Stephen F. Gale
Schooner · Lost 1876 · The Lake Erie Islands
The old schooner Stephen F. Gale vanished on Lake Erie in November 1876 with all hands; her books washed ashore near Fairport.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built at Chicago in 1847, the 123-foot schooner Stephen F. Gale cleared Cleveland in November 1876 for Port Stanley with coal, then loaded stone at Kelleys Island. She never arrived. A passing scow-schooner reported the spars of a sunken vessel about sixteen miles north of Cleveland, and soon afterward wreckage and the Gale's books came ashore west of Fairport. As historian Kohl put it, she foundered with all hands and a cat.
Vessel
- 1847
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
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- Not established
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- November 28, 1876
- Not established
- About 16 miles north of Cleveland, Ohio
- Lake Erie
- Kelleys Island, Ohio
- Stone and mixed merchandise
- Not established
- All aboard were lost; the source does not give the number.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
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- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Fairport Harbor, Ohio
No pin: Ohio Sea Grant dive-slate positions are not used as wreck pins.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
Original newspaper accounts are quoted by the source and were not independently inspected.
Ohio Sea Grant — Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales of Lake Erie: Stephen F. Gale
Ship information, wreck site and story-of-loss sections read; quoted newspapers and books not independently inspected.
