AH-WR-1949

Wm. H. McAllister

Tugboat · Lost 1963 · Lake Champlain

A wartime Army tug turned New York towboat, Wm. H. McAllister struck Schuyler Reef and sank in November 1963.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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 by the Livingston Shipbuilding Company at Orange, Texas, in 1942, the steel diesel tug served the U.S. Army as ST-243. McAllister Brothers of New York bought her in 1949 and renamed her Wm. H. McAllister. On November 17, 1963, towing an empty gasoline barge, she struck Schuyler Reef on Lake Champlain and sank; all hands escaped to the barge. Plans to raise her were never carried out, and the museum found the wreck in 1988.

Vessel

Built: 1942
Registry: Official no. 258975
Builder: Livingston Shipbuilding Company
Yard: Orange, Texas
Material: Steel
Length: 80.6 ft
Beam: 23.1 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Diesel
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 17, 1963
Cause: Grounding
Location: Schuyler Reef, Lake Champlain
Water: Lake Champlain
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1988 (Lake Champlain Maritime Museum)
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position withheld to protect the site
Nearest: Schuyler Island, New York
Region: Lake Champlain

No pin: the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum does not publish this site's position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)

Number aboard is not stated in the source reviewed.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum — Tugboat Wm. H. McAllister (Wreck O)
Registry details, Army service, loss narrative and ROV survey read; survey reports and Burlington Free Press not independently inspected.