Richard Roe
Schooner · United States · Lost 1868 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
The small schooner Richard Roe struck Manitowoc’s south pier and was wrecked on the beach in September 1868.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Richard Roe was built at Buffalo in 1857 by John Roe as a small wooden, two-masted schooner. She carried fruit and vegetables from Milwaukee toward Manitowoc. Seeking shelter from rough lake weather around midnight on September 14, 1868, she attempted to enter Manitowoc Harbor. In darkness she struck the south pier and went bow-first onto the beach, where the sea broke her stern and left her a hopeless wreck. The institutional account notes that her remains may subsequently have been removed.
Vessel
- 1857
- John Roe
- Buffalo, New York
- Wood
- 40 ft
- 10.9 ft
- 9.40 gross tons
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- September 14, 1868
- Grounding
- South pier and adjoining beach, Manitowoc Harbor, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin → Manitowoc, Wisconsin
- Fruit and vegetables
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 44.09° N 87.65° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Position converted from the institutional inventory’s published degrees and decimal minutes; survey accuracy is not independently established.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Casualty totals are not established. The institutional inventory publishes a position but says remains may have been removed.
Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Construction, small two-masted schooner form, dimensions, cargo route, September 1868 pier collision and beach destruction; possible removal and published inventory position.
