The Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA) has reported the discovery of the wreck of a sailing ship that was lost in a storm off the Wisconsin town of Baileys Harbor nearly 140 years prior.
While on board the chartered tour vessel The Shoreline, WUAA researchers and other personnel found the wreck of the schooner F.J. King, which sank off Baileys Harbor on September 15, 1886.
The schooner had been the subject of numerous search efforts since the 1970s. According to the WUAA, she had developed a reputation as a "ghost ship" due to her elusiveness.
Local fishermen have claimed to bring up pieces of the schooner in their nets and a local lighthouse keeper reportedly saw her masts breaking the surface. However, whenever maritime archaeologists scoured the area, they could find no trace of the missing ship.
Two hours into the most recent search of the area by the WUAA, on only the second pass, a large object slowly scrolled onto the video screen showing the live feed from a remotely operated vehicle deployed from The Shoreline.
The WUAA's new sidescan sonar clearly showed the ship's hatches and enabled principal investigator Brendon Baillod to measure the object. At 140 feet (43 metres) long, it exactly matched the length of F.J. King.
F.J. King was a 144-foot (43.9-metre), three-masted wooden schooner built in 1867 at Toledo, Ohio by shipwright George Rogers. She was constructed for the grain and iron ore trades and designed to engage in trans-lake commerce through the Welland Canal around Niagara Falls.
The schooner had been operating for 19 years before taking on a cargo of iron ore at Escanaba, Michigan, bound for Chicago.
When off the Door Peninsula, she ran into a gale from the southeast with seas estimated at eight to 10 feet (2.4 to three metres), which caused her seams to open. The crew were later forced to abandon ship and at 02:00 on September 15, 1886, F.J. King sank bow-first into the water less than five miles (eight kilometres) from shore.
The crew were later picked up by another passing schooner, which took them to Baileys Harbor.
The discovery of F.J. King was reported to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s maritime archaeology program, whose staff visited the wreck to document it and to create a 3D photogrammetry model.
Future plans for the site include nominating it to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The location will eventually be released to the public once the site has been listed on the National Register.
