AH-WR-0151

John B. Merrill

Schooner · United States · Lost 1893 · Georgian Bay & the North Channel

A three-masted schooner, once a Great Lakes speed record holder, wrecked on an uncharted shoal near Drummond Island in 1893.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

John B. Merrill was a three-masted schooner built in 1873 at Milwaukee, known in her day for speed and cargo capacity. She spent two decades carrying coal, grain and bulk freight on the Great Lakes. On October 14, 1893, while under tow toward Marquette with a coal cargo, a severe gale on northern Lake Huron parted her towlines and she grounded on an uncharted shoal south of Drummond Island, later named Holdridge Shoal. All nine crew were rescued by local fishermen, and her broken hull remains a well-known dive site in the DeTour Passage.

Vessel

Built: 1873
Builder: Not established
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Wind, three-masted schooner rig
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 14, 1893
Cause: Grounding
Location: Holdridge Shoal, south of Drummond Island, near DeTour Passage
Water: Lake Huron
Voyage: Marquette, Michigan
Cargo: Coal
Aboard: 9
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 35-85
Condition: Hull broken into three main sections; rigging, capstan, windlass, sail winch and nameboard preserved
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within the DeTour Passage Underwater Preserve

Position

Coordinates: 45.92° N 83.73° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Drummond Island, Michigan
Region: Georgian Bay & the North Channel

The dive/outdoors site Hang Outdoors publishes a specific coordinate (45.9164°N, 83.7319°W) for the wreck on Holdridge Shoal in the DeTour Passage Underwater Preserve; this is a hobbyist dive-resource figure, not a state-surveyed position.