Northern Light
Ship stats
Depth: 12 feet
Coordinates: To be announced
Vessel Type: Wooden two-masted scow schooner
Length: 65 feet
Breadth: 17.3 feet
Gross Tonnage: 39
Cargo: Gravel
Built: 1899 by Captain Frank D. Phelps at Chaumont, New York
Port of Registry: Sackets Harbor, New York
Owner at Loss: likely Dexter Dibble of Sackets Harbor, New York
Date Lost: October 18, 1916
Cause of Loss: Stranded
Loss of Life: None of 4
Historical Background
The two-masted scow schooner Northern Light (US Official Number 130821) was built by Captain Frank Phelps at Chaumont, New York in 1899. The scow schooner was 65 feet long, 17.3 feet in breadth and had a 5.8-foot depth of hold, measuring 39 gross tons. While Northern Light’s original owner is unknown, it was purchased by Dexter M. Dibble of Sackets Harbor, New York in 1907.
On the morning of Wednesday, October 18, 1916, Northern Light departed Sackets Harbor for Calf Island, a small island between Galloo and Stony Islands 14 miles to the west. At Calf Island, the crew of four tied the schooner off to a tree on shore and began gathering and loading gravel into the scow.
That afternoon high winds swept across the lake, breaking Northern Light’s mooring line. The crew attempted to set the anchor but the chain broke, leaving the scow adrift and unmanageable. After drifting north and west, Northern Light was driven onto the line of shoals along the northeast shore of Galloo Island around 4:00 that afternoon. Residents of Galloo Island witnessed the wreck but were unable to render aid to the stranded sailors until the following morning due to the waves. The following morning, the crew were taken off the wreck by Galloo Island residents. Northern Light was stripped of anything useful and was finally abandoned in the spring of 1917.
Wreck Site
Site photo model of Northern Light. Photo:Joe Hoyt/NOAA
Northern Light rests in 12 feet of water within the sheltered waters of Gill Harbor on the eastern side of Galloo Island, New York. The scow schooner’s shallow depth and remarkable state of preservation provide an ideal opportunity for divers and snorkellers to to explore.
The hull remains mostly intact but deeply embedded in the bottom, with its bow and starboard side being partially buried. The bow is almost entirely buried apart from the bulwarks forward of the foremast. The bow retains an intact bowsprit and a small windlass. The deck is interrupted by two large hatches. The forward hatch is divided into two halves by a daggerboard trunk, a rarity in late 19th century ship construction. The daggerboard protrudes from the top of the trunk, which extends above the level of the deck.
Northern Light is among the most accessible and best-preserved examples of a Great Lakes scow schooner within Lake America and within the entire Great Lakes. These box-like vessels were both affordable and easily built, providing cost-effective transportation on the lakes for many lakeshore communities.
Due to the rarity of daggerboard scow schooners, Northern Light was the subject of archaeological investigations by the National Museum of the Great Lakes and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2023. Limited excavations were conducted at the site under permit from both the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and New York state, by these institutions in order to better understand this construction and history of this unique vessel.
