AH-WR-1701

C.G. Breed

Schooner · Lost 1879 · The Lake Erie Islands

C.G. Breed capsized and foundered in Lake Erie near Ashtabula on November 14, 1879.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

C.G. Breed was built in Milwaukee in 1862 as a two-masted wooden schooner. The Wisconsin Shipwrecks account describes a sinking south of Manitowoc in March 1878. It infers that the vessel was raised and repaired because she later capsized and foundered near Ashtabula in Lake Erie on November 14, 1879. Details of that intervening recovery are not established.

Vessel

Built: 1862
Registry: US registry no. 4577
Builder: Elsworth and Davidson
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 140.1 ft
Beam: 26.3 ft
Tonnage: 385.17 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 14, 1879
Cause: Not established
Location: Lake Erie, near Ashtabula, described as about mid-lake
Water: Lake Erie
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Ashtabula, Ohio
Region: The Lake Erie Islands

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)

Final casualty position, cargo, crew outcome and intervening salvage details are not established.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Vessel construction, rig and casualty narrative; inventory zero counters excluded; documentary dates distinguished from casualty dates.