Ottawa
Tugboat · United States · Lost 1909 · Apostle Islands & Western Lake Superior
Once the most powerful tug on the Great Lakes, Ottawa burned and sank in the Apostle Islands hours after completing a week-long rescue of a stranded steamer.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1881 as Boscobel, the wooden tug was renamed Ottawa after her 1903 purchase by the Reid Wrecking Company and became known for salvage work across the Great Lakes. In November 1909 she helped free a steamer stranded near Outer Island after a week of effort. Hours after the rescue was completed, fire broke out aboard Ottawa, possibly from her coal bunkers, and she burned to the waterline and sank near Basswood Island. All crew escaped safely.
Vessel
- 1881
- US registry no. 3152 (later Canadian registry no. 116391)
- Miller Brothers
- Chicago, Illinois
- Wood
- 151 ft
- 28.4 ft
- 610.8
- Steam screw
- Reid Wrecking Company, Sarnia, Ontario
Loss
- November 29, 1909
- Fire
- Between Basswood Island and the Bayfield Peninsula, Apostle Islands
- Lake Superior
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Burned to the waterline; hull remains on the lake bottom
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Position
- 46.883° N 90.764° W
- Surveyed position
- Red Cliff, Bayfield County, Wisconsin
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Trails
Build history, dimensions, loss narrative.
National Register of Historic Places, Great Lakes Shipwreck Sites of Wisconsin MPS
Coordinates and listing status.
