AH-WR-0821

Three Brothers

Steam Barge · United States · Lost 1911 · Manitou Passage

A lumber steam barge that foundered off South Manitou Island in 1911 and lay hidden until a storm uncovered her in 1996; now the preserve's most popular dive.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Three Brothers began life in 1888 as the May Durr, a wooden steam barge built to haul lumber for the Chicago lumber trade, later renamed John Spry and then Three Brothers. On September 27, 1911, carrying hardwood from Boyne City to Chicago in heavy weather, she began leaking faster than her pumps could manage and grounded on South Manitou Island. The wreck lay buried in sand until a 1996 storm exposed it, and it is now the most-dived wreck in the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve.

Vessel

Built: 1888
Registry: U.S. official number 91998
Builder: Milwaukee Shipyard Company
Yard: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 162 ft
Beam: 31.4 ft
Tonnage: 582
Propulsion: Steam, compound engine, single screw
Owners: William H. White & Co. (at loss)

Loss

Date: September 27, 1911
Cause: Storm
Location: South Manitou Island, Lake Michigan
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Boyne City, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: Hardwood lumber, valued at $4,200
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 45
Condition: Bow in about 7 feet of water, stern in about 45 feet; exposed in 1996 after storm erosion of Sandy Point.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1996
Protection: Within the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Position

Coordinates: 45.01° N 86.09° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: South Manitou Island, Michigan
Region: Manitou Passage

NPS confirms the Three Brothers grounded on South Manitou Island in the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve but does not publish coordinates; the position here is a hobbyist/dive-community estimate near 45.011N, -86.092W consistent across two independent web mapping sources.