This document is the most complete and accurate list of losses of Great Lakes commercial vessels in existence, but it may be considered to be a work in progress, since my research continues. It includes commercial vessels which were total losses or were declared total losses and later recovered, plus a few wrecks which were significant for other reasons (e.g. loss of life), but were later recovered. I am happy to share this with any and all interested parties, but as of Apr, 2000, it represents about 13 years of steady work, so if you use any of the material herein, PLEASE CREDIT to David D. Swayze, Lake Isabella, MI.
ACME
Other names : none
Official no. : 297
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger & package
freight
Build info : 1856, G. Hardison, Buffalo
Specs : 190x33x13, 762 t.
Date of loss : 1867, Nov 5 (Mar 4 also given, in error)
Place of loss : 15 mi NNE of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : 7307 bu corn, 2165 bbl flour, 238 bbl &
100 "tierces" beef, 200
tierces of lard and 334 untanned cowhides
Detail : Took on water and a gale and was abandoned in
boats. 2 boats landed
along about 20 miles of NY coast, while one was picked
up by the revenue
cutter COMMODORE PERRY..
Major repair in 1863
AMERICAN SAILOR
Other names : ?
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : barge, bulk freight
Build info : 1918
Specs : 429 t
Date of loss : 1937, Nov 2
Place of loss : Off Barcelona, NY (also given as
Westfield)
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : sulfur
Detail : Tow of tug BALLENAS, she went down with fellow
barges AMERICAN
SCOUT and BETTY HEDGER. Details are difficult to find
AMERICAN SCOUT
Other names : ?
Official no. : 1918
Type at loss : barge, bulk freight
Build info : ?
Specs : 422 t
Date of loss : 1937, Nov 2
Place of loss : Off Barcelona, NY (also given as
Westfield)
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : sulfur
Detail : Tow of tug BALLENAS with AMERICAN SAILOR and
BETTY HEDGER. All 3
barges foundered.
ANNABELL WILSON
Other names : sometimes seen as ANNABELLE WILSON
Official no. : 106475
Type at loss : schooner-barge, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1887, W. Dulac, Mt. Clemens, MI
Specs : 174x32x12, 491g 467n
Date of loss : 1913, Jul 12
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : 2
Carrying : coal
Detail : She became waterlogged and sank.
ANNIE P. DORR
Other names : also seen as ANNA P. DORR
Official no. : 105207
Type at loss : propeller steam tug, wood
Build info : 1870, W. Crosthwaite, E. Saginaw, MI
Specs : 76x20x6, 44g 22n
Date of loss : 1888, Nov 26
Place of loss : near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : none
Detail : She and the tug JAMES ADAMS came to Dunkirk
to release the stranded
tug EDWARD MAYTHAM. A gale prevented them from entering
the harbor. They
worked around outside the harbor until DORR sprung a
leak and foundered in
about 30 minutes. Her crew were taken aboard the ADAMS
with difficulty.
Owned by the famous O.W. Cheney tug fleet.
ANTHONY McCUE
Other names : none
Official no. : 166145
Type at loss : canal barge, wood
Build info : 1914, Kingston, NY
Specs : 114 ft, 485g 485n
Date of loss : 1925, Nov 8
Place of loss : 2 mi E of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : Broke away from the steamer BARRYTON and
stranded,
a total loss.
BETTY HEDGER
Other names : ?
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : barge
Build info : ?
Specs : 460 t.
Date of loss : 1937, Nov 2
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : sulphur
Detail : Foundered along with barges AMERICAN SCOUT and
AMERICAN SAILOR, the
tow of the tug BALLENAS.
Not much info on this seeming disaster
BRUNSWICK
Other names : none
Official no. : 3148
Type at loss : propeller, iron, bulk freight
Build info : 1881, Detroit Dry Dock, Wyandotte, MI hull
#50
Specs : 248(oa)x36x16
Date of loss : 1881, Nov 12
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : 3
Carrying : 1500 t. hard coal
Detail : She collided with the heavily laden schooner
CARLINGFORD (qv) in a
night of fitful squalls. Her skipper checked to make
sure schooner's crew
were abandoning, then ran her for shore, his vessel
sinking
a few miles
short about 45 minutes after the collision. Bound
Buffalo
for Duluth.
Owned by Charles Bewick, et. al., of Detroit.
Deep water salvage was attempted in 1885.
C.Y. RICHMOND
Other names : perhaps F.S. RICHMOND or C.T. RICHMOND
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : schooner-barge, wood
Build info : 1846, Sanford & Moses, Cleveland
Specs : 230 t.
