Shotline Diving Wreck Profile
- Name: Virginia Purdy
- Type: Two-masted wooden schooner
- Year Built: 1847
- Builder: G.W. Jones at Cleveland, Ohio
- Dimensions: Approx. 125 × 25 × 10 ft; ~301 tons
- Registered Tonnage: 301 tons
- Location: Around Pelee Island, Lake Erie
- Number of Masts: Two
Wreck Location Map
Vessel Type
A traditional mid-19th-century Great Lakes schooner, used for general freight. She frequently carried bulk cargo like timber or lime.
Description
Caught in a fierce gale, Virginia Purdy was driven ashore on or near Pelee Island. Loaded with water-lime at the time, she was wrecked on the rocks and broke apart in the surf. Underwriters offered her to anyone who could salvage her, but no one attempted and she was abandoned by May 1859.
History
Declared a total loss. The hull remained stranded and decayed into the shoreline. Not salvaged or raised.
Significant Incidents
- No crew lost. All hands escaped the wreck.
Final Disposition
No documented modern survey or archaeological recovery. Likely remnants lie buried in coastal sediments near Pelee Island, though shifting sands may have obscured them.
Current Condition & Accessibility
No formal navigational warnings issued at the time. Pelee Island remains a charted navigational hazard; historical wrecking activity is well-noted in local maritime lore.
Resources & Links
[shotline_reference_links slug=”virginia-purdy-1847″ title=”References & Links”]
The loss of Virginia Purdy underscores the dangers of Lake Erie’s spring gales, where even experienced schooners could meet abrupt ends. Though she carried a lighter cargo of water-lime, her grounding and abandonment near Pelee Island remain chronologically and geographically clear, yet no physical trace has been verified.
Full Wreck Record — complete historical article, construction details, voyage logs, incident reports, dive conditions, and all research sources.
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