r/Tallships • u/Ok_Cap_7862 • 9d ago

Anyone know the name of this ship?

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A friend was sifting through an old photo book of her dad’s, found this photo alongside one of Appledore 2 down in Key West and she’s guessing it’s around the same time frame, any ideas? Thanks!

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u/happycappy1314 9d ago

That is the SV Denis Sullivan. Built to be Wisconsins flagship, but sold to a charter company in Boston a few years ago. I was the Captain for a couple years and I was one of her builders too.

Edit to include link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Sullivan_(schooner)

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u/MogulSail 8d ago

Fact Check. The new owners World Ocean School is most definitely not a "charter" it's sail training. Most students are free/scholarships most programming is multi day for high school age students.

Super sad (criminal) that it was allowed to be sold by Discovery World of Wisconsin. However the new owners World Ocean School of Boston are good people who primarily do education should not be lumped in with the BS politics that happened in Wisconsin that lead to her being "for sale". World Ocean School very much share the story of the history of the ship and the volunteers like yourself at Wisconsin Lake Schooner Association that built her. They also are doing programming for Wisconsin students several times a year. They also have kept Milwaukee as her legal home port (on the stern) She should have never been sold but the organization that got it is a good one.

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u/happycappy1314 8d ago

You’re absolutely right. I hadn’t really paid attention to where she went because I was so disappointed with Discovery World for selling her and I thought it was the outfit that runs the Liberty fleet in Boston Harbor.

It hurt me and many of the others who poured our heart and soul into building the Sullivan. There were tens of thousands of volunteer hours that went into the boat. I can remember working side by side with these guys in the Wisconsin winter. We harvested Wisconsin trees and sawed them into planking for every piece of that schooner. We forged iron and shaped Wisconsin trees into spars. I personally met with the architect and poured through the archives at the Manitowoc Maritime Museum to create a rig that would capture the spirit of the Great Lakes Schooner. When Michael Cudahy (RIP) came around with the idea of an interpretive center focused on Great Lakes history and fresh water studies, we celebrated. The Discovery World was supposed to support the Denis Sullivan, but they sold her off….very sad.

I stand corrected, World Ocean School is good people, with a noble mission. I’m glad the Sullivan is carrying kids. She was built for that. Thank you for the correction.