Date of loss : 1870, Nov 1
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none of 7
Carrying : limestone
Detail : Bound for Dunkirk, she went ashore in a gale
which destroyed many
vessels on the lakes and became a total loss. Her crew
was rescued from
shore by local sailors. The wreck was located in 1902.
Out of Buffalo.
DEAN RICHMOND
Other names : none
Official no. : 6102
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger & package
freight
Build info : 1864, Quayle & Martin, Cleveland
Specs : 238x35x14, 1432g 1257n
Date of loss : 1893, Oct 14
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 17 of 18 crew plus 3 volunteers who died
the 16th while
searching for bodies
Carrying : zinc ingots, copper, 1500 bbl whiskey and
a large consignment of
flour
Detail : This large propeller broke up offshore in huge
waves and foundered.
The hull was located in 1896 and most of the cargo
recovered.
Burned to near-total loss in the St. Mary's R., Oct,
1871, 1 died.
Rebuilt 1873 Owned by Bottsford et.al. of Port Huron
JOHN J. BOLAND, Jr.
Other names : built as TYNEVILLE renamed in '28 [year
of launch]
Official no. : C149467
Type at loss : propeller, steel, bulk freight
Build info : 1928, Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson,
Newcastle, England
Specs : 253x44x24 1939gc 1149nc
Date of loss : 1932, Oct 5
Place of loss : 9 miles off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 4 of 19
Carrying : coal
Detail : Capsized and foundered in gale.
Out of Sarnia, Ont.
BRANDYWINE
Other names : ?
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : ?
Specs : ?
Date of loss : 1842, Nov 19*
Place of loss : 18 mi W of Buffalo, near Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 7 (all)
Carrying : flour
Detail : She capsized and sank in a gale, then drifted
to the beach. One
passenger's body was found in the cabin, but the entire
crew of 6 had
disappeared. The local sheriff watched over the craft
for several days to
make sure her crew had really been lost.
This is probably the vessel reported as stranded at
Buffalo
in 1837.
*1846 also given, probably in error, as there is no
mention
of the vessel
having been recovered.
CHARLES H. BURTON
Other names : built on hull of bark GLENBULAH*
Official no. : 125402
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 3-mast
Build info : 1873, Ballentine, Bangor, MI [Bay City]
Specs : 158x31x14 514g 489n
Date of loss : 1905, Oct 10
Place of loss : 4.5 mi E of Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : (none)
Carrying : coal
Detail : Driven ashore and broke up.
*GLENBULAH, built by Stokes & Locklin, at
Sheboygan,
WI in 1867, was largely
destroyed in the Chicago fire, fall of 1871. The BURTON
was an almost
complete rebuild, with a new official number.
(GLENBULAH
is sometimes
described as a prop)
Also wrecked in 1883 and removed from registry.
CALIFORNIA
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : ?(1849, L.Shickluna, St. Catharines, Ont
or 1849, G. Ashenbach,
Vermilion, OH)
Specs : ?(103x21x8, 176 t. or 71x19x4, 41 t.)
Date of loss : 1859
Place of loss : Niagara Reef, W end of Lake
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : stranded
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : no detail
Probably also wrecked near Barcelona, NY, in 1851.
Another schooner of this name was launched at Cleveland
in 1853 - she was a
large 3-master.
CARLINGFORD
Other names : none also seen as CARLINGSFORD
Official no. : 125024
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1869, Fitzgerald & Leighton, Port Huron
Specs : 155x31x12 470g
Date of loss : 1881, Nov 12
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : 1
Carrying : 26,000 bu wheat
Detail : Collided with iron steamer BRUNSWICK (qv),
both
vessels sank. The
dead crewman was lost in the scramble to her boats as
she quickly sank.
One report says she drifted below the surface until her
wreckage came to
rest near Port Colborne, Ont., 30 miles from wreck
site,
but the wreck was
discovered only 12 miles off Dunkirk in the mid-1990's.
Broke nearly in 2 and sank off the Manitous, Lake
Michigan,
in Nov, 1869.
Recovered in Apr, 1870, and completely rebuilt.
Also rebuilt in 1880 after stranding on Horseshoe Reef,
Lake Erie, in the
fall of 1879
CHICAGO
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger &
package freight
Build info : 1835, St. Joseph, MI
Specs : 105x20x10, 166 t [186 t.]
Date of loss : 1842, Nov 18
Place of loss : 3 miles E of Silver Creek, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none of 60 passengers & crew
Carrying : merchandise, passengers
Detail : Struck by a gale between Ashtabula and
Conneaut,
she lost both her
stacks and became unmanageable when her fires went out.
