Scow Schooner Ocean Wave

The Ocean Wave was a two-masted wooden scow schooner built in 1860 by Robert Chambers on Harsen's Island, Michigan. A boxy, flat-bottomed vessel, it represented the late 1800s type that could enter shallow harbors more easily than more shapely craft and helped connect small frontier towns with large city markets. In the early morning of September 23, 1869, while delivering limestone to White Lake, Michigan, the Ocean Wave struck a deadhead, a floating log or timber, and sank quickly, leaving the crew barely enough time to launch the lifeboat. Captain Fletcher Hackett reportedly left $160 in his cabin in the rush to escape, and the crew rowed through the night before finally reaching shore nearby. The remains lie four miles southeast in 110 feet of water, where the bow is largely intact and still shows a crudely carved eagle figurehead with open mouth and extended tongue, while the ship's sides have fallen outward and the aft deck and its intact cabin lie nearby.

Sevastopol, Wisconsin · United States