R.J. Sanborn
Barkentine · United States · Lost 1873 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
The three-masted R.J. Sanborn struck Manitowoc’s south pier and went to pieces in November 1873.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
R.J. Sanborn was built at Buffalo in 1859 or 1860 as a wooden, two-masted schooner. In 1865 she was converted to a three-masted barkentine. Carrying lumber from Manistee toward Milwaukee, she attempted to enter Manitowoc Harbor on the night of November 1, 1873. She struck the south pier, was driven onto the beach and rapidly went to pieces. A later enrollment surrender records the vessel as wrecked.
Vessel
- Not established
- US registry no. 21298
- Not established
- Buffalo, New York
- Wood
- 125 ft
- 23.5 ft
- 178.75 gross tons
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- November 1, 1873
- Grounding
- South pier and adjoining beach, Manitowoc Harbor, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Manistee, Michigan → Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Lumber
- 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)
Exact position, present depth and surviving condition are not established in the reviewed sources.
Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Construction-year alternatives, 1865 barkentine conversion, dimensions, identifier and lumber voyage; November 1873 pier collision and completed breakup, later enrollment date and inventory position.