Drove ashore and
wrecked, but may later have been salvaged.
(Reenrolled in 1844.)
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1830, S. W. Turner, Cape Vincent, NY
Specs : 105x22x9, 182 t. om
Date of loss : 1862, Nov 1 [ca.]
Place of loss : Between Dunkirk and Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : all [4 or 5]
Carrying : ?
Detail : She was driven aground and wrecked with the
loss of all hands, a
total loss. One report says her crew was all saved.
Rebuilt and enlarged about 1849.
Out of Cleveland in 1855.
CITY OF DETROIT
Other names : none
Official no. : 4378
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger & package
freight
Build info : 1866, Lester, Marine City, MI
Specs : 166x28x11, 652 t.
Date of loss : 1873, Dec 4
Place of loss : Saginaw Bay
Lake : Huron
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 20 [all]
Carrying : 8,000 bu. wheat, bbls of flour
Detail : Bound Milwaukee for Sarnia and towing the
barge
GUIDING STAR, she
sailed into a storm, never sailed out. The barge was
cut loose and made her
way under sail to the Canada side of the lake. The
skipper
of the barge said
he thought CITY OF DETROIT's machinery became disabled
and she was
overwhelmed. She sank in 2-300 feet of water.. Her loss
is worst disaster
within the limits of Saginaw Bay.
Owned by John Pridgeon, Detroit.
Another vessel of this name was reportedly sunk off
Barcelona,
NY, on Sep
10, 1873. So far this has not been confirmed.
CITY OF PORT HURON
Other names : none
Official no. : 5392
Type at loss : propeller, wood, bulk freight
Build info : 1867, J.P. Arnold, Port Huron
Specs : 169x31x10, 411 t.
Date of loss : 1876, Sep 4
Place of loss : 3-4 miles off Lexington, MI in about
36 feet of water*
Lake : Huron
Type of loss : hull failure
Loss of life : none
Carrying : iron ore
Detail : Reportedly overloaded, she sprang a leak,
broached
to and
foundered. Part of her crew clambered up the rigging
while others floated
off on the cabin roof. All were saved. Newspapers
reported
that as her fuel
was burned, she became down so low forward that her
pumps
were unable to
find water aft, but her captain denied it, saying, in
essence, "she always
looks like that." Most of her gear and machinery was
taken off by the
wrecking tug MONITOR in August of 1877.
*Also shown as lost off Dunkirk, NY, Lake Erie, in error
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package freight
Build info : 1836, Fairbanks Church, Huron, OH
Specs : 147x27x11, 413 t. [om]
Date of loss : 1851
Place of loss : Near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : "lost"
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : Sources say she was either sunk or stranded
and wrecked a total
loss.
Foundered off Milwaukee Oct 11, 1839 with loss of 5
lives.
Recovered the
following year. (?) One source says this was the
vessel's
yawl, not the
vessel herself.
She and her near-twin ROBERT FULTON were reputedly the
first lakes steamers
built primarily as freighters, with relatively few
passenger
accommodations.
COLONIAL
Other names : built as the side-wheeler DARIUS COLE,
renamed HURON in 1906,
last name in 1921
Official no. : 157173
Type at loss : propeller, iron, passenger & auto
carrier
Build info : 1885, Globe Shipbuilding, Cleveland
Specs : 200x32x21, 538 gt (215 ft oa)
Date of loss : 1925(6), Sep 2
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : fire
Loss of life : 4
Carrying : ?
Detail : Caught fire, gutted and sank in shallow water.
Later recovered for
scrap and dismantled at Dunkirk, NY.
Converted to a propeller after 1910.
Photos show her as a propeller with a walking-beam
engine,
maybe the only
conversion of this type.
COLUMBIAN
Other names : none
Official no. : 4387
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1864, W. Wolf, Green Bay (Ft. Howard), WI
Specs : 139x26x13 356g 338n
Date of loss : 1913, Sep 4
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : lumber
Detail : Foundered
COLUMBUS
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood
Build info : 1835, Huron, OH
Specs : 391 t.
Date of loss : 1848, Mar 28
Place of loss : at Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : none
Carrying : ?
Detail : Struck a pier and sank, a total loss. The
steamer
FASHION struck
the wreck and was seriously damaged in Nov, 1848.
Ashore in a storm and high & dry on Lake Erie, fall
of 1844.
COMET
Other names : ?
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : ?
Specs : ?
