AH-WR-0494

F.J. King

Canal Schooner · United States · Lost 1886 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A canal schooner that sank bow-first off Baileys Harbor in an 1886 gale and lay undiscovered for 139 years until a 2025 sonar search found her intact.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1867 at Toledo, Ohio, as a canaller schooner able to transit the Welland Canal, F.J. King carried grain, coal, and iron ore on the Great Lakes for nineteen years. On September 15, 1886, laden with iron ore bound for Chicago, she sprang a leak in a violent gale off Door County; her crew escaped in the ship's yawl boat before she sank bow-first. The wreck was finally located in June 2025 by the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association after decades of searching.

Vessel

Built: 1867
Registry: US official number 9299
Builder: George R. Rogers
Yard: Toledo, Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 144 ft
Beam: 26.2 ft
Tonnage: 280.55
Propulsion: Sail, three masts
Owners: Captain William Griffin and J.S. Dunham, Morristown, New York (at loss)

Loss

Date: September 15, 1886
Cause: Storm
Location: About 5 miles off Baileys Harbor, Door County
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Escanaba, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: 600 tons of iron ore
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Captain William Griffin

The Wreck Today

Depth: 137 ft
Condition: Very intact; largely undisturbed since discovery.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2025-06-28
Protection: Protected under Wisconsin state and federal shipwreck preservation law