AH-WR-1550

Benjamin Franklin

Sidewheel Steamer · Lost 1850 · Thunder Bay & Lake Huron

Benjamin Franklin was a sidewheel steamer lost in Lake Huron.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Benjamin Franklin was a paddlewheel steamer built at Buffalo in 1842. It grounded at Thunder Bay Island in 1850. The wreck broke apart and its machinery became scattered across the reef. Paddlewheel shafts and boilers survive.

Vessel

Built: 1842
Builder: Gilman Applebee
Yard: Buffalo, New York
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, sidewheel
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 8, 1850
Cause: Grounding
Location: Thunder Bay Island, Michigan
Water: Lake Huron
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 10–55
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Thunder Bay Island, Michigan
Region: Thunder Bay & Lake Huron

No wreck-position coordinates transcribed for this record.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)

Crew totals and details not stated here are not established in the sources reviewed.

NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Vessel identity, construction and documented loss history.