Date of loss : 1835, Nov 11
Place of loss : 1 mile NW of Dunkirk, NY [Washington
Reef]
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 7 [all]
Carrying : iron, ashes
Detail : Out of Madison, OH, she foundered in a gale,
leaving just her
topmasts protruding from the water. The lost included
one passenger, a
college student bound for Vermont.
DAVID A. WELLS
Other names : none
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast*
Build info : 1866, A. Muir, Port Huron, MI
Specs : 134x26x12, 310gt
Date of loss : 1880, Oct 16
Place of loss : 7 mi NE of Chicago harbor
Lake : Michigan
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 8
Carrying : iron ore
Detail : She foundered in the SE gale known as "the
ALPENA
Storm." Tug
LITTLE GIANT, seeing her signal from shore, went out
to pick her up, but the
schooner's lights disappeared before she arrived. Owned
out of Chicago,
bound Escanaba for Chicago. In 1889 a spar suddenly
appeared
above the
surface at her presumed loss location and it was
thought
that the vessel had
righted herself on the bottom.
*In 1871 she was reported as a 3-master.
Ashore near Silver Creek, NY in the fall of 1873 and
abandoned.
DERRICK
Other names : ? probably
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, salvage
Build info : ?
Specs : ?
Date of loss : 1854, Sep 29
Place of loss : off Silver Creek, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : gear
Detail : Went down in a gale over the wreck of the
steamer
ERIE(qv). She had
just moved to the site after spending the summer trying
to salvage valuables
from the steamer ATLANTIC(qv).
Probably owned by Bishop of Grand River, Oh.
This may not have been the name of the vessel, but only
a descriptive term,
though the newspapers of the time referred to it as if
it were a name.
DAYTON
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1835, Grand Island, NY
Specs : 69x20x7, 85 t.
Date of loss : 1844, Oct 20
Place of loss : near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : all
Carrying : ?
Detail : She was reported capsized and sunk in a
terrific
gale.
HGL, rp says lost in 1846, at least some schooner of
this name: Went ashore
near Erie Nov 19, 1846, and reported a total wreck
ERIE
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package freight
Build info : 1837, F. Church, Erie, PA
Specs : 176 ft, 497 t.
Date of loss : 1841, Aug 9
Place of loss : off Silver Creek, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : fire
Loss of life : 100-175 of about 200
Carrying : household goods, merchandise
Detail : The steamer, headed for Chicago, carried
hundreds
of Swiss and
German immigrants bound for the west. Caught fire four
hours out of Buffalo
after an explosion and burned to the waterline 6 miles
offshore, then sank.
Cruising along the south shore of the lake when the
disaster
occurred, she
turned toward shore, but didn't make it. The fire is
thought to have started
from a demijohn of turpentine that was loaded just
above
the boiler. This
was the worst steamer disaster up to that time and
occurred
at almost
precisely the same spot as the burning of the
WASHINGTON(qv),
which had been
the previous worst disaster. About 30 people were saved
by the steamers
DEWITT CLINTON and LADY. Several weeks later, after a
severe thunderstorm
crossed the area, more than 100 bodies were picked up
by the steamer
ROCHESTER and a Revenue Cutter.
The many salvage attempts began in 1842. A lumps of
melted
silver coins were
removed from her hull in 1852 and 1853, and when her
hulk was raised in
July, 1854, there was over $200,000 in melted gold
&
silver specie in it.
Reported to have exploded the steam chamber of her
engine,
killing 4 or 6,
on Aug 4, 1840, near Malden, Ont.. though this is
perhaps
a different vessel
(see above).
Collided with the anchored steamer DANIEL WEBSTER off
Bar Pt. one night in
September,
ROBERT FULTON
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package freight
Build info : 1835, Fairbanks Church, Cleveland
Specs : 139x26x10, 368 t.
Date of loss : 1844, Oct 25
Place of loss : 14 mi E of Dunkirk, NY, near Evans, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 4
Carrying : gen merch
Detail : Went on the rocks and pounded to pieces in a
gale.
Year of loss also given as 1842, place also Sturgeon
Point (which is near
actual loss location) and Lake Huron (which also has
a Sturgeon Pt.)
She and her near-twin DEWITT CLINTON were reputedly the
first lakes steamers
built primarily as freighters, with relatively few
passenger
accommodations.
GENERAL PIERCE
Other names : also seen as FRANK PIERCE and FRANKLIN
PIERCE
Official no. : none
Type at loss : scow-schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1853, Silver Creek, NY
Specs : 72x17x6, 64 t.
