Sandusky
Brig · United States · Lost 1856 · The Straits of Mackinac
An 1848 grain brig lost with all hands in a Straits of Mackinac gale, now the preserve's oldest known dive site.
Jill Stephenson
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
The brig Sandusky was built in 1848 at Sandusky, Ohio, and carried grain cargoes on the Great Lakes. On a September night in 1856, bound from Chicago to Buffalo, she was caught in a violent gale in the Straits of Mackinac. The steamer Queen City spotted crewmen clinging to her masts but could not save them, and the entire crew was lost. Her wreck, one of the oldest known in the Straits, still carries a replica of the original bow figurehead.
Vessel
- 1848
- Not established
- Sandusky, Ohio
- Wood
- 110 ft
- 26 ft
- Not established
- Wind, square- and fore-and-aft rig
- Not established
Loss
- September 20, 1856
- Storm
- Straits of Mackinac, about five miles west of the present Mackinac Bridge
- Lake Huron / Straits of Mackinac
- Chicago, Illinois → Buffalo, New York
- Grain
- Not established
- The full crew was lost, including three men who clung to the masts and could not be reached by a rescuing steamer.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 70-84
- Hull largely intact, tipped slightly to port, decks collapsing in places
- Not established
- Not established
- Within the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve
Position
- 45.799° N 84.838° W
- Surveyed position
- Mackinaw City, Michigan
Position published by the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)
Exact crew size and total lives lost are not established in the sources reviewed.
Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve
Build origin, loss narrative, rescue attempt, wreck condition and location.
