AH-WR-0416

J.D. Marshall

Steamer · United States · Lost 1911 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A wooden package freighter built in 1891 that sank in southern Lake Michigan and remains a popular dive site near Michigan City, Indiana.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

The J.D. Marshall was a wooden steam-powered package freighter built in 1891 for cargo service on the Great Lakes. She sank in southern Lake Michigan near Michigan City, Indiana, in 1911. The wreck settled largely intact on the lakebed and has since become a well-known recreational dive site in the region.

Vessel

Built: 1891
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: 1911
Cause: Collision
Location: Southern Lake Michigan, near Michigan City, Indiana
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Largely intact on the lakebed
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 41.669° N 87.069° W
Accuracy: Surveyed position
Nearest: Michigan City, Indiana
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Indiana DNR's J.D. Marshall Nature Preserve page publishes the coordinates of the preserve's three mooring buoys, which are placed directly over the wreck site; the value here is the average of those three published buoy positions.