Date of loss : 1854, Dec 2
Place of loss : at Duck Pond, 5 mi W of Charlotte, NY
Lake : Ontario
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : General merchandise worth $32,000
Detail : Bound Oswego for Hamilton, Ontario, she
capsized
and sank. Her crew
made it ashore in her lifeboat, or were rescued by a
government lifeboat.
Insurance had run out Nov 30. Recovered the following
June.
(Oddly, another report of the same time says she was
bound Cleveland for
Detroit with coal and came to anchor under the point
to shelter from a gale.
Sprung a leak and capsized. The prop OCEAN, anchored
nearby, quickly lowered
a boat and rescued the crew.)
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Other names : none also seen as just WASHINGTON
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package frt
Build info : 1838, Capt. Savage, Ashtabula, OH
Specs : 308 t.
Date of loss : 1838, Jun 15
Place of loss : off Silver Creek, near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : fire
Loss of life : 30 to 50, about 50 more were saved
Carrying : passengers
Detail : She caught fire near her boilers on the return
of her maiden voyage
and was destroyed, though the hull could still float
well enough to be towed
in to Silver Creek the next day.. Later opinion said
that deadly time was
wasted in trying to extinguish the blaze instead of
running
her the 3 or 4
miles to shore, and in stopping to lower a boat during
the run. Survivors
swam or drifted 2 miles to shore, or were picked up by
the steamer NORTH
AMERICAN, which had seen the blaze from a distance and
had come to the
rescue..
Another steamer WASHINGTON was built in 1833 or 5 at
Huron, OH, and
reportedly lost to fire near Long Point the same year
- also on her maiden
voyage - with the loss of one life.
GEORGE J. WHELAN
Other names : built as prop ERWIN L. FISHER, named PORT
DE CAEN [British
Reg.] in 1915, BAYERSHER [French Reg.] in 1922,
CLAREMONT
[Canadian Reg.] in
1923 & this name in 1930.
Official no. : 207617
Type at loss : propeller, steel, bulk freight sand
sucker
Build info : 1910, Toledo Shipbuilding, Toledo hull #117
Specs : 220x40x17, 1430 t.
Date of loss : 1930, Jul 29
Place of loss : 6 mi off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : cargo shift
Loss of life : 15
Carrying : stone
Detail : Her cargo shifted and she capsized and
foundered
quickly.
Sunk on lakes in '15, raised and went to salt for War
effort. Mined or
torpedoed on East Coast in 1918. Raised and rebuilt,
returned to lakes in
'19.
Rebuilt to a sandsucker, in 1930.
GOLDEN FLEECE
Other names : none
Official no. : 10197
Type at loss : schooner, wood (3-mast), built as a bark
Build info : 1862, Peck & Masters, Cleveland
Specs : 452 t.
Date of loss : 1890, Oct 14
Place of loss : 7 mi W of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : light
Detail : Her sails were blown out in a storm and she
lay-to to wait it out.
Dragged anchors into the shallows and stranded. Lightly
damaged, but her
owners thought Reid's quote on salvaging her was too
high. While they were
haggling she was wrecked by a storm. Reid later bought
the hulk but was
unable to get her off before she was burned by
arsonists
in April of 1895.
Converted from a bark to a schooner in 1869 after a
stranding.
Rebuilt,1878;
major repair in 1882.
GOOD INTENT
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 180?, Mill Creek, Lake Erie
Specs : (30 t.)
Date of loss : 1825
Place of loss : 2 mi NE of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : Wrecked, no detail available.
Another vessel named GOOD INTENT (maybe same vessel)
was reported lost in
1805 or 6 on Point Abino with loss of all hands. She
was built by Capt. Wm
Lee in 1799 or 1800.
GOVERNOR MARCY
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood
Build info : 1834, Black Rock [Buffalo], NY
Specs : 125x19x7, 162 t.
Date of loss : 1847, Jun 4
Place of loss : below Van Buren Pt., near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : ?
Detail : Bound Erie, PA, for Buffalo, she stranded and
was wrecked in a
gale.
Rebuilt at Detroit in 1844
HELEN STRONG
Other names : (none)
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package freight
Build info : 1845, F.N. Jones, Monroe, MI
Specs : 142x20x8, 253 t.
Date of loss : 1846, Nov 19
Place of loss : just E of 20-mile creek, near
Barcelona,
NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 2 of 60+
Carrying : passengers, merchandise
Detail : Bound Buffalo for Erie, PA and Toledo, she
broke
her steering
chains and wheel in a gale and later burst a steam
pipe,
rendering her
unmanageable. She was driven ashore, broke in two
places
and stranded below
a 60-foot perpendicular cliff. The survivors were
hauled
up the cliff in the
northwest gale, one by one, as the steamer broke up
below.
