-barge for bulk freight.
• Material: Wood
• Rig: 2-masted
• Usage: Bulk freighter (likely lumber, ore, or pulpwood)

Description

• Dimensions: Length ≈ 133 ft; Beam ≈ 27 ft; Depth ≈ 11 ft
• Tonnage: 272 gross register tons (GRT); 245 net register tons (NRT)
• Construction: Traditional wooden hull with cargo hold for bulk materials.
• Likely had basic accommodations for a small crew.

History

• Original Build: 1866 by McDole & Lester (Marine City or Newport) as a schooner.
• Career: Operated as a bulk cargo vessel on Lake Superior, common for the era. No records of a formal rebuild, but functionally served as a barge later.
• Crew & Ownership: Records do not list owner or master. No casualties occurred at loss.
• Service history between build and loss remains undocumented in accessible archives—a common gap for smaller wooden vessels.

Significant Incidents

• Weather Event: A sudden northeasterly (northerly) storm struck as the vessel entered—or was moored in—the harbor mouth.
• Action: The vessel was blown broadside onto the beach, sustaining catastrophic hull damage leading to abandonment or breaking up.
• Life Crew: All survived; no fatalities recorded.
• Aftermath: Likely considered a constructive total loss—no evidence of salvage or documented inquiries exist.

Final Disposition

• No modern rediscovery records or sonar documentation found.
• Wreck likely lies beached or nearshore in the harbor itself; may have degraded or been reclaimed naturally over time.
• No archaeological survey or recent dive documentation located.

Current Condition & Accessibility

None recorded in official navigational warnings or lightship bulletins. Harbour wrecks of this type typically fell outside such advisories.

Resources & Links

[shotline_reference_links slug=”keweenaw-1866″ title=”References & Links”]

Keweenaw appears to have been a modest wooden schooner-barge lost during a sudden storm in November 1901, driven ashore in Grand Marais harbor without loss of life. Although the vessel’s basic dimensions and fate are recorded, personal details and official aftermath are absent—unearthed only through local archival research and physical survey. A focused dive/archaeological mission, combined with regional archive mining, could yield vessel remains, ownership data, and deeper documentation.