Alvin Clark 1864
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | Alvin Clark | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1864 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | schooner | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 45.1042, -87.6203 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Alvin Clark was a schooner that sailed the Great Lakes for almost two decades. Constructed in 1846 or 1847, it sank during a storm in Green Bay in 1864. It was salvaged in 1969 and moored in Menominee, Michigan, at the Mystery Ship Seaport, located in the Menominee River at the foot of Sixth Avenue. The ship was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1972 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974; Alvin Clark was removed from the National Register of Historic Places on June 10, 2020. Although the schooner was in pristine condition when raised, no plans were in place for its conservation, and the ship rapidly deteriorated. The remains of Alvin Clark were destroyed in 1994.
Diving & visiting
In 1967, sport diver Frank Hoffman was hired by a commercial fisherman to free nets that had snagged on an "unknown obstruction" under the surface of Green Bay. Hoffman dove in and discovered the nets tangled in what appeared to be a ship's mast. Hoffman initially referred to the wreck as "the Mystery Ship at 19 Fathoms", but the ship proved to be the Alvin Clark, and was positively identified through a stencil made belowdecks by one of the sailors. The ship was completely intact and in excellent condition, and Hoffman secured the salvage rights the next year. He assembled a team that salvaged the ship, recovering artifacts and removing the silt from the wreck.
Location
- Recorded position: 45.1042, -87.6203 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Alvin Clark (schooner) (revision 1372277880), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Salvage”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- Hanover 28 km
- Joys 1898 · 33 km
- Bullhead Point Historical and Archeological District 34 km
- Meridian 37 km
- Success 1896 · 39 km
- SS Australasia 1896 · 40 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Steam era