Also stranded with heavy damage in 1845. May have been
a schooner at the
time, rebuilt to a steamer.
H.F. MERRY
Other names : none
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 3-mast
Build info : 1868, G. Fordham, Sandusky, OH
Specs : 121x26x8, 170 t.
Date of loss : 1883, Nov 12
Place of loss : near Silver Creek, NY, 16 mi above
Buffalo
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : 16,000 bu. wheat
Detail : Blown ashore by a storm, she hogged and broke
up by the 16th. The
crew came ashore in her yawl. The swelling of her cargo
split her seams
after she went ashore, destroying her hull. Her soggy
cargo was later sold
for whiskey distilling purposes. Bound Detroit for
Buffalo.
Rebuilt in 1869 [to barge] and 1881 [back to schooner)
INDIAN QUEEN
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood
Build info : 1844, Taylor & Jewett, Buffalo
Specs : 109x16x7, 112 t.
Date of loss : 1846, Nov 19
Place of loss : Battery Point or near Dunkirk
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 20 or none [newspapers of the time don't
mention lives lost,
later sources do]
Carrying : ?
Detail : Driven ashore and broke in two the same night
as the steamer HELEN
STRONG(qv). Total loss.
IOWA
Other names :
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info :
Specs :
Date of loss : 1840, late July
Place of loss : 6 miles off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : none
Carrying : light
Detail : Collided with the steamer ERIE and sank.
JAVA
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1854, Weed & Carpenter, Bay City, MI
Specs : 96x19x7, 128 t. om
Date of loss : 1858, Oct 8
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : copper ore
Detail : Bound Detroit for Dunkirk, she was riding out
a storm behind Long
Point when her anchor chains parted. Her skipper ran
for Dunkirk, but she
crashed on the breakwater while trying to enter the
harbor.
Her crew was
rescued by boats from shore.
Owned by W.H. and James Craig of Detroit
JERSEY CITY
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger & package
freight
Build info : 1855, G.W. Jones, Cleveland
Specs : 152x29x12, 633 t.
Date of loss : 1860, Nov 24
Place of loss : near the tip of Long Point, opposite
Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 16 of 22
Carrying : flour and barreled pork, hides
Detail : Bound Toledo for Dunkirk, NY, she was driven
ashore and wrecked in
a very powerful storm.
Owned by the New York and Erie RR Line
JOHN RABER
Other names : built as brig GENERAL WORTH. Renamed
after
1871
Official no. : 10150
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1848, Wm. Treat, Euclid, OH (or Cleveland)
as a brig
Specs : 118x25x10, 224g 212n
Date of loss : 1895, Sep 10
Place of loss : near Ahnapee, WI
Lake : Michigan
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 1
Carrying : Lumber
Detail : Bound Pine Lake [Charlevoix, MI] for
Milwaukee,
she ran aground in
dense fog and a SE gale, 1 mi from shore and 4 mi S of
Ahnapee. Her crew
abandoned and the schooner later broke up.
She was heavily damaged and expected to be a total loss
in a storm of
Dunkirk, NY, in November, 1867. Seven lives lost
JOSEPHINE
Other names : ?
Official no. : none
Type at loss : brig, wood, 2-mast
Build info : (1845, Oswego, NY)
Specs : (175 t.)
Date of loss : 1855
Place of loss : off Port Burwell, Ont.
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : Driven on a reef by a white squall and
destroyed.
(Ashore and wrecked near Dunkirk, NY, L. Erie, in 1845
or 1848. Same
vessel?)
(Went missing on L. Ontario in March, 1854. Same
vessel?)
Josephine was a very popular name among small schooners.
LIZZIE HARVEY
Other names : none
Official no. : 165742
Type at loss : barge, wood, bulk freight
Build info : 1914, I. Bushey, Brooklyn, NY
Specs : 110x30x12, 426g 426n
Date of loss : 1937, Nov 11
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : sulphur
Detail : Sank from unreported causes. Four other
sulphur-laden
barges were
lost in the same area nine days earlier.
MANZANILLA
Other names : none in mmgl as MANZARILLA
Official no. : C85412
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 3-mast
Build info : 1873, L. Shickluna, St. Catharines Ont.
as a bark
Specs : 137x26x12, 340gc 320nc
Date of loss : 1887, Oct 13
Place of loss : at Van Buren Pt., 6 mi W of Dunkirk,
NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : lumb. or stone block
Detail : She was driven ashore and wrecked by a SW
gale.
