Anthony Wayne
Side-Wheel Passenger And Package Steamer · United States · Lost 1850 · The Lake Erie Islands
One of the oldest steamboats on the Great Lakes exploded and sank off Vermilion, Ohio, killing dozens.
Bart Krieger
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Anthony Wayne was an early Great Lakes side-wheel steamer built in 1837, carrying passengers and freight for thirteen years. On April 28, 1850, bound from Toledo to Buffalo, two of her boilers exploded off Vermilion, Ohio, and she sank within fifteen minutes. An estimated forty to sixty of about one hundred people aboard were lost. Divers located her broken remains in 2006, and the wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
Vessel
- 1837
- Samuel L. Hubbell
- Perrysburg, Ohio
- Wood
- 156.5 ft
- 25.75 ft
- 400
- Steam, side-wheel
- Charles B. Howard & Company; Captain E. C. Gore (part-owner)
Loss
- April 28, 1850
- Mechanical failure
- Lake Erie, about 8 miles north of Vermilion, Ohio
- Lake Erie
- Toledo, Ohio → Buffalo, New York
- Pork, lard, seed, butter, and barrels of wine and whiskey
- 100
- Contemporary reports vary; roughly 40 to 60 of the estimated 100 aboard were lost, including 11 crew.
- Captain E. C. Gore
The Wreck Today
- 50-60
- Broken into two sections, partially buried in sediment
- Not established
- 2006
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2018)
Position
- 41.517° N 82.383° W
- Surveyed position
- Vermilion, Ohio
Position as listed in the National Register of Historic Places nomination.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
The exact number aboard and killed varies between period accounts and is not settled precisely.
National Register of Historic Places nomination (National Park Service)
Coordinates, dimensions, and protected status.
Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks and Maritime Tales of Lake Erie
Loss circumstances, cargo, and discovery account.
Texas A&M University, Nautical Archaeology Program thesis
Archaeological documentation of the wreck.
