AH-WR-0757

SS Monrovia

Ocean Freighter · Liberia · Lost 1959 · Thunder Bay & Lake Huron

A Liberian ocean freighter on her first Great Lakes voyage, sunk in fog by a collision just outside Thunder Bay in 1959.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Monrovia was a Liberian-flagged, Greek-crewed ocean freighter built in Scotland during the Second World War. In June 1959, soon after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed ocean vessels onto the Great Lakes, she collided with the Canadian freighter Royalton in heavy fog on Lake Huron. All 29 crew were rescued before she sank. She is remembered as one of the first ocean-going casualties of the Seaway era.

Vessel

Built: 1943
Builder: Rankin and Blackmore
Yard: Port Glasgow, Scotland
Material: Steel
Length: 448 ft
Beam: 56 ft
Tonnage: 7076
Propulsion: Motor, single screw
Owners: Eastern Shipping Company, Liverpool

Loss

Date: June 25, 1959
Cause: Collision
Location: About 13 miles off Thunder Bay Island, Lake Huron
Water: Lake Huron
Voyage: Antwerp, Belgium → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Sheet and bar steel
Aboard: 29
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 80-140
Condition: Upright and largely intact, with collision damage to the port side and a twisted bow
Orientation: Upright
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary