Schooner Kate Kelly

Schooner Kate Kelly (HMSDC)

Location: Wind Point, WI 53402 Racine County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 46.879', W 87° 45.468'

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Inscription

Historic Shipwreck

— Wisconsin's Maritime Trails —

Type: Wooden schooner, two-masted
Built: 1867, Martell, Tonawanda, N.Y.; Rebuilt 1875-1876
Sank: May 14, 1895
Length: 126' Beam: 25'
Cargo: Grain, coal, and lumber
Depth: 55'
Lives Lost: 7

About two miles offshore from here, the wooden schooner Kate Kelly lies broken and scattered in 55 feet of water. She had departed Alpena, Mich., in early May 1895, loaded with railroad ties and bound for her home port of Chicago. In command was Captain Hartley J. Hatch, one of the Great Lakes' most experienced captains. He had led Great Lakes schooners and steamers on trips to south Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and Europe. Captain Hatch was also an inventor and had outfitted the Kate Kelly with novel life-saving devices that were "a wonder to all lakemen."

On May 13, the Kate Kelly encountered a raging storm that proved too much for her and Captain Hatch's inventions. She sank just short of her home port, as farmers watched helplessly from the shore. Soon, the only signs of the Kate Kelly were her masts protruding from the water and thousands of railroad ties floating off Wind Point. Captain Hatch and all six crewmen perished.

During her three decades of service, the Kate Kelly made many long trips hauling grain and coal between Lake Michigan ports and Kingston, Ontario. Similar wooden schooners dominated Great Lakes shipping after the Civil War. Even with stiff competition from steam vessels, the adaptable vessels survived on the lakes into the 1930's.
Details
HM NumberHMSDC
Series This marker is part of the Wisconsin: Wisconsin's Maritime Trails series
Tags
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Placed ByWisconsin Historical Society, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, October 24th, 2014 at 4:21pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16T E 438014 N 4736809
Decimal Degrees42.78131667, -87.75780000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 46.879', W 87° 45.468'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 46' 52.74" N, 87° 45' 28.08" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)262
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 4725 Lighthouse Dr, Wind Point WI 53402, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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