AH-WR-1964

Tanner

Bark (or Barque) · Lost 1875 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

The wheat bark Tanner was wrecked on Milwaukee's piers in 1875; her loss led directly to the opening of the city's Life-Saving station.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Built in 1863, the three-masted bark Tanner left Milwaukee for Buffalo with wheat on the night of September 9, 1875, and was struck by a squall ahead of a northeast gale that stripped her canvas. Anchored off the piers, she was driven into the pilings before dawn, broke her keel and sank to her decks. Her crew spent the night in the rigging. Captain Howard drowned trying to swim ashore, but volunteers in a yawl saved the rest. Her loss spurred the opening of Milwaukee's Life-Saving station in 1876.

Vessel

Built: 1863
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: September 10, 1875
Cause: Storm
Location: Harbor piers at the Milwaukee River entrance, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Milwaukee, Wisconsin → Buffalo, New York
Cargo: Wheat
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 1
Master: Capt. M.D. Howard