Legacy Notes & Full Historical Record

This section preserves the original unedited Shotline content for this wreck so that no historical detail is lost as we transition to the new logbook format.

Wooden Schooner – Lake Huron

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Vessel Name: Regulator
• Built: 1866 (estimated based on registry system and reported operational period)
• Type at Loss: Wooden schooner, carrying general merchandise
• Date of Loss: 16 November 1883
• Location: Lake Huron (approximate; specific position not documented)
• Cargo: General merchandise
• Crew Lost: Not recorded

Vessel Type Description

The Regulator is listed as a wooden schooner, typical of mid-19th‑century merchant vessels plying the Great Lakes. Loaded with general merchandise, she would likely have been a fore‑and‑aft rigged vessel operating on coastal routes.

Description

No known archaeological survey, sidescan image, or dive report exists for the wreck of Regulator. Her remains have not been positively identified or located, and no modern documentation has been published.

History & Chronology

• According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Files, Regulator “foundered in a storm” on 16 November 1883, while carrying general merchandise on Lake Huron. No further details are included beyond this brief note (Great Lakes Shipwreck Files, Wikipedia, Great Lakes Shipwreck Files, Wikipedia).
• No registry number, owner name, crew list, or cargo manifest has been located in publicly available sources tied to this incident.

Final Disposition

• Recorded as a total loss by storm with no survivors or salvage recorded. The term “foundered” indicates the vessel sank, presumably rapidly, due to weather conditions.

Located By & Date Found

• No modern identification: The wreck has not been rediscovered or surveyed by divers, sonar teams, or maritime archaeologists.

Notmars & Advisories

• No Notices to Mariners or official navigational hazard bulletins reference the wreck of Regulator. The event appears not to have generated contemporary public navigational advisories in accessible records.

Resources & References

• Great Lakes Shipwreck Files – Regulator entry: brief notation of loss date, lake, cargo, and storm cause; part of the compiled Swayze index (Great Lakes Shipwreck Files).

No further archival or secondary sources were identified in preliminary searches. This suggests minimal surviving documentation or that records remain in undigitized historical archives.

Gaps & Research Recommendations

• Observation Needed: There are no registry numbers, ownership logs, tonnage data, or crew lists.
• Archival Research Suggested:
  • Examine November 1883 regional newspapers around Lake Huron coastlines for incidents noting the loss of a schooner named Regulator.
  • Consult Canadian and U.S. shipping registers (e.g., Mercantile Navy List, Canada List of Shipping) for entry and loss listings of Regulator.
  • Investigate insurance records or marine underwriter records of the period that may reference the vessel and incident.
  • Seek local maritime museum resources or historical societies in Lake Huron port towns to uncover any unpublished references.

Keywords & Terms

Lake Huron, wooden schooner, foundering, storm loss, general merchandise, small merchant vessel, Swayze shipwreck index, data-deficient wreck.

Summary

Regulator (c. 1866–1883) represents a typical example of a small wooden mercantile schooner lost to a winter storm on Lake Huron. Surviving documentation is confined to a single index entry noting the date (16 Nov 1883), cargo (general merchandise), and loss by storm—notable both for the event and for the absence of further detail. No modern wreck identification, dive documentation, or registry data is currently connected to her.

regulator-1866 1883-11-16 11:25:00