AH-WR-1802

Advance

Schooner · Lost 1885 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Advance capsized off Oostburg in an 1885 gale; six men drowned when their escape boat overturned near shore.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Advance was a two-masted wooden schooner launched at Milwaukee in 1853 by James M. Jones for the lumber and grain trades. She survived earlier collisions, including a waterlogged abandonment in 1881, and returned to service in 1885. On September 8, carrying bark (or barque) from Pine Lake toward Chicago, she leaked during a heavy gale, anchored off Oostburg and capsized. All seven men reached the yawl, but it overturned near shore; sailor Jacob Ramm alone survived. Discovered in 1983, the broken upright wreck lies in 85 feet of water southwest of Sheboygan.

Vessel

Built: 1853
Builder: James M. Jones
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: September 8, 1885
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Oostburg, southwest of Sheboygan, Lake Michigan
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Pine Lake, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Bark
Aboard: 7
Lives lost: 6
Master: Captain Paulsen

The Wreck Today

Depth: 85 ft
Condition: Upright on an even keel, broken with splayed hull sides and sections buried in sand. Centerboard, windlass, bowsprit and jibboom remain.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1983
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 43.61° N 87.72° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Oostburg, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Institutional public map point retained as reported/unconfirmed; no horizontal-error estimate or point-specific survey provenance supplied.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)

Exact dimensions and current ownership are not established here; the institutional map point lacks a published error estimate.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks — Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society — Advance
Complete construction, service, final-voyage and present-wreck accounts; recovered earlier casualties, casualty contradictions or final rig configuration distinguished. Public map point qualified.