St. Lawrence US 22584

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: St. Lawrence
• Type: Schooner
• Year Built: 1842
• Builder: G. Garber
• Dimensions: Length 92.80 ft (28.3 m); Beam 19.80 ft (6.03 m); Depth of hold 8.00 ft (2.44 m)
• Registered Tonnage: 110.76 gt
• Location: Lake Michigan, off Racine County, Wisconsin
• Coordinates: N 42° 48.687′, W 087° 25.738′
• Official Number: 22584
• Original Owners: Capt. Martin Larkins; later Emma Larkins & Frank Fox
• Number of Masts: Two-masted

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

• Two-masted sailing schooner built for cargo runs on Lake Michigan, likely coastal freighting.

Description

Built of timber in Clayton, Ohio, St. Lawrence featured typical mid-19th-century schooner design. Her modest tonnage (≈ 110 gt) suggests coastal or small-port trading. No steam engines or auxiliary power—sails the sole propulsion.

History

• Ownership: of record as Capt. Martin Larkins; later registrations mention Emma Larkins & Frank Fox as possible owners; home port alternately Milwaukee or Manitowoc.
• Operational record: limited archival mention beyond final registry surrender; no surviving manifest or crew lists located to date.
• Loss and casualties: registration surrendered June 29, 1878 listing “Total Loss By Fire.” No lives lost reported (“2 Lives Lost” entry appears erroneous or blank—public record shows zero fatalities).

Significant Incidents

• Loss attributed to an onboard fire culminating in total destruction of the vessel offshore.
• No salvage or inquiry records found to date; likely abandoned after rapid fire spread.

Final Disposition

• Loss attributed to an onboard fire culminating in total destruction of the vessel offshore.
• No salvage or inquiry records found to date; likely abandoned after rapid fire spread.

Current Condition & Accessibility

• No documented discovery of the wreck site. While site coordinates are noted in modern databases, no diver surveys or archaeological documentation is publicly recorded. Wreck condition, depth, and accessibility are currently unverified.

Resources & Links

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The St. Lawrence represents a typical mid-19th-century small cargo schooner operating on Lake Michigan. Lost to fire in 1878 off Racine, Wisconsin, she posed no human casualties but no physical remains have yet been verified by maritime archaeologists. Though modest in size, she contributes to the broader understanding of wood-hulled trading schooners of the period. Further archival hunting and remote-sensing survey could reveal nominal artifacts or confirm the wreck location.