Lavinda – Lake Michigan Schooner Shipwreck (1897)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Lavinda
• Type: Wooden Two-Masted Schooner
• Year Built: 1863
• Builder: St. German
• Dimensions: Length 100 ft (30.48 m); Beam 20.5 ft (6.25 m); Depth of hold 6.9 ft (2.1 m)
• Registered Tonnage: 125.64 tons
• Location: Kinnickinnic River, Milwaukee Harbor, Wisconsin
• Coordinates: N 43° 00.623′ / W 087° 54.374′
• Official Number: 14673
• Original Owners: Original (1863): Chaffee & Castin, Allegan, MI; Final (1897): Patrick Kearns, Milwaukee, WI
• Number of Masts: Two

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

Wooden Two-Masted Schooner

Description

The Lavinda was a small cargo schooner primarily engaged in regional trade and timber transport on Lake Michigan. Built in 1863, it featured a wooden hull and was rigged as a two-masted schooner.

History

The Lavinda had a service history marked by numerous minor collisions and strandings typical for vessels of its size and era. Key incidents include:

• April 1869: Collision with the schooner Mary Booth, resulting in damage that was repaired.
• June 1874: Collision with the schooner Tuscola near Calumet, with damage estimated at $100.
• 1881: Struck Racine’s south pier and became waterlogged, requiring rescue by the Racine Lifesaving Station.

By the 1890s, the Lavinda transitioned from active cargo work to a low-value harbor craft, eventually being laid up.

Significant Incidents

• April 1869: Collision on Lake Michigan with the schooner Mary Booth; damaged but repaired.
• 1873: New rigging installed, likely during a routine overhaul.
• June 1874: Collision with schooner Tuscola near Calumet; damage estimated at $100.
• October 1875: Grounded north of Ludington piers; refloated.
• 1881: Struck Racine’s south pier; became waterlogged; rescued by the Racine Lifesaving Station.

Final Disposition

The Lavinda was abandoned by January 1897 in the Kinnickinnic River, Milwaukee Harbor, Wisconsin. It was reported to be in a sunken condition, with the owner paying little attention to the vessel. The cause of abandonment was the end of its commercial life, and it was sunk and abandoned in the Kinnickinnic ‘boneyard’, a harbor graveyard for obsolete wooden schooners.

“The small schooner Lavinda lies in a sunken condition in the Kinnicinnic branch of the river, her owner evidently paying little or no attention to the old craft.” — Door County Advocate, January 9, 1897

Current Condition & Accessibility

The status of the Lavinda is presumed to be removed, broken up, or buried during 20th-century harbor dredging and expansion. The Kinnickinnic River ‘Boneyard’ served as a disposal site for obsolete wooden vessels, with most wrecks dismantled for firewood, fill, or scrap during harbor modernization. Currently, there is no extant dive target, as the location is an urban river with heavy sediment and development.

Resources & Links

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The Lavinda serves as a representative case of the decline of 19th-century wooden schooners on the Great Lakes, illustrating the transition from sail to steam and the practices surrounding vessel disposal in urban environments.