AH-WR-1784

R.H. Becker

Scow-Schooner · United States · Lost Sank May 7, 1908; raised May 16, then moved and abandoned off Michigan Avenue, where she broke up on an unspecified date. Enrollment surrendered May 15. Gallery caption instead dates raising to May 1, 1908. · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A two-masted scow schooner sank at Sheboygan in 1908, was raised, and was abandoned to break up off Michigan Avenue.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

R.H. Becker was built by J.A. Johnson at Dover Bay, Ohio, in 1867 as a two-masted wooden scow schooner. She returned to service after capsizing off Algoma in 1890. During a northeast gale on May 7, 1908, she sank near Sheboygan’s south pier after a rescue tow; her captain and crew survived. The narrative dates her raising to May 16, whereas a gallery caption says May 1; the raised hulk was subsequently moved off Michigan Avenue, abandoned and broken up. A scow investigated in 1992 was considered a likely but unproven identification.

Vessel

Built: 1867
Registry: US registry no. 56207
Builder: J.A. Johnson
Yard: Dover Bay (Avon), Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 108 ft
Beam: 23 ft
Tonnage: 140.82 gross tons
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Freyberg Lumber Company, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Loss

Date: Sank May 7, 1908; raised May 16, then moved and abandoned off Michigan Avenue, where she broke up on an unspecified date. Enrollment surrendered May 15. Gallery caption instead dates raising to May 1, 1908.
Cause: Storm
Location: Initially at Sheboygan south pier; ultimately abandoned off the foot of Michigan Avenue, Sheboygan
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Slab hardwood
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Historically abandoned and broken up; a centerboard scow schooner investigated in 1992 was considered likely, but not conclusively identified, to be R.H. Becker.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 43.75° N 87.70° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Institutional published position N 43°45.053′, W 87°42.123′; identification of the 1992 investigated scow as R.H. Becker is expressly unproven, so position is reported rather than verified.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (84/100)

The source conflicts on the raising date, and the date of final breakup, present depth, and identification of the reported remains are not established.

Wisconsin Shipwrecks — Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wisconsin Historical Society
Full construction, service history, final voyage and present-site narrative; website counter zeros excluded as evidence.