Lucerne (shipwreck)

Schooner wrecked in Lake Superior

46°43.389′N 90°46.035′W﻿ / ﻿46.723150°N 90.767250°W﻿ / 46.723150; -90.767250

An early 1880s photograph of the Lucerne

History
United States
Name| Lucerne
Owner| William Mack (part owner)
Operator| Captain George George S. Lloyd, skipper William Mack
Port of registry|  United States
Launched| April 23, 1873
Fate| Lost with all 10[1] hands in a storm on November 17 or 18, 1886
Status| Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991
Notes| Location: 46°43.389′N 90°46.035′W﻿ / ﻿46.723150°N 90.767250°W﻿ / 46.723150; -90.767250[2]
General characteristics
Type| Schooner
Tonnage| 728 gross tons
Length| 195 feet (59 m)
Capacity| 1,330
Crew| 9

Lucerne (Shipwreck)

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Nearest city| La Pointe, Wisconsin
NRHP reference No.| 91001775
Added to NRHP| December 18, 1991

Lucerne was a commercial schooner. In November 1886, she sank due to bad weather in Lake Superior, off Long Island in Chequamegon Bay. The site of the wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[3]

## History

[edit]

Lucerne was launched on April 23, 1873. She was nearly 195 feet (59 m) long and reportedly cost $55,000 to build.[4]

On November 15, 1886, Lucerne was loaded with 1,200 tons of iron ore at her home port, Ashland, Wisconsin. The load was consigned to Little, Oglebay and Company of Cleveland, Ohio.[5] After the delivery, the captain and crew began a voyage back to Ashland. With new canvas sails and a light wind blowing, all the signs pointed to a speedy voyage home. However, a November snowstorm on the lake began developing that night.[5]

On November 17 or 18, 1886, Lucerne succumbed to the violent storm, and sank off Long Island.[6] At the height of the storm, the captain of the ship Fred Kelly had sighted Lucerne, but Fred Kelly unfortunately could not offer any help to the distressed ship under the circumstances. Nobody witnessed Lucerne's final minutes, and none of the crew survived.[5]

William Mack, part owner of Lucerne, became worried when the ship never arrived back at Ashland. He telegraphed Bayfield, Wisconsin, and asked for a search vessel to be sent.[5] The boat S. B. Barker was dispatched for the purpose, but did not have to go far to find the wreckage of Lucerne. The S. B. Barker′s crew discovered three masts sticking out of the water. Upon closer inspection, they saw three of the ship's crew members there, frozen solid in three inches (76 mm) of ice. Apparently they had climbed to the top of the masts to escape the freezing waters of Lake Superior and had perished there while waiting to be rescued.[5] The three bodies were moved to Bayfield.[1]

## See also

[edit]

* Lucerne (disambiguation)
* Apostle Islands
* List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes

* Items recovered from the Lucerne shipwreck site, on display at the Madeline Island Historical Museum.

* This capstan was used to raise the great canvas sails and to handle mooring lines aboard the three-masted schooner Lucerne. It remains on display at the Bayfield Maritime Museum.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Wisconsin Shipwrecks
2. ^ "Great Lakes Shipwrecks". Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
3. ^ "Lucerne (Shipwreck): La Pointe, Wisconsin". Find the Data.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
4. ^ "Service History". Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org. Archived from the original on 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
5. ^ a b c d e Keller, James (1984). The Unholy Apostles. pp. 39–44\. ISBN 0-933577-001.
6. ^ "Final Voyage". Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org. Archived from the original on 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2012-01-22.

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* t
* e

Apostle Islands

Islands|

* Madeline Island
* Stockton Island
* Gull Island
* Eagle Island
* Outer Island
* Oak Island
* Sand Island
* Basswood Island
* Bear Island
* Michigan Island
* Hermit Island
* Cat Island
* Otter Island
* Manitou Island
* Rocky Island
* Long Island
* Ironwood Island
* York Island
* Raspberry Island
* Devils Island
* South Twin Island
* North Twin Island

Lighthouses|

* Michigan Island Light
* Raspberry Island Light
* Outer Island Light
* Sand Island Light
* Devils Island Light
* Gull Island Light
* La Pointe Light
* Chequamegon Point Light
* Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light

Shipwrecks|

* Antelope
* Big Bay sloop
* City of Ashland
* D.R. Owen
* Lucerne
* Manistee
* Marquette
* Moonlight
* Noquebay
* Ottawa
* Pretoria
* R.G. Stewart
* Sevona
* Ira H. Owen
* T.H. Camp

Related historic sites|

* Hadland Fishing Camp
* Bass Island Brownstone Company Quarry
* La Pointe Indian Cemetery
* Manitou Camp
* Rocky Island Historic District
* Madeline Island Historical Museum

Protected designations|

* Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
* Big Bay State Park

* v
* t
* e

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1886

Shipwrecks|

* 30 Jan: Fulmar
* 14 Mar: Oregon
* 11 Apr: Taiaroa
* May: Great Britain
* 30 May: Ly-ee-Moon
* 5 Jun: Alpha
* 13 Oct: Selah Chamberlain
* 24 Oct: Normanton
* 18 Nov: Lucerne
* 9 Dec: Mexico
* 24 Dec: Annie C. Maguire
* c. Dec: Unebi
* Unkn: Allahabad
* Unkn: Belliqueuse
* Unkn: Boyne
* Unkn: Young America

Other incidents|

* 14 Jan: Germanic
* 27 Mar: HNLMS Java
* Mar: HMS Jumna
* 20 Apr: Cuxhaven
* May: HMS Albatross
* 18 Jul: HMS Belleisle
* 13 Sep: Ancon
* Oct: HMS Tyne
* 17 Nov: HMS Swallow
* 24 Nov: HMS Serapis
* 24 Dec: HMS Minotaur
* 24 Dec: HMS Monarch
* 24 Dec: HMS Sultan

* ← 1885
* 1887 →

* v
* t
* e

National Register of Historic Places shipwrecks in Lake Superior

Michigan|

* Algoma
* America
* Chester A. Congdon
* Cumberland
* Emperor
* George M. Cox
* Glenlyon
* Henry Chisholm
* Kamloops
* Monarch

Minnesota|

* Amboy
* Benjamin Noble
* George Spencer
* Harriet B.
* Hesper
* Madeira
* Mayflower
* Niagara
* Onoko
* Robert Wallace
* Samuel P. Ely
* Thomas Wilson
* USS Essex

Wisconsin|

* Antelope
* Big Bay sloop
* Lucerne
* Marquette
* Moonlight
* Noquebay
* Pretoria
* R.G. Stewart
* Ottawa
* Sevona
* T.H. Camp
* Thomas Friant

See also: List of Great Lakes shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places
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