The Great Lakes, a collection of five freshwater lakes located in North America, have been sailed upon since at least the 17th century, and thousands of ships have been sunk while traversing them. Many of these ships were never found, so the exact number of shipwrecks in the Lakes is unknown; the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum estimates 6,000 ships and 30,000 lives lost,[1] while historian and mariner Mark Thompson has estimated that the total number of wrecks is likely more than 25,000.[2] In the period between 1816, when the Invincible was lost, to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, the Whitefish Point area alone has claimed at least 240 ships.[2]
Sunk in a storm on Lake Superior, Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the largest ships to have sunk in the Great Lakes. The exact cause of the disaster has never been made clear, and has been the subject of much discussion.
A decommissioned U.S. Navy steam sloop that was scrapped and burned to the waterline. Her hull is the only surviving remnant of a vessel built by Donald McKay.[6]
Early steel steamer lost off Outer Island with all hands
Invincible
1816
A wooden two-masted schooner employed in the fur trade by the Northwest Company. It was lost in a storm in 1816. Generally considered to be the first recorded ship to sink in the Great Lakes.
A schooner barge that survived the 1919 storm that took her partner, Myron. Miztec's good fortune ended when she sank in 1921 with the loss of all hands. She came to rest next to Myron.
Capsized in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. Sighted floating upside-down on 10 November 1913 and identified as Charles S. Price before it sank on 15 November 1913. Wreck was not found until the 1960s.
City of Grand Rapids was a double-decker passenger streamer that caught fire while docked in Little Tub Harbour. For the security of the harbour, the City of Grand Rapids was towed out into Georgian Bay and released to burn. From there she drifted to the head of Big Tub Harbour where she burnt to the waterline and sank.
Shallow-water shipwreck located in the harbor of Harbor Beach, Michigan. Dorcas Pendell was a schooner built in 1884 and burned in place on 6 July 1914 after running aground.
The vessel ran aground and sank in foggy weather near south east end of Bear's Rump Island in Georgian Bay near Tobermory. The ship's smashed stem is in 60 feet (18 m) and stern is at 150 feet (46 m) depth.
While under tow by W. L. Wetmore, which was wrecked by a storm, James C. King was wrecked too at the northwest end of Bonnet Island near Tobermory, Ontario in about 90 feet (27 m) of water.
Wooden bulk freighter wrecked in shallow water off the coast of Thunder Bay Island while towing a consort-barge to Duluth. While still stranded, its engine and boiler were salvaged, and the rest of it has since broken up and separated about 35 feet (11 m) underwater.[14]
A wooden steamship lost in a storm. In October 1905 crew of 16 were lost
Lottie Wolf
16 October 1891
The schooner broke up in gale force seas in shallow water about 200 feet (61 m) off the Hope Island Lighthouse in about 30 feet (9.1 m) of water near Midland, Ontario.
This steel freighter ran aground in a snow storm on the west side of Christian Island near Midland, Ontario. She is in 35 feet (11 m) of water with part of the stem sticking out of the water.
Sidewheel steamer passenger vessel. Caught on fire and quickly burnt down to the waterline. All crew survived; 5 of 150 passengers lost. Wreck sits in 3 feet of water, just north of Sturgeon Point Light.
While removing grain from the stranded Riverton at the northwest end of Hope Island near Midland, Ontario, high winds blew her into shallow waters grounding her in 20 feet (6.1 m) of water.
Sank while in tow, near Harbor Beach, Michigan; Nine crew and passengers lost.
Monohansett
23 November 1907
The wooden steam barge sank after catching fire near Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron. As the wreck took place near the island's Life Saving Station, there were no deaths.[15]
A fishing tug lost with crew of six[16] In November 1913 some of the wreckage and the remains of an unknown crewman were found at Harbor Beach after the Great Lakes Storm of 1913
A schooner that sank off the shore of Chambers Island. It was raised in 1969 and taken to Menominee, where it became a tourist attraction. However, it quickly deteriorated, and was demolished in 1994 to make way for a parking lot.
A self-unloading Great Lakes freighter caught in a storm on Lake Michigan, it split in two and sank with all except two survivors. Their company did not believe that the ship split in two, since this was the first time there were any witnesses to see this happen. The weakened hull was due to too much sulphur in the metal causing it to become brittle in cold weather.
Rolled over in the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. A total of 848 passengers and crew were killed––the largest loss of life in a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
A steamship wrecked in Lake Michigan near Chicago following a collision with the schooner Augusta. The greatest loss of life (300) on open water in the Great Lakes.
A wooden, three-masted schooner that sank in a storm off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin. All six crew, except the captain's dog, survived. The wreck was discovered on May 12, 2024.
A train ferry that sank in a storm off Milwaukee with the loss of all hands. She lies about four miles (6.4 km) northeast of the North Point Lighthouse.[21]
Wooden steamship that caught fire from over-stoked boilers and burned to the waterline off the coast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, killing at least 190 but perhaps more than 250 of the nearly 300 people on board. Thirty-nine people survived in lifeboats and three were rescued from the water.[22]
Seventy-nine of 81 passengers and crew were lost when she sank near Port Washington, Wisconsin in 10 to 35 feet (3.0 to 10.7 m) of water. Also carried freight. Wood hull, propeller/direct acting steam engine built by B.B. Jones Co, Buffalo, New York 1854.
