''Fleetwing'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

that sank in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

off Liberty Grove, Wisconsin, United States. In 2001 the shipwreck site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

History

''Fleetwing'' was constructed in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1867 by what is now known as the Burger Boat Company. Her finished cost was $30,000. She was rebuilt in 1885. On September 26, 1888, ''Fleetwing'' departed Menominee, Michigan, bound for Chicago, Illinois, with a cargo of lumber. Later that night, as the ship approached Porte des Morts, a gale began to form. Reports of what happened later conflict, but what is known is that at 11:00 p.m., the ship struck a rocky beach that apparently sheared off a

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

. Initially, efforts were made to save the vessel, but another gale began to form during the process and the tugboat that had been attempting to retrieve ''Fleetwing'' was forced to leave the area. By the time the tugboat was able to return, the second gale had caused irreparable damage to ''Fleetwing''. The

State of Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Mich ...

owns the wreck of ''Fleetwing'' and the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manage the wreck site. The wreck lies in of water in Garrett Bay.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Fleetwing'' (shipwreck) 1867 ships Maritime incidents in September 1888 Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin Ships built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin Wreck diving sites in the United States