Her crew made it
ashore on their own, and the skipper was rescued by
fishermen
from
Barcelona, NY in the fishing boat BEECHER after the
Lifesaving
Service
failed to respond.
Sister of schooner MAGELLAN(qv)
Registered out of St. Catharines or Hamilton
Major repairs in 1880
MARY JANE
Other names : none
Official no. : C ?
Type at loss : bark, wood, 3-mast (maybe schooner)
Build info : 1862, L. Shickluna, St. Catharines Ont.
Specs : 142x26x12, 345 t.
Date of loss : 1881, Nov 19
Place of loss : Long Point Cut, near Port Rowan, Ont.
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 9
Carrying : telegraph poles
Detail : Bound Port Hope. Ont. for Erie, PA., she was
driven ashore by a
storm and broke up. The first known of her fate was
when
wreckage washed
ashore near Dunkirk, NY, on the 20th.
Owned by Capt. Flanagan and others of Toronto.
Ashore on Long Point in the fall of 1863 and not
recovered
until the
following spring.
Another MARY JANE (US#90077) is shown in 1884 Merchant
Vessels as "lost or
otherwise out of service."
M. DOUSMAN
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1843, Milwaukee
Specs : 86 ft., 157 t.
Date of loss : 1852
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : sank
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : no detail
OSCEOLA
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : brig, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1837, John Vail, Silver Creek, NY
Specs : 88x24x9, 171 t.om
Date of loss : 1846, Nov 19
Place of loss : near Silver Creek, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 5 of 8 [captain died several days later
of a heart attack]
Carrying : ?
Detail : Driven ashore and wrecked near spot where
steamer
ERIE (qv) was
lost in '41.
Also reported wrecked on L. Michigan in 1841 and near
Chicago in Oct., 1843.
Carried the first load of grain directly from Chicago
to the East Coast in
1839.
Out of Cleveland
Sources: ledc,hgl,mpl,rp,wl
OWEGO
Other names : some sources call her OSWEGO
Official no. : 18926
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger and package
freight
Build info : 1853, Roderick Calkins, Cleveland
Specs : 169x28x11, 483 t. om
Date of loss : 1867, Nov 29
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 5
Carrying : flour, oats, corn, tallow and sundries
Detail : Stranded and went to pieces in a
blizzard/gale.
She was reported
largely broken up by December 6. Five of her crew were
lost when her yawl
capsized while trying to make it to shore. She was a
well-known vessel that
had for years plied the route
Buffalo-Dunkirk-Cleveland-Toledo.
Major repair in 1861
ONEIDA
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : propeller, wood, passenger & package
freight
Build info : 1846, B.B. Jones, Cleveland
Specs : 138x24x11, 345 t.
Date of loss : 1852, Nov 11
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 19 [all?]
Carrying : gen frt
Detail : She capsized in a gale and sank.
PACIFIC
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1835, Oswego, NY
Specs : 80x20x8, 114 t. om
Date of loss : 1844, Oct (18)
Place of loss : near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : 200-250 bbl salt
Detail : Bound Oswego for Cleveland, she was blown
ashore
and wrecked in a
gale. Total loss.
Out of Oswego
PASSAIC
Other names : none
Official no. : 19691
Type at loss : propeller, wood
Build info : 1862, Mason & Bidwell, Buffalo, NY
Specs : 196 ft., 532g 412n
Date of loss : 1891, Nov 1
Place of loss : near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : none
Carrying : ?
Detail : Driven shore and wrecked in a heavy gale.
PAUGASSET
Other names : also seen in error as PAUHASSET
Official no. : none
Type at loss : propeller, wood
Build info : 1847, Luther Moses, Ohio City, OH
Specs : 140x22x10, 325 t.
Date of loss : 1856, Aug 23
Place of loss : at Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : fire
Loss of life : none
Carrying : empty [had just finished unloading]
Detail : Caught fire at a dock at Dunkirk and was cut
loose to save the dock
after the fire got out of control. Drifted to near the
breakwater and burned
to water's edge.
Owned by the Dunkirk, Cleveland, Sandusky & Toledo
Line out of Sandusky
PENNSYLVANIA
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood
Build info : 1836, Three Mile Bay, NY
Specs : ?
Date of loss : 1844, Oct (18)
Place of loss : off Barcelona, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 10 [all]
Carrying : flour
Detail : Downbound from Cleveland, she capsized in a
gale and later
foundered. Flotsam came ashore all along the coast, but
it was unknown what
vessel had gone down until wreckage with "Pennsylvania"
painted on it washed
ashore near Dunkirk.
