WRECK SUMMARY

  • Type: Wooden Schooner
  • Length: Not specified
  • Loss of Life: 2
  • Location: Off the harbor entrance at Pentwater, Lake Michigan
  • GPS: Not recorded
  • Depth: Unknown (likely shallow)

IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION

  • Vessel Name: Lieut.-General U.S. Grant
  • Type: Wooden sailing Schooner
  • Built: 1865
  • Flag/Registry: United States
  • Date of Loss: September 18, 1878
  • Final Resting Place: Stranded off Pentwater Harbor, Lake Michigan
  • Cargo at Time of Loss: Wood
  • Casualties: 2 lives lost

VESSEL TYPE DESCRIPTION

The Lieut.-General U.S. Grant was a typical mid-19th-century wooden Schooner designed for bulk freight service across the Great Lakes. Schooners like this were commonly used in the lumber trade, carrying sawn wood and timber from Michigan ports to urban markets like Chicago.

HISTORY

On September 18, 1878, the Lieut.-General U.S. Grant was outbound from Pentwater, Michigan, carrying a cargo of wood bound for Chicago. While attempting to exit the harbor, the Schooner encountered a storm and stranded off the harbor entrance.

Despite calling for tugs, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The vessel was wrecked, and two lives were lost in the incident. The exact circumstances—whether the tugs failed to reach her in time or conditions made salvage impossible—are not fully detailed in existing records.

FINAL DISPOSITION

Wrecked near the harbor entrance at Pentwater. The vessel was a Total Loss. The site is not presently documented as an active dive location, but its proximity to shore suggests potential for future shallow-water survey.

REFERENCES & LINKS