AH-WR-1764

Daniel Lyons

Schooner · United States · Lost 1878 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A three-masted grain schooner sank off Algoma after an 1878 collision; its collapsed hull exposes canal-ship construction.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Daniel Lyons was built at Oswego in 1873 as a three-masted grain schooner sized for the Welland Canal. Captain Michael M. Holland took command in 1877. She left Chicago with wheat on October 17, 1878, and collided with Kate Gillett off Algoma early the following morning. Her eight occupants escaped aboard the other schooner before Daniel Lyons sank. The collapsed wreck in 110 feet of water retains much of its hull and rigging, including an upright centerboard trunk.

Vessel

Built: 1873
Registry: US registry no. 6780
Builder: George Goble and James Macfarlane, Goble & MacFarlane Shipyard
Yard: Oswego, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 137.9 ft
Beam: 25.9 ft
Tonnage: 318 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Daniel Lyons and George Goble, Oswego

Loss

Date: October 18, 1878
Cause: Collision
Location: Lake Michigan off Algoma (then Ahnapee), Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Chicago, Illinois → Black Rock, New York (now Buffalo)
Cargo: 20,000 bushels of wheat consigned to J.B. Griffin & Company
Aboard: 8
Lives lost: 0
Master: Michael M. Holland

The Wreck Today

Depth: 110 ft
Condition: Mostly broken up, with nearly all hull structure and rigging present. Hull sides collapsed to port; centerboard trunk remains standing and stern material lies off the starboard quarter.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: National Register of Historic Places listed (institutional entry)

Position

Coordinates: 44.67° N 87.30° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Algoma, Wisconsin
Region: Door County & Lake Michigan

Position converted from degrees and decimal minutes in Wisconsin Shipwrecks institutional inventory; archaeological documentation accompanies the entry, but position accuracy is not stated.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)

Position is the published institutional inventory location; survey accuracy and unrecorded particulars are not asserted.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Construction, dimensions, owners, registry and three-mast correction; command and grain service; October 17 departure/October 18 collision and completed sinking, enumerated eight occupants, rescue and final cargo; site depth, position, hull and rigging archaeology, buoying and protection.