AH-WR-0620

Red Wing

Fishing Schooner · United States · Lost 1891 · Delaware Bay & the Approaches

A small fishing schooner that broke apart in a night gale near Indian River Inlet in 1891, killing all six aboard, four of whom were never identified.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Red Wing was a twenty-eight-ton fishing schooner that stranded during a fierce northwest gale on the night of October 22, 1891, about three and a half miles south of Indian River Inlet, Delaware. A surfman from the Indian River Life-Saving Station spotted a distress flare but the vessel broke apart in the surf before her crew could be saved. All six men aboard died; only two, John Johnson and Francis Mullen, were ever identified. The six were buried together in a small Ocean View, Delaware, cemetery five days later.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 28
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 22, 1891
Cause: Storm
Location: About 3.5 miles south of Indian River Inlet, Delaware
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 6
Lives lost: 6
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 38.61° N 75.06° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Indian River Inlet, Delaware
Region: Delaware Bay & the Approaches

General area only: coordinate of Indian River Inlet from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named landmark used in the vessel's loss record ("about 3.5 miles south of Indian River Inlet"), not a surveyed wreck position.