On this day May 24, 1873, the three masted schooner CHARLES LULING was launched at the Manitowoc yard of Larson & Christenson. The LULING successfully hit the water a little after 5 pm as the crowd cheered. Built for the lumber trade and named for one of Manitowoc’s best citizens Charles Luling of the First National Bank, she measured 123 feet in length, 25.9 feet in beam and had a depth of 9.6 feet.
The LULING had the usual schooner adventures, one of which is recorded in history in the photo below, stranding at Manistique the fall of 1890. The tug ELMER was on hand to help. She was rescued and sailed on for years.
CHARLES LULING stranded at Manistique, the fall of 1890 with tug ELMER standing by
In September of 1903, the LULING went to the Atlantic Coast and had a few coastal adventures. Below is the Bangor Daily News article of September 7th, which sums up being lost in the fog.
“The lake schooner CHARLES LULING, which arrived at Bangor Saturday from Charlevoix, Mich., had a hard time on the coast of Maine and narrowly escaped being wrecked near the end of the long voyage from the lakes to Bangor. On Thursday last, Capt. Stephen Lewis of the fishing schooner ROCKHAVEN discovered the LULING at anchor dangerously near the rocks southeast of Brimstone Island, four miles south of Vinalhaven, and notified her master, Capt. Morehouse, of his danger. Capt. Morehouse asked Capt. Lewis to pilot the vessel to Bangor, but being busy with other work, the latter turned the job over to Capt. Burns, who brought her here.
“Capt. Morehouse said that he had been lost in the fog for two days, and had run short of provisions. He obtained provisions and Penobscot bay charts at Vinalhaven. In order to get into the positon where Capt. Lewis found her, the LULING must have passed directly over a half tide ledge, on which she would have struck had she not come in on the tip-top of the tide.
“The CHARLES LULING is a queer-looking craft, rigged as a three-masted schooner, with her mizzenmast shorter than the main and fore and raking like that of a pirate. She is a vessel of 185 tons net, was built at Manitowoc, Wis., in 1873, and hails from Grand Haven, Mich. Capt. Morehouse intends to go into the coastwise lumber trade.”
The LULING seemed to do okay for a year on the coast. The following is from the Boston Globe of November 20, 1904, noting her entry to Nantucket.
“The three-masted schooner CHARLES LULING, while attempting to enter this harbor last night, went ashore near the western jetty, well inside the shoals. Her decks are awash. The crew have abandoned the vessel with their dunnage. The schooner is laden with coal.
“Capt. Morehouse says he was coming in without a pilot and asserts that the lamps on the jetties were not lighted. He states that he mistook the cliff beacons for the harbor entrance and took a wrong course.
“…The crew returned on board the schooner tonight, and will remain as long as the weather continues fair. There is little prospect of saving the schooner. She is badly strained and is buried deeply in the sand, with only eight feet of water around her at high tide.
“If weather conditions are favorable tomorrow, an attempt will be made to save a portion of the cargo of coal, which is fully insured.”
The crew did abandon her and after several attempts she was later floated, although leaking badly. The LULING was able to sail the coast for a few more years.
In September 1912, bound for Boston loaded with roofing gravel, she lost her masts in the choppy seas off Cuttyhunk Island and drifted near Hen and Chickens Reef. The revenue cutter ACUSHNET came to her rescue, she was towed into New Bedford and then onto South Boston.
On December 14, 1913, the LULING was abandoned by her crew, for the last time, on Middle Ground Shoal where she was leaking badly. The revenue cutter ACUSHNET tried unsuccessfully to pull her off.
Suzette Lopez
Photo Credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
This story was originally posted on May 24, 2024.
