S/V Denis Sullivan


Click the image to learn more. The S/V Denis Sullivan was built to educate modern visitors about nineteenth-century sailing.

The Sailing Vessel Denis Sullivan is a replica three-masted Great Lakes schooner.[1] In the 19th century, schooners were the most common means of transporting bulk commodities on the Great Lakes.[2] In 1991, a group of Milwaukeeans began recreating a three-masted schooner.[3] They formed the Wisconsin Lake Schooner Education Association (WLSEA), a non-profit foundation with the mission of using a replica schooner to teach about the Great Lakes and Wisconsin’s maritime history.[4] Timothy Graul Marine Design’s plan for the vessel was a composite of several different 19th century schooners.[5] While the overall appearance of the vessel above the waterline is fairly true to its predecessors, several below-deck changes (including auxiliary engines) comply with Coast Guard regulations and the mission of the ship.[6] The schooner was named the S/V Denis Sullivan after one of the most famous Great Lakes ship captains.[7]

Work began on the Denis Sullivan in 1996 after the Menominee Nation donated six white pine trees harvested from their forest.[8] The ship was completed in 2000 after more than 300 volunteers put in almost a million hours of time under the direction of professional shipwrights.[9] WLSEA changed its name to Pier Wisconsin by 2002. Until 2022 the vessel was owned by Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin on Milwaukee’s lakefront.[10] The Denis Sullivan conducted educational day and overnight sailing trips throughout the summer months and sometimes spends the winters in warmer water off of Southern Florida.[11] In 2022, as a result of fiscal strains due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Discovery World sold the S/V Denis Sullivan to World Ocean School, a nonprofit organization that planned to operate the ship in the Boston area.[12]

Footnotes [+]

  1. ^ Mark D. Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” Marine Technology and SNAME News 39 (January 2002): 12, retrieved from https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/211837197?accountid=15078. This entry was posted on May 20, 2019 and updated on September 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” 12.
  3. ^ Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” 12.
  4. ^ Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” 12.
  5. ^ Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” 12.
  6. ^ Pudlo, “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan,” 12.
  7. ^ “The History of S/V Denis Sullivan,” S/V Denis Sullivan website, accessed October 8, 2014, http://www.schoonerdenissullivan.org/About-Us.html.
  8. ^ “The History of S/V Denis Sullivan,” S/V Denis Sullivan website, accessed October 8, 2014, http://www.schoonerdenissullivan.org/About-Us.html; Eric LaRose, “3-Masted Schooner Denis Sullivan Hits Water for Test Sail in Lake Michigan,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 6, 2000, accessed October 8, 2014, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=20001106&id=jr4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ty8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1947,6252853.
  9. ^ “3-Masted Schooner Denis Sullivan Hits Water for Test Sail in Lake Michigan,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 6, 2000, accessed October 8, 2014, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=20001106&id=jr4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ty8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1947,6252853; “Volunteering on Board the S/V Denis Sullivan,” S/V Denis Sullivan website, accessed October 8, 2014, http://www.schoonerdenissullivan.org/Volunteers.html.
  10. ^ “Posner Gives $650,000 to Pier Wisconsin,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 18, 2002, accessed October 8, 2014, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=20020618&id=Dr4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9EEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3610,6687762; “The History of S/V Denis Sullivan,” S/V Denis Sullivan website, accessed October 8, 2014, http://www.schoonerdenissullivan.org/About-Us.html, information now available at Historical Information, Discovery World website, https://www.discoveryworld.org/exhibits/sailing-vessel-denis-sullivan/historical-information/, last accessed July 14, 2017.
  11. ^ Mark Crutcher, “Schooner Denis Sullivan Sailing back Home,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 27, 2003, accessed October 8, 2014, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=20030527&id=nLIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S0QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6551,5654271; “Programs Onboard the S/V Denis Sullivan,” S/V Denis Sullivan website, accessed October 8, 2014, http://www.schoonerdenissullivan.org/Programs.html; Chip Brewster, “S/V Denis Sullivan Prepares for a New Season of Sailing,” Fox6 News, accessed October 22, 2014.
  12. ^ Chelsey Lewis, “Tall Ship S/V Denis Sullivan Is Leaving Milwaukee after Being Sold to Boston-Based World Ocean School,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 16, 2022, accessed September 19, 2022.

For Further Reading

Pudlo, Mark D. 2002. “Design of the Schooner Denis Sullivan.” Marine Technology and SNAME News 31 (1): 12.

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