AH-WR-1680

D.O. Dickinson

Schooner · Lost 1869 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A two-masted lumber schooner that grounded on Strawberry Reef and broke apart during October 1869 gales.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

D.O. Dickinson was built in Milwaukee in 1854 and rebuilt there in 1862. It sailed from Oconto for Chicago with lumber on October 7, 1869. The next day it grounded on Strawberry Reef at the southeast end of Chambers Island. Captain William Cardwell and four crew members escaped by yawl, but weather prevented recovery and the hull broke apart.

Vessel

Built: 1854
Registry: US registry no. 6133
Builder: James M. Jones
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 125.4 ft
Beam: 26.3 ft
Tonnage: 241.82
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 8, 1869
Cause: Grounding
Location: Strawberry Reef, southeast end of Chambers Island, Green Bay
Water: Green Bay
Voyage: Oconto, Wisconsin → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: 200,000 feet of lumber
Aboard: 5
Lives lost: 0
Master: William Cardwell

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: Fish Creek, Wisconsin
Region: Door County & Lake Michigan

Coordinates omitted: source inventory points were not independently established as surveyed wreck positions.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)

Modern wreck condition, depth and discovery history are not established in the source reviewed.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks — Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant
Vessel identity, registry number, dimensions, builder, year, two-masted schooner rig, service and loss narrative; full source body retained in sources/.