AH-WR-0728

American

Schooner · United States · Lost 1894 · Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

A converted schooner barge that foundered from a leak in 1894, discovered in 2019 off Stony Point and still being confirmed by researchers.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

American was a three-masted schooner built in 1870 at Three Mile Bay, New York, later converted into a schooner barge for the coal trade out of Oswego. She foundered from a hull leak off Stony Point on September 30, 1894, with no loss of life. Discovered in 2019, the wreck was initially misidentified as another schooner, Onondaga, before later NOAA research suggested — with some uncertainty remaining — that it is in fact American.

Vessel

Built: 1870
Registry: US official no. 1951
Builder: Asa Wilcox
Yard: Three Mile Bay, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 137 ft
Beam: 26 ft
Tonnage: 283
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Jonathan and Timothy Donovan, Oswego, New York

Loss

Date: September 30, 1894
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: Off Stony Point, Lake Ontario
Water: Lake Ontario
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Coal
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 150 ft
Condition: Intact, with rudder stock, tiller, and cut-down mainmast visible
Orientation: Upright
Discovered: 2019
Protection: Within Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary

Position

Coordinates: 43.835° N 76.436° W
Accuracy: Surveyed position
Nearest: Stony Point, New York
Region: Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence

The NOAA Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary's official shipwreck list (via Wikipedia's sanctuary shipwreck table, sourced from NOAA) gives the coordinate 43°50'06"N 76°26'09"W for the schooner American, found off Stony Point in 2019 and documented by NOAA; NOAA notes the identification (vs. sister wreck Onondaga) remains under review.