Posted by RobertU on May 14, 19102 at 18:58:04:
In Reply to: Re: Gailnipper artifact removal posted by Brendon Baillod on May 14, 19102 at 18:06:19:
Most of the tech divers I have talked to seem to have a real preservation ethic. They are more interested in shooting video, than they are in taking things. The reason for diving deep is to see great wrecks. They like to leave them as they found them.
: I agree that the wreck is very much vulnerable to plunder. However, I know of only a small handful of people with numbers for this wreck and I was unaware that she had been visited by divers in recent years. I would very much like to know if anyone's been on her because I'd like to get rough dimensions of the hull and I don't do technical dives. It would be nice to positively identify the wreck. I certainly hope that nobody has taken anything from this ship.
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: : Brendon:
: : I am well aware of the Northerner and her location and apologize for the error in geography. The schooner John Steele found and claimed to be the Gailnipper is the wreck I am referring to. This wreck would be located near Manitowoc Wisc. in approximately 220ft of water.
: : While the wreck may lie in deep water, it is accessible and vulnerable to wreck plunderers.
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: : : Contrary to some sources, the wreck of the schooner Gallinipper is not off Port Washington, Wisconsin. Perhaps you are referring to the wreck of the schooner Northerner, which does lie off Port and is in very nice condition. I have not heard of anything being removed from the Northerner, but it is certainly possible.
: : : The Gallinipper (145 gt., built 1846 at Milwaukee) was reported found off Manitowoc by John Steele after he was called to untangle a commercial fisherman's nets in the 1980s. The wreck was in deep water (c. 220 ft.), was very tangled in nets and had very low visibility. In freeing the nets, a mast came loose and was donated to the Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum in Two Rivers where it is mis-identified as coming from the schooner Home.
: : : However, the schooner Steele found is almost certainly not the Gallinipper and remains unindentified. According to the original news accounts, the Gallinipper capsized in a squall on July 7, 1851 and was being towed to Manitowoc when she hung up on the bottom and could be towed no further. The schooner Convoy recovered her main sail, boom and gaffs, but the Gallinipper was abandoned in place, about 10 mi. SSE of Manitowoc.
: : : Because the Gallinipper was securely hung up on the bottom and was only 95.0 x 21.8 x 7.0 ft., it is impossible for her to lie in 200+ ft. of water. Her masts would not have been long enough to hang her up in water that deep.
: : : A few expeditions have been planned to visit the wreck Steele called the Gallinipper to do a positive identification, but to date, nobody has managed to get out to it.
: : : I'd be interested in anyone else's comments concerning the Gallinipper.
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: : : : I heard that someone removed the wheel and other artifacts from the wreck of the Gailnipper off of Port Washington Wisconsin. Has anyone heard anything more about this?