WUAA

Historic Schooner Margaret A. Muir off Algoma

Algoma, Wisconsin - Friday, July 19, 2024

Maritime historians from the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association have located the remains of the historic schooner Margaret A. Muir off Algoma, Wisconsin as the result of a deliberate search.  The team, including Brendon Baillod, Robert Jaeck and Kevin Cullen used historical records as well as a high resolution side scanning sonar to locate the vessel, finding its remains on May 12th, 2024.

The Muir was a 130 foot, three-masted schooner built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1872 by the Hanson & Scove shipyard for Captain David Muir.  It was intended primarily for the Great Lakes grain trade, although it carried many diverse cargoes, frequenting all five Great Lakes over her 21 year career. 

The vessel was lost at 8AM on the morning of Saturday, September 30, 1893 while bound from Bay City, Michigan to South Chicago, Illinois with a cargo of bulk salt.  Her Captain, David Clow, stated that they had cleared the Straits of Mackinac and headed for the Wisconsin coast when a 50 mph gale struck at about 5AM when they were about mid-Lake.  The ship was wearing the storm well until about 7:30AM when the waves increased dramatically and the vessel was headed toward the nearest port, but it soon fell into the trough of the seas with giant waves breaking over its decks.  The vessel had nearly reached Ahnapee (present-day Algoma, Wisconsin), when the captain went below deck to find several feet of water in the hold and immediately ordered the crew to abandon ship.  No sooner than the order was given, the ship lurched violently and plunged for the bottom, taking Captain Clow’s faithful dog and ship’s mascot with it.  The lifeboat filled with water as soon as it was launched and was only kept afloat with much bailing as the men pulled for the harbor lights through fifteen-foot seas.

Through expert seamanship, Captain Clow managed to pilot the small open boat through the giant breakers and onto the beach where the freezing and soaked crew of six were spotted by the townsfolk.  They were taken to the St. Charles Hotel and given dry clothing, most having lost all their possessions in the shipwreck.  Captain Clow, a 71 year old Lake veteran, had seen many wrecks in his day, but exclaimed “I have quit sailing, for water no longer seems to have any liking for me.”  The Captain was particularly grieved at the loss of his dog, described as “an intelligent and faithful animal, and a great favorite with the captain and crew.”  The Captain remarked “I would rather lose any sum of money than to have the brute perish as he did.”

The Margaret A. Muir was lost to history until Baillod began compiling a database of Wisconsin’s missing ships around twenty years ago.  The Muir stood out as being particularly findable.  In 2023, Baillod approached the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association to undertake a search for the vessel, narrowing the search grid to about five square miles, using historical sources.  Baillod, Jaeck and Cullen were on their final pass of the day and in the process of retrieving the sonar when they ran over the wreck in approximately fifty feet of water only a few miles off the Algoma Harbor entrance.  It had lay undetected for over a century, despite hundreds of fishing boats passing over each season. 

The team notified Wisconsin State Maritime Archeologist Tamara Thomsen of the find and within weeks a team collected thousands of high resolution images of the site which were used by Zach Whitrock to create a 3D photogrammetry model of the wrecksite, allowing people to explore the site virtually.  The vessel is no longer intact, its sides having fallen outward after deck collapsed, but all its deck gear remains, including two giant anchors, hand pumps, its bow windlass and its capstan.

The Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association now plans to work with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Archeology Program to nominate the site to the National Register of Historic Places.  If accepted, it will join the schooner Trinidad, which the team located in deep water off Algoma in June of 2023.

The Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (wuaa.org) is a 501c3 educational group that provides opportunities for the public to participate in Underwater Archeology and community maritime history projects as citizen scientists.

For a Media/Press Kit with pre-approved news images and additional information, visit: www.shipwreckworld.com

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Brendon Baillod – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.shipwreck.info – 608.438.7246

Robert Jaeck – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – 262.865.4869

Kevin Cullen - Executive Director, Wisconsin Maritime Museum - kcullen@wisconsinmaritime.org - 920.374.4006

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Published: 20 July 2024