By James Heinz
In a previous story I told of how Milwaukee’s Discovery World was built around a replica of the schooner CHALLENGE. This is the story of the real CHALLENGE.
Discovery World’s choice of the CHALLENGE was an appropriate one. In his book SCHOONER PASSAGES: SAILING SHIPS AND THE LAKE MICHIGAN FRONTIER, Dr. Theodore Karamanski described the CHALLENGE as being: “… a shoal draft, almost flat bottomed clipper schooner with sharp ends.
“These changes improved the ship’s cargo capacity without creating a vessel that drew more water, something that would not do with all the sandbars blocking Lake Michigan harbors. To give the ship great stability under full sail, Bates added a retractable centerboard to the keel.
“Bates new style schooner was launched in 1852 and christened the CHALLENGE. Doubters were quickly silenced by the CHALLENGE’s speed which was regularly 13 knots…CHALLENGE became the model for Lake Michigan clipper schooners.”
CHALLENGE in Sheboygan Harbor in 1909
As I reported in earlier stories, most Great Lakes ports were built on rivers whose mouths were blocked by sandbars formed when river sediment hit the Lakes. https://wmhs.org/when-kenosha-committed-treason-against-the-united-state/ and https://wmhs.org/milwaukees-first-cargo-pier-is-commemorated/
A ship with shallow draft and a centerboard that could be retracted before crossing a river mouth sandbar was a great advantage.
The real CHALLENGE displaced 110 tons, and was 85.5 feet long, 22.5 feet wide, and drew only 6.5 feet of water. WMHS files show that she had at least 23 owners between 1851 and 1910. The files indicate the usual hazards of being a Great Lakes schooner.
1868 Broken centerboard. 1870 Mainmast and rigging destroyed by fire. 1871 Hit a pier in Sheboygan harbor and sank. 1873 Almost sank in mid Lake due to leak from a mouse hole. 1879 Declared “non insurable”. 1901 Aground on a reef near Bailey’s Harbor.
On November 13, 1873, she collided with the schooner ELIZA GERLACH between the piers at the entrance to Milwaukee harbor, rolled over on her side, and sank, obstructing the entrance. There she stayed until December 19.
On June 21, 1877, CHALLENGE became unmanageable while being towed up the Milwaukee River and “ran her bow into the old saloon on the south approach to Menomonee bridge so forcibly that the building was penetrated and about 20 feet of its side carried away.”
In 1877, having sailed across the Atlantic, she was sold at Drogheda, Ireland. 1910 Hit a bridge in Sheboygan.
CHALLENGE wreckage on the beach
According to Wisconsinshipwrecks.org, her end came on “September 5, 1910. “Failing to make port through the fog at Port Washington, and caught in pound nets in her attempt to return to Sheboygan harbor, the schooner Challenge (Capt. O’Brien of Chicago) lies on the beach twelve miles south of this city (Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) a total wreck. On being caught in pound nets the schooner began leaking, and the crew, which included Capt. O’Brien’s son Edward, and Charles and William Wolf of Milwaukee, began pumping, but becoming exhausted, it was necessary to save the lives of those on board by beaching the vessel. The running gear, sails, etc., were stripped from the Challenge and placed on the beach. The party, which included O’Brien’s wife, walked several miles to a summer resort.”
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Photo credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
