SS Vienna
Propeller-Driven Steamer · United States · Lost 1892 · Whitefish Point & Eastern Lake Superior
A wooden ore-carrying steamer towing a schooner barge was struck broadside by another steamer in Whitefish Bay fog and sank just short of a beaching attempt.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
SS Vienna was a wooden propeller-driven steamer built in 1873 at Cleveland, Ohio, and spent nearly two decades in the Great Lakes ore trade. On September 17, 1892, while downbound with iron ore and towing the schooner barge Mattie C. Bell, she was rammed in fog by the upbound steamer Nipigon in Whitefish Bay. Nipigon attempted to push the damaged vessel onto the beach but she sank just short of shore; no lives were lost. The wreck, discovered in 1974, remains largely intact and is one of the most visited sites in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
Vessel
- 1873
- US registry no. 25875
- Quayle & Martin
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Wood
- 191.33 ft
- 33.66 ft
- 1005.79
- Steam, single screw, propeller
- Cleveland Transportation Company; Orient Transportation Company at time of loss
Loss
- September 17, 1892
- Collision
- Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, off Whitefish Point, Michigan
- Lake Superior
- Not established
- Iron ore
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 120-148
- Largely intact and upright; forward octagonal pilothouse detached nearby, rear cabins missing.
- Upright
- 1974
- Within the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
Position
- 46.74° N 84.97° W
- Approximate position
- Whitefish Point, Michigan
Rounded from published dive-site coordinates near 46°44.416'N 84°57.927'W.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
Wreck history, artifact provenance, and preserve designation.
Collision narrative and wreck description.
