Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb
Shoal water off a lumber coast
A wide, shallow bay opens into Lake Huron behind a long sandy point, with hard shoals well offshore.
The lumber trade filled Saginaw Bay with schooners and tows, and the bay is shallow enough that a moderate sea breaks over its shoals. Point Aux Barques and the outer banks lie in the path of vessels rounding the Thumb, and a shift of wind put a loaded schooner on the sand before she could work clear. Ice closed the bay early and late in the season, adding to the toll.
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Records in These Waters
AvailableAjax
AH-WR-0260Bay City, Michigan
Date of final loss not established in sources reviewed · Tug
AvailableAlbany
AH-WR-0149Pointe aux Barques, Michigan
1893 · Package Freighter · 200 ft deep
AvailableArctic
AH-WR-0725Port Austin, Michigan
1893 · Steam Barge · 127 ft deep
AvailableArgus
AH-WR-1501Pointe aux Barques, Michigan
1913 · Bulk Freighter
AvailableCharles S. Price
AH-WR-0218Port Huron, Michigan
1913 · Bulk Freighter · 50 to 65 feet deep
AvailableChecotah
AH-WR-0723Port Sanilac, Michigan
1906 · Schooner · 117 ft deep
AvailableCity of Detroit
AH-WR-0261Port Austin, Michigan
1873 · Passenger And Package Freighter · 160-180 deep
AvailableCity of Port Huron
AH-WR-0724Port Sanilac, Michigan
1876 · Steam Barge · 40 ft deep
AvailableCol. A.B. Williams
AH-WR-0722Port Sanilac, Michigan
1864 · Schooner · 84 ft deep
AvailableDetroit
AH-WR-0148Port Austin, Michigan
1854 · Passenger And Freight Steamer · 180-200 deep
AvailableJames Carruthers
AH-WR-1522Goderich, Ontario
1913 · Bulk Freighter
AvailableJohn A. McGean
AH-WR-1500Port Hope, Michigan
1913 · Bulk Freighter
AvailableLangell Boys
AH-WR-0487Au Sable, Michigan
1931 · Steambarge
AvailableMears
AH-WR-0486Au Sable Point, Oscoda, Michigan
1889 · Schooner-Barge
AvailableMidnight
AH-WR-0485Au Sable Point, Oscoda, Michigan
1889 · Schooner-Barge
AvailablePhiladelphia
AH-WR-0150Pointe aux Barques, Michigan
1893 · Package Freighter
AvailableRegina
AH-WR-0217Lexington, Michigan
1913 · Cargo Steamer · 70 to 85 feet deep
AvailableSardis Burchard
AH-WR-0484Point Lookout, Saginaw Bay, Michigan
1882 · Schooner-Barge · 7 ft deep
AvailableSport
AH-WR-0216Lexington, Michigan
1920 · Tug · 45 to 55 feet deep
AvailableSS Daniel J. Morrell
AH-WR-0758Port Austin / Harbor Beach, Michigan
1966 · Bulk Freighter · 205-218 deep
AvailableSS Hydrus
AH-WR-0759Mid-lake, off Michigan's Thumb, Lake Huron
1913 · Bulk Freighter
AvailableWexford
AH-WR-1521Grand Bend, Ontario
1913 · Package Freighter