SACHEM
Other names : built as tug JOHN KELDERHOUSE, renamed
SACHEM in 1911, renamed
DEREK E. after 1990
Official no. : 204106
Type at loss : propeller tug, steel
Build info : 1907, B.T. Cowles, Buffalo, NY
Specs : 72x20x11, 100g 70g
Date of loss : 1950, Dec 18
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : unknown
Loss of life : 12 [all]
Carrying : none
Detail : She sank with all hands due to unknown causes.
When recovered the
following year, she was in almost perfect condition.
Reconditioned and
operating out of Cleveland in 1990. Now the tug DEREK
E., owned by Egan
Marine Corp. of Lemont, IL, and operation on the
Chicago
Sanitary & Ship
Canal.
Sources: mv,gs,is,wm2,mpl,kvd,eas
SCIOTA
Other names : none also seen as SCIOTO
Official no. : none
Type at loss : propeller, wood
Build info : 1848, Eli Bates, Huron, OH
Specs : 155x24x11, 389 t. om
Date of loss : 1864, Sep 2
Place of loss : just east of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : collision
Loss of life : 9 of 23
Carrying : 12,000 bu wheat
Detail : Bound down from Toledo for Buffalo, she
collided
with the propeller
ARCTIC and sank, a total loss. She filled quickly and
plunged bow foremost.
The ARCTIC, which had reportedly cut into the SCIOTA's
bow in a passing
error, picked up the survivors, along with another
nearby
vessel.
Owned by Capt. J.N. Gardner of Buffalo.
Hgl shows a schooner of this name, built in 1841 at
Cleveland,
sunk in
collision in 1851.
Major repairs in 1861, 63
SARAH A. GREEN
Other names : also seen as S.A. GREEN
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1847, Joel R. Norton, Fairport (Cuyahoga),
OH
Specs : 87x20x8, 119 t.
Date of loss : 1857, Oct 19
Place of loss : Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : none
Carrying : coal
Detail : Bound Erie, PA, for Buffalo, she came into
Dunkirk
harbor for
shelter and ran on the "old west pier," with half her
length over the pier.
She went to pieces soon after.
SILAS WRIGHT
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : schooner, wood, 2-mast
Build info : 1852, Cape Vincent, NY
Specs : 75x17x6, 70 t.
Date of loss : 1860, Sep 13
Place of loss : near Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : none
Carrying : light
Detail : Bound Barcelona, NY, for Buffalo, she
reportedly
went ashore and
was wrecked.
Owned by Capt. A. VanNorman
WILLIAM PEACOCK
Other names : none
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood, passenger
&
package freight
Build info : 1829, Barcelona, NY
Specs : 102x19x7, 120 t.
Date of loss : 1835
Place of loss : near Ripley, OH
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : Broke up, no detail.
On Sep 17, 1830 she suffered the first major boiler
explosion
on Lake Erie.
Lying at dock at Buffalo, she blew up, killing 15 to
30. Rebuilt 2 years
later.
WILLIAM F.P. TAYLOR
Other names : none also seen as W.F.P. TAYLOR
Official no. : none
Type at loss : side wheel steamer, wood
Build info : 1835, Silver Creek, NY
Specs : 88x18x7, 95 t.
Date of loss : 1838, Sep*
Place of loss : near Michigan City, IN
Lake : Michigan
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : ?
Detail : She was stranded and became a total loss. She
may have had a fire
aboard also.
Burned at Cattaraugus Creek, Lake Erie, in 1836, with
loss of 1 life.
*also given as 1842. Final enrollment document is
annotated:
"Lost near
Michigan City in the month of September, 1838"
WOCOKEN
Other names : none also seen as WOKOKEN
Official no. : 80778
Type at loss : propeller, wood
Build info : 1880, Quayle & Sons, Cleveland
Specs : 251x37x19, 1400g 1179n
Date of loss : 1893, Oct 14
Place of loss : off Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 12 of 15
Carrying : coal
Detail : Bound Ashtabula for Duluth, she was
overwhelmed
by a storm and
sank. Three crewmen saved themselves by climbing the
rigging as she went
down. Towing the barge JOSEPH PAIGE.
Owned by John Mitchell of Cleveland. His sister, the
captain's wife, was
lost on the wreck.
YOUNG ZION
Other names : ?
Official no. : ?
Type at loss : steamer
Build info : ?
Specs : ?
Date of loss : 1881, Jun 13
Place of loss : off Walnut Creek, E of Dunkirk, NY
Lake : Erie
Type of loss : (storm)
Loss of life : ?
Carrying : RR iron, cash
Detail : She reportedly foundered 2 mi off shore.