Gilchrist Fleet

a diver takes notes while examining a shipwreck
A scuba diver documents the site of the Gilchrist Fleet.

Mooring Buoy(s): None

Description: The beginning of the 20th century witnessed the widespread abandonment of vessels engaged in the rapidly declining lumber trade on the Great Lakes. In Lake Huron’s Isaacson Bay, the area around Whitefish Point served as an abandoned ship “graveyard” for F.W. Gilchrist’s wooden schooner barge fleet. Gilchrist abandoned the ships when he moved his sawmill operations to the state of Oregon. S.H. Lathrop was stripped and run up on the point in 1902. In 1903 both Light Guard and Knight Templar were also left at Whitefish Point after being stripped. All three ships were “canal size,” or 136 to 143 feet in length. Today, large sections of ships’ hulls representing at least two of the vessels can be viewed in just three to seven feet of water. Adjacent to the hull timbers is miscellaneous wreckage including a centerboard, rudder, and a small metal duck boat. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary would like to thank the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS) for their assistance in volunteering to help with the archaeological documentation of the Gilchrist Fleet.


diagram of a shipwreck
Site plan of the Gilchrist Fleet

Knight Templar

Vessel Type: Sail: wooden schooner barge

GPS Location: N45° 03.705’ W83° 22.099’

Depth: 7

Wreck Length: 136 feet

Beam: 26 feet

Gross Tonnage: 290

Cargo: None

Launched: 1865 by George Goble, Oswego, New York

Wrecked: July 25, 1903

Great Lakes Maritime Collection digital archive


Frames and fasteners are visible at the shallow site of the Gilchrist Fleet
Frames and fasteners are visible at the shallow site of the Gilchrist Fleet.

S.H. Lathrop

Vessel Type: Sail: wooden schooner barge

GPS Location: N45° 03.705’ W83° 22.099’

Depth: 7

Wreck Length: 137 feet

Beam: 26 feet

Gross Tonnage: 278

Cargo: None

Launched: 1856 by Francis N. Jones, Buffalo, New York

Wrecked: May 14, 1902

Great Lakes Maritime Collection digital archive


Wooden wreckage from the Gilchrist Fleet, visible from the surface.
Wooden wreckage from the Gilchrist Fleet, visible from the surface.

Light Guard

Vessel Type: Sail: wooden schooner barge

GPS Location: N45° 03.670’ W83° 22.095’

Depth: 7

Wreck Length: 143 feet

Beam: 27 feet

Gross Tonnage: 310

Cargo: None

Launched: 1866 by J.M. Jones, Detroit, Michigan

Wrecked: July 22, 1903

Great Lakes Maritime Collection digital archive