Launched: 1855
Sank: 1867

Located 0.18 miles northwest of the Plum Island U.S. Coast Guard Station near the town of Washington Island, Wisconsin, in Lake Michigan, the wreck site of the schooner Grape Shot lies on the lakebed in 8 feet of water. Although the vessel lies broken and scattered around the bay, her starboard side and much of her lower hull remains intact and is well preserved. The wreck site has long been known, but until summer 2015, remained undocumented.

The schooner Grape Shot was constructed by Master shipwright B. B. Jones in Buffalo, New York, in 1855 and carried various bulk cargoes on the upper Great Lakes for the duration of her career. In November 1867, the Grape Shot became stranded in the bay on the north edge of Plum Island, near the Plum Island Lifesaving Station.

In the midst of a gale during the first few days of November 1867, Grape Shot grounded on the north side of Plum Island not far from the site of her stranding in August 1866. She ran so far up on the rocks that her bow was lifted four feet into the air. Fortunately, no lives were lost. Initially it was thought the schooner could be easily removed. Newspapers published reports indicating the vessel had sustained no damage. The tug Leviathan was sent from Chicago to pull the vessel free, but the salvage attempts failed and Grape Shot was declared a total loss. The propeller George Dunbar arrived from Chicago to recover Grape Shot’s cargo of 50,000 board feet of lumber and salt. Additionally, her rigging was removed and placed aboard the George Dunbar. Cargo and rigging was taken to Chicago on 12 November.

Grape Shot was valued at $10,000 at the time of her loss. Her hull was insured for $7500 and she had a $7000 insurance policy on her $9000 cargo of lumber. Grape Shot’s hull began to break up over the winter months and the vessel was stripped of all deck equipment by mid-July 1868.

State and federal laws protect this shipwreck. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. More information on Wisconsin's historic shipwrecks may be found by visiting Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks website, www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org