Shipwrecks%20of%20the%20Great%20Lakes

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Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes
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Great Lakes Shipwreck Facts

• More than 6,000 shipwrecks have occurred on the
  Great Lakes.
• Approximately 25,000 people have lost their lives
  due to Great Lakes shipping related accidents.
• 70 percent of the ships that sailed the Great
  Lakes in the 1800s wrecked.
• The Great Lakes claim the highest concentration
  of shipwrecks on the planet.
• Lake Erie claims the most wrecks, followed by
  Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior.

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Shipwrecks by Lake
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Where Ships Wreck

• Shipwrecks are primarily located in common
  shipping lanes where traffic is high.
• Many shipping lanes are narrow making collisions
  more likely.
• Shoals and sand bars often tightly border
  shipping lanes making navigation treacherous.

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Whitefish Point
Port Hope Underwater Preserve
Manitou Passage
Thunder Bay
Lake Ontario 1000 Islands Region
Saginaw Bay
Chicago Bay
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Reasons Ships Wreck

• Storm
• Fire or Explosion
• Collision
• Ice
• Other

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Percent of Shipwrecks Attributed to Each Cause
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The Witch of November

• Unpredictable and often violent late fall weather
  creates dangerous sailing conditions for Great
  Lakes ships.
• October and November weather is responsible for
  most of the Great Lakes shipwrecks that have
  occurred due to storms.
• Weather in November has been known to produce
  wave heights up to 30 feet.
• These storms are also commonly referred to as the
  Gales of November.

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Number of Ships that have Wrecked each Month due
to Storm
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The Griffin

• 70 foot sailing brig.
• Built by LaSalle for exploration and fur trading.
• Regarded as the first decked ship to sail the
  Great Lakes.
• Sank in August of 1679 probably near the Straits
  of Mackinaw.
• Entire crew of 6 lost.

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Probable Location of the Griffin Wreck
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The Regina

• 296 foot steel package freighter.
• Sank on November 10, 1913 in Lake Huron near Port
  Sanilac.
• Entire crew of 20 lost.
• Overwhelmed by the famous Big Storm of 1913
  which sank 71 vessels and killed 248 people.

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The Wreck of the Regina
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The Carl D. Bradley

• 623 foot, steel, self unloading limestone
  freighter.
• Lost on Lake Michigan, 12 miles southwest of Gull
  Island, November 18, 1958.

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• The Bradley broke in two after fighting 30 foot
  waves and 65 mph winds.

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• 33 of 35 crew members lost.
• 27 of the 35 crew resided in Rogers City, MI.

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The Wreck of the Bradley
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The Edmund Fitzgerald

• 729 foot, steel, self unloading, iron ore
  carrier.

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• The Edmund Fitzgerald was the Flag Ship of the
  Oglebay Norton shipping company.

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• On November 10, 1975, after fighting 80 mph
  winds, 30 foot waves, and sustaining significant
  damage, the Ed Fitz sank near Lake Superiors
  Whitefish Point.

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• All 29 crew members were lost.
• The longest and most capacious ship ever to sink
  on the Great Lakes

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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
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Fires and Explosions

• Fuel leaks are the greatest cause of boat and
  ship fires.
• Faulty electrical systems can spark a fire.
• Careless human activity and arson have also
  caused a number of nautical fires.
• Explosions are often due to boiler failures or
  cargo related issues.

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The G.P. Griffith

• 193 foot wood sidewinder passenger ship.
• Lost in Lake Erie near Cleveland, June 17, 1850.
• 200 to 325 lives lost.
• Fire may have ignited from an illegal load of
  matches and turpentine.

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The Wreck of the G.P. Griffith
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The Noronic

• 362 foot steel passenger ship
• Burned on Lake Ontario while tied up in Toronto
  Harbor.
• 119 passengers died.
• The cause of the fire is believed to be arson.
• The ship burned to a shell and was later scuttled
  in deep water.

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The Wreck of the Noronic
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Collisions

• Heavy traffic areas such as bays and narrow
  shipping lanes contain a disproportionately large
  number of wrecks due to collision.
• Many collisions can be attributed to fog which
  reduces visibility.

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The Pewabic

• 200 foot wood passenger ship.
• Sank in Lake Hurons Thunder Bay on August 9,
  1865.
• 100 lives lost.
• Collided almost bows-on with her sister ship the
  Meteor while trying to pass messages and mail
  from one ship to the other.

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The Wreck of the Pewabic
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The Cedarville

• 588 foot steel, self-unloading, iron ore
  freighter.
• Sank on May 7, 1965 in Lake Huron. The wreck lies
  3 miles east of the Mackinaw Bridge.
• Collided with a Norwegian freighter while
  underway in fog.
• 10 of 31 crew lost.

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The Wreck of the Cedarville
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Ice

• Ships can become trapped in ice and have their
  hull crushed or run into drifting ice gouging
  their hull open.
• Ice would also freeze parts of ships such as the
  rudder, or weigh down the deck of a ship, causing
  it to sink.
• 75 of ice related shipwrecks have occurred in
  the spring.
• Almost all of the ships that sank due to ice were
  made of wood.

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The Aurania

• 352 foot steel bulk freighter
• Sank on April 29, 1909 in Lake Superior near
  Parisienne Island.
• No loss of life. The crew walked to another
  ship.
• Got trapped in pack ice and the hull was slowly
  crushed

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The Wreck of the Aurania
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Unusual and Freak Accidents

• Many ships have been lost for reasons not known
  or due to freak and unusual occurrences.
• Some rare occurrences that have been documented
  include hull failures, capsizing in calm seas or
  at dock, and strandings.

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The Eastland

• 296 foot steel passenger vessel.
• Sank on July 24, 1915 in Chicago Harbor.

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The Wreck of the Eastland
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• The Eastland capsized while tied up at dock as
  passengers were boarding.
• The capsizing was attributed to the fact that the
  ship was top heavy and the ballast tanks that
  distribute the ships weight were mismanaged.

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• Eventually the Eastland rolled completely over
  trapping many below and within the ship.
• In all, 844 people were lost due to the accident.
  Only 3 were crew.

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The Onoko

• 287 foot, four-masted, steel, steam powered,
  cargo vessel.
• Lost on Lake Superior near Duluth Minnesota,
  September 15, 1915.

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• Was the largest ship on the Great Lakes when
  built in 1882.
• Was the first metal bulk carrier on the Great
  Lakes.

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• While traveling on Lake Superior, she lost a hull
  plate under the engine room
• The ship immediately began to sink
• The rush of cold water caused the boiler to
  explode.

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The Wreck of the Onoko
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• All 18 crew and the ship mascot, a bulldog,
  survived.
• As the Onoko sank, she rolled and now lays upside
  down under 220 feet of water.

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The Mesquite

• 180 foot steel Coast Guard Cutter
• Wrecked on December 9, 1989 near Lake Superiors
  Keweenaw Peninsula.

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The Wreck of the Mesquite
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• With the end of the shipping season near, the
  Mesquite was retrieving the remaining
  navigational buoys from Lake Superior
• A series of navigational errors caused the ship
  to drift off course and run aground becoming
  stranded.

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• Believing that the Mesquite would weather the
  winter, the Coast Guard waited until spring to
  salvage the cutter.
• When spring came, significant ice and weather
  related damage was discovered.

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• She was later stripped of her superstructure,
  towed into deep water, and sunk to become part of
  a new underwater preserve

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The End