Towing the barge Cleveco, she encountered a heavy gale and began to founder. She radioed in, but the United States Coast Guard was unable to locate her in the murk before she went down with a loss of 14 people. Owned by Cleveland Tankers, Cleveland. Wreck located by a commercial diver in 1969.
A wooden-hulled paddle steamer that sank after her boilers exploded. An estimated 70 lives were lost. She is the oldest steamboat wreck on the Great Lakes.
The tank barge sank off Pelee Island with a cargo of heavy crude and benzole; considered one of the greatest pollution risks on the Great Lakes. Discovered in 2015.[30]
While being towed by the tug Admiral she encountered a heavy gale and began to founder. The barge eventually broke away from Admiral and foundered. Owned by Cleveland Tankers, Cleveland.
A three-mast schooner carrying stone that sprung a leak and sunk four miles (6.4 km) off of Lorain. Rescued by City of Detroit and the tugboat Thomas Matham, everyone survived.
Hickory Stick
29 November 1958
The derrick barge broke apart and sank in a storm.
A whaleback steamer that sank off Long Point, in a storm that also took Merida and Marshall F Butters. 25 people were killed with one survivor. Wreckage was located in 1991.
The schooner disappeared en route to Cleveland with a load of limestone. Both occupants fell overboard and drowned; their bodies washed ashore just west of Cleveland. The ship was discovered in 2016 and identified in 2019. She is the oldest-confirmed shipwreck in Lake Erie.
Overloaded with limestone, the load shifted during an unexpected June gale and the ship was capsized by waves when the steering chains broke. At least eight people perished. The wreck was discovered in 2017.
A schooner that sank in a storm en route to Picton. One crew member perished of exposure upon reaching Amherst Island.
Ariadne
North of North Sandy Pond in shallow water are the remains of Ariadne
Augustus
A schooner that sank en route to be scuttled during the 1937 Portsmouth harbour cleanup.
Bay State
4 November 1862
Screw propeller, sank in storm. Wreck discovered August 2015.[36]
Belle Sheridan
7 November 1880
A 123-foot (37 m) two-masted schooner. She was carrying coal en route to Toronto when caught in the Gale of 1880 and after fighting for hours, sank in 12 feet (3.7 m) of water in Wellers Bay. Only one of the crew of seven survived.
China
1872
A small steamer that caught fire and sank off False Duck Island, six months after launching.
A wooden warship that served in the War of 1812. The ship was decommissioned and her hull was used as a storage facility by Morton's Brewery in Kingston. In January 1832, the hull was sold to Robert Drummond for £25. Later, it was sunk close to shore, and is now a popular diving attraction.
Sunk during a violent storm en route from Oswego to Niagara. Between Ontario on the Lake and Pultneyville in front of the submerged pipeline in 32 feet (9.8 m) of water.
A freshwater sloop of war that served in the War of 1812. She was ordered broken up and sold in 1831, and is presumed to have rotted and sunk at Kingston. The wreck, identified as HMS Montreal by Parks Canada in 2006, lies near the Royal Military College of Canada.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a 729-foot-long (222 m) freighter that sank of an unknown cause in a storm on Lake Superior. The Fitzgerald is the largest ship to sink on the lakes.
The Carl D. Bradley was a Great Lakes freighter that had a 31-year career that suddenly ended in 1958 when she broke in two in a severe November storm on Lake Michigan.
The Henry B. Smith was an American bulk freighter that foundered in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 near Marquette, Michigan. Her wreck was discovered in 2013 by a team of divers led by Jerry Eliason.
The Isaac M. Scott was an American bulk carrier that sank on Lake Huron in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. She was discovered in 1976, laying upside down, and half-buried in mud under 180 feet (55 m) of water.
^"CITY OF NEW YORK (1863, Propeller)". greatlakeships.org. Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, Thunder Bay Research Collection. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
Kohl, Cris (2008). The Great Lakes Diving Guide (2nd ed.). West Chicago: Seawolf Communications. ISBN978-0967997698. Thumbnail histories, descriptions and locations of more than 1,000 Great Lakes shipwrecks located to date.
Kohl, Cris; Forsberg, Joan (2007). Shipwrecks at Death's Door (1st ed.). West Chicago, IL: Seawolf. ISBN978-0967997681.. A guide to hundreds of northern Lake Michigan shipwrecks.
Wachter, Georgann & Michael (2003). Erie Wrecks East: A Guide to Shipwrecks of Eastern Lake Erie (2nd ed.). Avon Lake, Ohio: CorporateImpact. ISBN096613124X. Identifies 110 wreck locations.
Wachter, Georgann & Michael (2001). Erie Wrecks West: A Guide to Shipwrecks of Western Lake Erie (2nd ed.). Avon Lake, Ohio: CorporateImpact. ISBN0966131223. Identifies 103 wreck locations.
Wachter, Georgann & Michael (2007). Erie Wrecks & Lights. Avon Lake, OH: CorporateImpact. ISBN978-0966131253. Identifies 45 wreck locations.
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