SS John Mitchell
Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1911 · Whitefish Point & Eastern Lake Superior
A steel ore-and-coal carrier sank in minutes after a fog-bound collision off Whitefish Point, and now rests capsized on the lake floor.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS John Mitchell was a steel lake freighter built in 1906 at St. Clair, Michigan, for the Cornell Steamship Company. On July 10, 1911, while bound for Superior, Wisconsin, with a load of coal, she was rammed broadside in heavy fog by the steamer William Henry Mack near Whitefish Point. She sank in about seven minutes; three of the 34 people aboard were lost. Discovered upside down on the lake bottom in 1972, she now lies within the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
Vessel
- 1906
- US official number 203943
- Great Lakes Engineering Works
- St. Clair, Michigan
- Steel
- 420 ft
- 52 ft
- 4468
- Steam, triple expansion, single screw
- Cornell Steamship Company, managed by C. W. Elphicke & Company of Chicago
Loss
- July 10, 1911
- Collision
- Off Vermilion Point, near Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, Michigan
- Lake Superior
- Buffalo, New York → Superior, Wisconsin
- Coal
- 34
- 3
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 130-150
- Lies upside down on the lake bottom; engine room and cargo holds accessible to trained divers.
- Inverted
- 1972
- Within the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
Position
- 46.68° N 85.02° W
- Approximate position
- Whitefish Point, Michigan
General area west of Whitefish Point cited by dive resources; a precise surveyed position was not confirmed in sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Build specifications and loss narrative.
Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve / Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
Wreck condition and preserve designation.
