AH-WR-1918

La Petite

Schooner · Lost September 1903; the gale began the night of Sunday, September 6, and she had gone to pieces by Thursday, September 10. · Door County & Lake Michigan

A leaking three-master capsized under tow toward the Sturgeon Bay Canal in a 1903 gale and broke up on the Clay Banks reef.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Frederick D. Ketchum built the three-masted schooner La Petite at Huron, Ohio, in 1866. In September 1903, carrying hardwood slabs from Torch Lake to Milwaukee, she met a southeast gale, began leaking, overshot Manitowoc and Kewaunee and anchored south of Algoma. The tug Sydney Smith took her in tow for the canal, but a large sea capsized her. Her crew and three lifesavers were saved; she drifted onto the Clay Banks reef and went to pieces.

Vessel

Built: 1866
Registry: US registry no. 15100
Builder: Frederick D. Ketchum
Yard: Huron, Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 119 ft
Beam: 23.7 ft
Tonnage: 172 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: September 1903; the gale began the night of Sunday, September 6, and she had gone to pieces by Thursday, September 10.
Cause: Storm
Location: Reef at Clay Banks, about seven miles south of the Sturgeon Bay Canal, Door County, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Torch Lake, Michigan → Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cargo: Hardwood slabs
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: William Glockner