SS Chester A. Congdon
Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1918 · Isle Royale & Lake Superior
A grain-laden lake freighter that grounded on Canoe Rocks in fog in 1918, called at the time the costliest loss in Great Lakes history.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1907 as Salt Lake City and renamed Chester A. Congdon in 1912, this steel freighter carried grain on the Great Lakes for the Continental Steamship Company. On November 6, 1918, loaded with wheat and bound from Fort William to Port McNicoll, she ran into a storm, sheltered in Thunder Bay, then continued into thick fog and struck Canoe Rocks off Isle Royale. No lives were lost, but the ship and its cargo were a total loss, reported as the largest such loss on the Great Lakes at the time. The wreck lies broken in two on the reef.
Vessel
- 1907
- US official number 204526
- Chicago Shipbuilding Company
- South Chicago, Illinois
- Steel
- 532 ft
- 56.16 ft
- 6530
- Steam, triple expansion, single screw
- Continental Steamship Company
Loss
- November 6, 1918
- Grounding
- Canoe Rocks, northeast end of Isle Royale
- Lake Superior
- Fort William, Ontario → Port McNicoll, Ontario
- 380,000 bushels of wheat
- Not established
- 0
- Charles J. Autterson
The Wreck Today
- 65 ft
- Broken in two; bow section with pilothouse on the south side of the reef, stern section on the north side, with scattered wreckage between
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Isle Royale National Park
Position
- 48.193° N 88.514° W
- Surveyed position
- Canoe Rocks, Isle Royale, Michigan
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (92/100)
Isle Royale National Park (National Park Service)
Build history, wreck event, cargo value.
National Register of Historic Places nomination, Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park
Dimensions, coordinates, site condition.
