The following morning Connell and his crew returned to the Carrington in a small, borrowed sailboat and found that the strong northwest winds of the previous night had caused the vessel to slide into deeper water and roll over on her port side. The Carrington also appeared to have broken in two.

Her underwriters considered the Carrington a total loss. Articles in the Green Bay Advocate on November 3 and 10 reported the schooner valued at $12,000, but only insured for a total of $10,000. The cargo, worth $10,000, was insured for $9,600.

George W. Miller, a diver from Detroit, traveled to the wreck site to salvage the Carrington's sunken cargo. By the time he arrived, approximately half of the 600,000 shingles had already been recovered from the beach. Working under the ice during February and March of 1871, Miller was able to recover about one hundred and twenty-five tons of pig iron.

More recently, divers attempted to salvage some of the Carrington's historical significance. Divers with the Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program of the Wisconsin Historical Society undertook an archaeological survey of the Carrington between July 21 and July 27, 1992. Each section of wreckage was surveyed and mapped, providing measured sketches of the entire site.  Archaeologists supplemented the sketches with still photography and underwater video.