Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks - Explore Shipwrecks - Daniel Lyons
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Depth: 110 feet    | Condition: The vessel's remains lie scattered about 0.8 miles from shore on a rocky bottom.

The wreck site is marked seasonally by an official state shipwreck buoy placed by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Her location is N 44° 40.241' W 087° 17.712'. The Daniel Lyons lies in 110 feet of water, mostly broken up, but nearly all hull structure and rigging is present and easily examined. Bottom temperatures range from 40 to 42° F, with visibility varying from 40 to 100 feet.

 

daniellyons_bow.jpg
The bow of the Daniel Lyons. A diver is barely visible in upper left.

The Daniel Lyons site represents a nearly complete Great Lakes schooner. The collapsed hull exposes many construction details not visible on more intact vessels. Both hull sides have collapsed to port, and the stern area is scattered off the starboard quarter. The centerboard trunk remains intact and standing, complete with the centerboard chain running from the centerboard inside the trunk to the centerboard winch lying off the trunk’s port side. Both stem and stern posts are intact with deadwood . Much of the running rigging is strewn about the wreck site, including masts , topmasts , gaffs , booms , and wire rope.

The Daniel Lyons’ bluff bow is the site’s most visually impressive feature. Before toppling to port, the bowsprit and jib boom jib boom dislodged from their location atop the stempost and split the bow in two along the stempost’s starboard side, coming to rest atop the keelson. The bowsprit lies beneath the jib boom and extends from the starboard hull to the jib boom’s fastening ring. The bowsprit continues beneath the starboard hull, which lays somewhat flattened over the stempost, bowsprit, and windlass . A tangle of wire rigging lies around the bowsprit, as well as a sail gaff, complete with jaws , that lies immediately to starboard of the jib boom.

 

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