SV ''Denis Sullivan'' is a three-masted wooden gaff rigged

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

originally from

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The only existing replica of a 19th century

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

schooner, she was envisioned and built by a Milwaukee-based team of professionals and volunteers and was owned by the museum

Discovery World Discovery World may refer to: * Discovery World (museum), a science and technology museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US * Discovery World (international TV channel) Discovery World is a former European pay television channel which featured program ...

. She was the flagship of both the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

until Discovery World controversially sold her to the World Ocean School in late 2022. She then moved to

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where World Ocean School is located, although her home port is still listed as Milwaukee for ceremonial reasons and because World Ocean School plans on maintaining her connection with the city.

History

The construction of the ''Denis Sullivan'' was first proposed in 1989 by a group of Milwaukee residents and volunteers from other states. Called Milwaukee Lake Schooner Ltd., their plan was to build a

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...

which would serve as a platform for educating people about the

. The ship was primarily designed by naval architect Tim Graul of

Sturgeon Bay Sturgeon Bay is an arm of Green Bay extending southeastward approximately 10 miles into the Door Peninsula at the city of Sturgeon Bay, located approximately halfway up the Door Peninsula. The bay is connected to Lake Michigan by the Sturgeo ...

, and the keel was built by

Peterson Builders Peterson Builders Incorporated (PBI) was an American ship building company that constructed small to medium, naval and commercial ships and boats. The company mainly operated from a shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Spare parts and logistics ...

. Community involvement was welcome in the project, and almost a thousand people donated almost a million

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

hours toward the ''Denis Sullivan'' construction. The Menominee Nation donated six large

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

trees to become her masts. Through the efforts of both professional

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

s and volunteers, the ship was partially completed and launched in June 2000. She was named the ''Denis Sullivan'' after prominent backer Jere Sullivan's grandfather Denis Sullivan, who was once the longest-serving ship captain on the Great Lakes aboard the schooner ''Moonlight'' (built in Milwaukee in 1874). She departed Milwaukee for her first sail to the Caribbean in November 2000, where Delaney Sloan was the captain. The Milwaukee Lake Schooner Ltd. later changed their name to the Wisconsin Lake Schooner Education Association (WLSEA), which merged with Pier Wisconsin to become the

museum. Educational programs aboard the ''Denis Sullivan'' were originally developed by Bill Nimke (head of development at

University School of Milwaukee The University School of Milwaukee (often abbreviated to USM) is an independent pre-kindergarten through secondary preparatory school in River Hills and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded as the result of the merger of three schools, Milwa ...

) and Caroline Joyce (Director of Water Education Programs at the UW-Milwaukee Center for Great Lakes Studies) before being taken over by Discovery World. Folk singer

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

recorded a song called "The Schooner Denis Sullivan" in 2001. That song was featured on Milwaukee folk singer David HB Drake's 2004 album ''A Schooner Songbag'', a compilation of traditional and original songs performed by people involved with the ''Denis Sullivan''. David HB Drake was the resident shantyman (the crew member who coordinated the

sea shanties A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...

used in operating a tall ship) of the ''Denis Sullivan'' from its inception until its departure from Milwaukee in 2022.

Sale to World Ocean School

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, the ''Denis Sullivan'''s two remaining permanent crew members, captain Tiffany Krihwan and chief mate Jonny Slanga, were furloughed indefinitely. Discovery World kept the ''Denis'' ''Sullivan'' docked and unused throughout the 2020, 2021, and 2023 seasons, as they did not have a licensed captain to sail with. Amphitrite Digital, the owner of Chicago's tall ship ''Windy'', approached Discovery world about buying the ''Denis Sullivan'' and operating her in Milwaukee, but Discovery World did not want to sell the ship to a for-profit company who would not be using the ship for educational purposes. In September 2022 Discovery World announced they sold the ''Denis Sullivan'' for an undisclosed amount to World Ocean School in Boston, Massachusetts. The sale came as a surprise to the Friends of the Denis Sullivan, who were disappointed that Discovery World did not communicate the sale ahead of time and did not give volunteers and residents (as well as the original organizers) the ability to pursue other options for the ship. They were also disappointed in the sale of the ship to an East Coast area that already has a large number of tall ships, as opposed to keeping it on the Great Lakes which has few. Others expressed disappointment that prominent Milwaukee institutions did not do more to keep the ship in the city. The ship departed Milwaukee under motor for Boston, accompanied by a flotilla of local boats, on October 8, 2022. After going through restoration and repairs in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, she arrived at the World Ocean School location in

Saint Croix Saint Croix ( ; ; ; ; Danish language, Danish and ; ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an Unin ...

in mid-December.

Design

The ''Denis Sullivan'' is not a replica of a specific vessel. Rather, her design is inspired by that of the Great Lakes

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

schooners of the 19th century. Like many of those schooners, she carries a

raffee A raffee sail is a triangular topsail carried aboard certain sailing ships. Originally used in ancient Rome to maneuver ships at sea, the raffee was eventually implemented as a downwind sail set below a square-rigged yard to fill in areas needed f ...

, a

square-rigged Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which a sailing vessel's primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars that are perpendicular (or square) to the median plane of the keel and masts of the vessel. These sp ...

fore

topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...

which is triangular in shape. In designing the ''Denis Sullivan'', architects Timothy Graul Marine Services looked to several nineteenth century Great Lakes schooners for inspiration, including the '' Rouse Simmons'', ''

Clipper City Heavy Seas Beer is brewed by Clipper City Brewing Company, in Baltimore, Maryland. The brewery was established by Hugh Sisson in 1995. Previously, Sisson operated Maryland's first brewpub, Sisson's. In 2010, the brewery rebranded. While the name ...

'', and '' Alvin Clark''. Above the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

, the ''Sullivan'' closely resembles these earlier vessels. Her shape is that of an efficient cargo carrier, and her

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support and control a sailing ship or sail boat's masts and sails. ''Standing rigging'' is the fixed rigging that supports masts including shrouds and stays. ''Running rigg ...

and deck arrangement are likewise authentic. She differs from her predecessors, however, below the waterline. Traditionally, Great Lakes cargo schooners were built with a fairly flat bottom to minimize

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

and permit sailing in shallow waters. They carried a

centerboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

to compensate for this when sailing to

windward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...

. The ''Denis Sullivan'' strayed from this tradition to meet both modern

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

safety requirements and the practical considerations of a passenger vessel. She has a relatively deep

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

and weighted

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

, which provide greater stability to the vessel and allow for of head clearance in the below decks accommodations. An additional concession to safety regulations was the division of the traditional

cargo hold 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in a ship or airplane compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Acc ...

into watertight bulkheads.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denis Sullivan Schooners Tall ships of the United States Schooners of the United States Three-masted ships Individual sailing vessels Wisconsin culture 2000 ships Museum ships in Wisconsin Museums in Milwaukee

History

Sale to World Ocean School

Design

See also

References