AH-WR-1846

Prussia

Passenger And Freight Steamer · Canada · Lost 1885 · Apostle Islands & Western Lake Superior

A Canadian wooden steamer burned off Sand Island in September 1885; the lighthouse keeper rescued all eleven crew members.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Prussia was built by Louis Shickluna at St. Catharines in 1873 for passenger and freight service between Montreal and upper Great Lakes ports. Operated by the Western Express Line, she was a wooden screw canaller. Sailing light from Port Arthur toward Duluth to load grain, she sought shelter near Sand Island as winds increased. Fire discovered on September 12, 1885, forced all eleven crew members into two lifeboats. Light keeper Charles Lederlee rescued them before the steamer burned to the waterline and sank.

Vessel

Built: 1873
Builder: Louis Shickluna
Yard: St. Catharines, Ontario
Material: Wood
Length: 137.7 ft
Beam: 23.6 ft
Tonnage: 710.08 gross tons, as listed by the institutional inventory
Propulsion: Steam, screw
Owners: Original owners Graham, Burrows, Oille and Brown; Western Express Line; final owner listed as Graham Horn Co., Port Arthur

Loss

Date: September 12, 1885
Cause: Fire
Location: Off Sand Island, Apostle Islands, Wisconsin; abandoned about ten miles from Sand Island Lighthouse
Water: Lake Superior
Voyage: Port Arthur, Ontario → Duluth, Minnesota, to load grain for onward delivery to Montreal
Cargo: Light; proceeding to load grain
Aboard: 11
Lives lost: 0
Master: William Anderson

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Sand Island, Apostle Islands, Wisconsin
Region: Apostle Islands & Western Lake Superior

Sand Island locality fits existing region. Inventory coordinates supply no survey or wreck-location verification; no position calculated from lighthouse distance.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (86/100)

Passenger-capacity accounts conflict; verified wreck position, depth, salvage history and present condition are not established.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks: Prussia (1873)
Complete construction, Service History, Final Voyage and gallery caption: Louis Shickluna, St. Catharines 1873; wooden screw canaller, one mast, 137.7 x 23.6 ft, inventory 710.08 gross tons; owners and conflicting passenger capacities; September 12, 1885 fire near Sand Island; Captain William Anderson; eleven crew rescued by keeper Charles Lederlee; burned to waterline and sank. No Today section or verified site survey; animated zero counters ignored.