AH-WR-0260

Ajax

Tug · United States · Lost Date of final loss not established in sources reviewed · Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb

A hardworking Bay City sidewheel tug that changed hands repeatedly across the Great Lakes before ending her days on Saginaw Bay.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Ajax was a wooden sidewheel tug built in 1865 at Bay City, Michigan, after passing through several Wisconsin and Michigan owners and possibly incorporating the remains of an earlier tug of the same name. She spent her later career towing on Saginaw Bay near Bay City. The circumstances and date of her final loss are not established in the sources reviewed.

Vessel

Built: 1865
Registry: US 1124
Builder: Not established
Yard: Florence (Bay City), Michigan
Material: Wood
Length: 107 ft
Beam: 28.6 ft
Tonnage: 96
Propulsion: Steam, sidewheel
Owners: Chicago Salt & Lumber Company; later Bay City owners

Loss

Date: Date of final loss not established in sources reviewed
Cause: Not established
Location: Saginaw Bay, near Bay City, Michigan
Water: Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 43.59° N 83.89° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Bay City, Michigan
Region: Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb

General area only: coordinate of Bay City, Bay County, Michigan, from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Sparsely documented (40/100)

The date, cause, and precise location of her final loss are not established in the sources reviewed.

Shotline Diving Wreck Index
Build details and ownership chronology.
USGS Geographic Names Information System — Bay City
coordinate of the named place of loss