SS Eber Ward
Package Freighter · United States · Lost 1909 · The Straits of Mackinac
A wooden package freighter that sank in ten minutes after spring ice tore open her bow in the Straits of Mackinac.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS Eber Ward was built in 1888 for the Detroit and Lake Superior Line and spent two decades hauling package and bulk freight on the upper Great Lakes. On April 20, 1909, while carrying corn from Milwaukee toward Port Huron, she met a field of slush and windrow ice in the Straits of Mackinac. Her bow was torn open and she sank within about ten minutes, taking five crewmen and a lifeboat down with her. Divers rediscovered the wreck in 1980, and it now lies within the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve.
Vessel
- 1888
- F.W. Wheeler & Co.
- West Bay City, Michigan
- Wood
- 213 ft
- 37 ft
- 1344
- Steam propeller, fore & aft compound engine
- Detroit and Lake Superior Line
Loss
- April 20, 1909
- Ice
- Straits of Mackinac, about 5 miles west of the present Mackinac Bridge
- Lake Huron / Straits of Mackinac
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin → Port Huron, Michigan
- Corn, approximately 55,000 bushels
- 14
- 5
- Timese LeMay
The Wreck Today
- 110-145
- Upright, cabins missing but hull largely intact
- Bow to stern, heading south
- 1980
- Within the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve
Position
- 45.813° N 84.819° W
- Surveyed position
- Mackinaw City, Michigan
Bow and stern positions published by the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Build history, tonnage, loss narrative, casualty names, inquiry findings.
Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve
Dimensions, wreck depth, position, present condition.
