AH-WR-1778

Kate Kelly

Schooner · United States · Lost 1895 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A wooden Lake Michigan schooner lost in the May 1895 storm while carrying railroad ties toward Chicago.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built at Tonawanda in 1867, Kate Kelly was a wooden, two-masted schooner engaged in Great Lakes commerce. After years of service and earlier casualties, it departed Alpena in May 1895 carrying railroad ties, stopping at Sheboygan before continuing toward Chicago. A severe storm overtook the schooner on May 13, 1895, and it sank off Wisconsin. The exact manner of its loss is not established.

Vessel

Built: 1867
Registry: US registry no. 14031
Builder: John Martel
Yard: Tonawanda, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 126.3 ft
Beam: 25.8 ft
Tonnage: 257.32 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Built for Lewis Ryerse; later Goble and McFarlane; Captain Hartley J. Hatch at loss

Loss

Date: May 13, 1895
Cause: Storm
Location: Lake Michigan off Racine County, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Alpena, Michigan, via Sheboygan, Wisconsin → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Hemlock railroad ties; institutional details specify 6,000 ties; additional wood products possible
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Unknown; narrative states no bodies were found during an early dive.
Master: Hartley J. Hatch

The Wreck Today

Depth: Historical 1895 report: 60 feet; current depth not independently established
Condition: Lower hull and bilge survive with 52 double frame sets; detached bow, centerboard, rigging and deck-gear sections surround the main hull.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Institutional record marks National Register status Listed; protected by state and federal laws

Position

Coordinates: 42.78° N 87.72° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Racine, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Institutional inventory point 42°46.680′ N, 87°43.412′ W retained as reported, not accuracy-certified. Separate seasonal buoy at 42°46.684′ N, 87°43.509′ W is not the same fix.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (84/100)

Final casualty totals and specific sinking mechanism remain unestablished; historical depth is not a current survey, and complete-hull artwork is interpretive rather than a surviving-condition claim.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks, Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society
Full construction/service/final-loss/archaeological narrative; builder, two-masted canaller form, dimensions, owners, actual historical home ports, May 13 final sinking distinguished from earlier recovered casualties, published site and separate buoy positions; uncertain casualties and historical depth qualified.