SS Monarch
Passenger-Package Freighter · Canada · Lost 1906 · Isle Royale & Lake Superior
A Canadian passenger-package freighter driven onto Isle Royale's palisades in a blinding snowstorm on its last run of the 1906 season.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Monarch was built in 1890 for the Beatty family's Northern Navigation Company and ran passengers and freight between Sarnia, Thunder Bay, and Duluth. On December 6, 1906, downbound from Port Arthur in heavy snow and fog, she missed her course and struck the shoreline cliffs at Blake Point, Isle Royale. One crew member died; the rest reached shore on a line rigged by a crewman who swam ashore. The wreck was partly salvaged before ice and surf scattered the hull.
Vessel
- 1890
- Canadian registry no. 96843
- John Dyble
- Sarnia, Ontario
- Wood
- 259 ft
- 35 ft
- 2017
- Steam, triple expansion, single screw
- Northern Navigation Company, Ltd.
Loss
- December 6, 1906
- Grounding
- Palisades area, north side of Blake Point, Isle Royale
- Lake Superior
- Port Arthur, Ontario → Sarnia, Ontario
- Wheat, oats, flour and general merchandise
- 44
- 1
- Edward Robertson
The Wreck Today
- 10-80
- Scattered across the shoreline from salvage and ice action; bow and stern sections identifiable
- Not established
- Not established
- Within Isle Royale National Park
Position
- 48.189° N 88.434° W
- Surveyed position
- Blake Point, Isle Royale, Michigan
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
Isle Royale National Park (National Park Service)
Build history, loss narrative, casualties, salvage.
National Register of Historic Places nomination, Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park
Dimensions, coordinates, site condition.
