Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: William Vanatta
• Type: Wood-hulled barge
• Year Built: 1862
• Builder: Hayes shipyard, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Dimensions: 119 ft × 25 ft × 8 ft (36.3 m × 7.6 m × 2.4 m); ~159 tons
• Registered Tonnage: ~159 tons
• Location: Grounded off Point Pelee, Lake Erie (Ontario side), in Pelee Passage
• Official Number: 26164
• Number of Masts: Unrigged

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

A former schooner converted to a tow barge in 1876, used primarily to carry bulk lumber under tow — unpowered and reliant on weather and tug control.

Description

119-foot wooden hull, single deck. After conversion, de-rigged and modified for barge duty. No propulsion of its own, structurally simpler than an active schooner.

History

• 1862: Built in Erie, PA.
• 1876: Refitted from schooner to unrigged barge for towing use.
• Spring 1886: Laden with ~30,000 bushels of lumber, given that barge tonnage estimate.
• Final voyage: Under tow of propeller tug Burlington, departing Detroit after winter lay-up, destined for Cleveland.

Significant Incidents

• On 1 April 1886, during transit through Pelee Passage, the William Vanatta broke away from her tow in a northeast gale.
• She drifted onto the shoals off Point Pelee, Ontario, grounding and breaking apart rapidly in high seas.
• Canadian fishermen rescued the crew.
• The Canadian tug Pilot later recovered anchor and chains; wreckage was salvaged in subsequent weeks.

Final Disposition

On 1 April 1886, during transit through Pelee Passage, the William Vanatta broke away from her tow in a northeast gale. She drifted onto the shoals off Point Pelee, Ontario, grounding and breaking apart rapidly in high seas. Canadian fishermen rescued the crew. The Canadian tug Pilot later recovered anchor and chains; wreckage was salvaged in subsequent weeks.

Her owner subsequently sued the tug’s master, alleging deviation from the agreed-upon safer southerly route, which likely contributed to her loss.

Current Condition & Accessibility

No formal archaeological discovery. Wreck remnants were removed; hull likely broken and scattered near the shore. No dives or surveys documented.

Resources & Links

References are being reviewed for this wreck.

The William Vanatta exemplifies the hazards of tow-barge operations in early spring storms on Lake Erie. Though her crew survived, the barge was entirely destroyed after grounding during a galeswept tow passage. The resultant legal case highlights the critical importance of navigation planning and tug command decisions in barge safety. Today, her wreckage largely removed, she remains significant as a marker of late-19th-century brown water cargo operations crossing Great Lakes passage routes.