AH-WR-1720

Dan Hayes

Barge · United States · Lost 1904 · Door County & Lake Michigan

The leaking stone barge Dan Hayes was pushed near shore and allowed to sink at Sturgeon Bay in August 1904.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Dan Hayes was built in 1868 as a wooden three-masted scow-schooner and converted to a barge in 1882. She was dismasted after capsizing in 1898, then repaired and returned to work. On August 6, 1904, she was loaded with stone for Menominee but was leaking badly when the tug Duncan City arrived. The barge was pushed near shore and allowed to sink near the Graef and Nebel quay in McCracken’s Cove.

Vessel

Built: 1868
Registry: US registry no. 3504
Builder: R. Hayes of Hayes & Fountain
Yard: Fairport, Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 112.1 ft
Beam: 24.2 ft
Tonnage: 145 gross tons
Propulsion: Unpowered; towed
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: August 6, 1904
Cause: Not established
Location: McCracken’s Cove, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Water: Green Bay
Voyage: Menominee
Cargo: Stone
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 6–8
Condition: Lower wooden hull remains; port and starboard sides splayed flat on the bottom.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Region: Door County & Lake Michigan

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)

Exact wreck position and casualty totals are not established in the reviewed account.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Identity, rig and construction particulars, service history and final sinking chronology; loss distinguished from earlier damage or abandonment.