Selah Chamberlain
Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1886 · Door County & Lake Michigan
A veteran ore-trade steam barge sunk by a collision in fog off Sheboygan in 1886, now a National Register-listed dive site.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Selah Chamberlain was a wooden steam barge built in 1873 in Cleveland that spent over a decade hauling iron ore between Lake Superior ports and eastern cities. On October 13, 1886, running light and towing the consort schooner Fayette Brown toward Escanaba, she was rammed in heavy fog by the steamer John Pridgeon Jr. off Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and sank with the loss of five lives. Her well-preserved machinery made her a listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 and a favored dive within the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Vessel
- 1873
- US registry no. 115147
- Quayle & Martin
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Wood
- 212 ft
- 34 ft
- 1207
- Steam, non-condensing engine, single screw
- Alva Bradley / Bradley Transportation Company
Loss
- October 13, 1886
- Collision
- About 2 miles northeast of Sheboygan Point, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin → Escanaba, Michigan
- None; running light to load ore
- Not established
- 5
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Boilers, engine, towing bitt, propeller and rudder intact
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary; listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2019)
Position
- 43.770° N 87.657° W
- Surveyed position
- Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Wisconsin Historical Society - WI Shipwrecks
Build data, service history, loss narrative
National Register of Historic Places nomination
NRHP listing, location
