AH-WR-0148

Detroit

Passenger And Freight Steamer · United States · Lost 1854 · Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb

An 1846 sidewheel steamer, still fitted with both paddlewheels, lost in a foggy collision off Pointe aux Barques in 1854.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Detroit was a wooden sidewheel steamer built in 1846 at Newport (Marine City), Michigan, for the Ward family's Great Lakes shipping interests. She carried passengers and freight on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan routes for eight years. On May 25, 1854, bound from Detroit to Chicago with lumber, coal and hay, she collided with the brig Nucleus in heavy fog off Pointe aux Barques and sank without loss of life. Discovered by divers in 1994, she remains one of the best-preserved sidewheel steamers on the Great Lakes.

Vessel

Built: 1846
Builder: J.L. Wolverton
Yard: Newport (Marine City), Michigan
Material: Wood
Length: 157 ft
Beam: 23 ft
Tonnage: 352
Propulsion: Sidewheel, walking-beam steam engine
Owners: Samuel Ward & E.B. Ward

Loss

Date: May 25, 1854
Cause: Collision
Location: About 15 miles off Pointe aux Barques, Lake Huron
Water: Lake Huron
Voyage: Detroit, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Lumber, coal and hay
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 180-200
Condition: Upright and remarkably intact, with both paddlewheels and walking-beam engine in place
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1994
Protection: Within the Thumb Area Bottomland Preserve