Newell A. Eddy was a large three‑masted wooden schooner built in 1890 at West Bay City, Michigan by Frank W. Wheeler & Co. (also referred to in records as Hampton Transportation Co. or Eddy Transportation Co.). Official number 130467. The vessel measured approximately 242 ft in length with a beam of about 39.7 ft and a gross tonnage of around 1270 tons. She was used in the grain (wheat) trade, towed in a “consort system” by the steamer Charles A. Eddy across the Great Lakes.
Description Newell A. Eddy was a three‑masted wooden schooner of 1,270 gross register tons, built in 1890 by Frank W. Wheeler & Co. at West Bay City, Michigan. She measured about long and had a beam, with no engine of her own, relying on towing in a consort arrangement.
Final voyage and wreck On 22 April 1893, while being towed by the steamer Charles A. Eddy and bound for Buffalo, New York, with a cargo of wheat, the tow line parted during a severe storm near the Straits of Mackinac off Cheboygan, Michigan. The unpowered Newell A. Eddy broke free, drifted, and is believed to have struck Spectacle Reef before foundering with all hands.
The wreck The wreck of Newell A. Eddy was discovered in 1992 by a research team from the University of Michigan (the vessel Laurentian). It lies upright and largely intact in approximately of water in Lake Huron, near Bois Blanc Island, with its three masts still standing. On site are visible features including capstans (including an engraved capstan cover), a donkey boiler, bowsprit, centerboard winch, though the aft cabin, wheel, transom and rudder are missing. The wreck has become a popular dive site at .
See also List of shipwrecks in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
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