''Northerner'' was an 81-foot-long (24.7-meter-long), two-masted

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 ...

. She 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 ...

on November 29, 1868, five miles southeast of Port Washington,

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 M ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The bottom of the ship lies under of water.

Career

''Northerner'' was built in 1850 in Clayton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, by John Oades. Her original owner was Henry T. Bacon, a New York merchant, and her co-owner and operator was Russell Disbrow. At that time, ''Northerner'' mainly operated on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

and the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. In 1859, she was damaged in a storm on Lake Ontario and was reconstructed at

Wells Island Wells Island is a bar island in Tyler County, West Virginia on the Ohio River. In 1891, the Board on Geographic Names officially decided upon Wells Island as the island's name. It lies to the southwest of Sistersville. Wells Island is protected a ...

, New York. In 1863, the ship was sold to interests in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. At that point, ''Northerner'' became involved in shipping lumber on Lake Michigan. On 15 September 1865, ''Northerner'' was sold to Nicholas Ronk and Nicholas Cauten of Ronksville, Wisconsin. By 7 December 1866 Ronk bought out his partner and became the Northerner's sole owner. On 22 May 1867 a new enrollment was entered at Milwaukee that documented Anders Ryerson of Milwaukee as owning 1/3 share and Nicholas Ronk owning 2/3 of the vessel. Ryerson became her

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In November 1868, her hull suffered damaged at Cedar Grove,

, while she took on a cargo of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. The ship made it to Port Washington, where temporary repairs were made. Then she was towed back to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin, by another ship, ''Cuyahoga''. ''Northerner'' capsized en route to Milwaukee on November 29, 1868. ''Cuyahoga'' rescued her crew.

The wreck

The depth of ''Northerner''′s is somewhat controversial. Some sources cite the ''Northerner'' as being under of water, while others have stated that the depth is . The

foremast The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...

has toppled but remains on the wreck. The

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

mast is no longer on or near the wreck. The ship remains fairly intact although the

pilothouse The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topp ...

tore off when the ship sank.http://www.deepsixscuba.com/schooner_northerner.html

Footnotes

*1) This listing of operators in most likely incomplete. The resources used only mentions these operators and further research should be done for a complete listing.

References

{{Recreational dive sites, wresit 1850 ships Ships built in New York (state) Great Lakes freighters Maritime incidents in November 1868 Schooners of the United States Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Wreck diving sites