John B. Cowle
Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1909 · Whitefish Point & Eastern Lake Superior
A steel ore carrier sank in minutes after being rammed in fog by the steamer Isaac M. Scott, which itself was later lost in the 1913 storm.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
John B. Cowle was a steel bulk freighter built in 1902 at Port Huron, Michigan, and operated by the Cowle Transportation Company hauling iron ore. On July 12, 1909, she was struck amidships in fog by the steamer Isaac M. Scott in Whitefish Bay and sank within minutes. Several of her crew went down with the ship. The Isaac M. Scott that struck her would later be lost herself in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
Vessel
- 1902
- US official no. 77559
- Jenks Shipbuilding Company
- Port Huron, Michigan
- Steel
- 420 ft
- 50 ft
- 4731
- Steam, triple expansion, single screw
- Cowle Transportation Company
Loss
- July 12, 1909
- Collision
- Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior
- Lake Superior
- Not established
- Iron ore
- Not established
- Several crew members were lost when the ship sank quickly; an exact figure is not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
Position
- 46.74° N 84.96° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Whitefish Point, Michigan
Reported GPS position for the John B. Cowle wreck in Whitefish Bay, per a shipwreck GPS mapping resource.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
The exact number of lives lost and the wreck's precise position are not established in the sources reviewed.
Wikipedia, SS John B. Cowle (1902)
Build, collision date, cause.
Dimensions, ownership.
Shipwreck World GPS Shipwreck Finder
Reported wreck GPS coordinates.
