AH-WR-0819

Francisco Morazan

Package Freighter · Liberia · Lost 1960 · Manitou Passage

A tramp freighter under her eighth name that grounded in a snowstorm racing to beat the Seaway's winter closure, its rusting hull still standing above Lake Michigan.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Francisco Morazan was a German-built 1922 freighter that sailed under many flags and names before running aground on South Manitou Island on the night of November 28, 1960, in a blinding snowstorm. She had been racing to leave the Great Lakes before the St. Lawrence Seaway closed for winter. All 14 aboard, including the captain's pregnant wife, were rescued; the ship was declared unsalvageable and abandoned where she grounded. It remains Michigan's most visible and most-visited shipwreck.

Vessel

Built: 1922
Builder: Not established
Yard: Hamburg, Germany
Material: Steel
Length: 247 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 1141
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 29, 1960
Cause: Grounding
Location: Southern tip of South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Chicago, Illinois → Netherlands and Germany, via St. Lawrence Seaway
Cargo: General cargo including canned chicken, toys, and other goods
Aboard: 14
Lives lost: 0
Master: Captain Eduardo Trivizas

The Wreck Today

Depth: 20
Condition: Broken hull, largely above water, standing where she grounded and slowly filling with sand.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.