SS Hydrus
Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1913 · Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb
An iron-ore freighter lost with all 27 hands in the deadly Great Storm of 1913, not found again until 2015.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Hydrus was steaming for shelter in the St. Clair River when the November 1913 storm overwhelmed the Great Lakes. She sank with her entire crew, one of eight ships lost on Lake Huron in that storm. The wreck eluded searchers for over a century until shipwreck hunter David Trotter located it by side-scan sonar in 2015, identifying it by a nameplate found in the engine room. Its exact position has not been made public.
Vessel
- 1903
- Not established
- Not established
- Steel
- 436 ft
- Not established
- 4700
- Steam, single screw
- Not established
Loss
- November 9, 1913
- Storm
- Mid-lake, Lake Huron
- Lake Huron
- St. Clair River shelter
- Iron ore
- 27
- 27
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Upright, sitting facing west with port anchor missing
- Upright, facing west
- 2015
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position withheld to protect the site
- Mid-lake, off Michigan's Thumb, Lake Huron
Position deliberately withheld by the discovery team; wreck confirmed found but coordinates unpublished.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)
Exact coordinates and present depth of the wreck have not been publicly disclosed by its discoverer.
Discovery account, casualty figures, and storm narrative.
Michigan Sea Grant / Michigan State University Extension
Storm and discovery narrative.
