Shipwrecks · The Walleye Capital
Lake Erie Shipwrecks
18 documented wrecks, lost between 1821 and 1944. 11 have a published wreck site, marked on the chart. 1 are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wrecks
18
Sites charted
11
National Register
1
Earliest loss
1821
The toll by decade
When Erie took them
Wrecks in this directory by the decade they were lost. It counts documented vessels, not every loss.
How they were lost
By cause
Only where the record says it in plain words.
The big hulls
Largest Erie wrecks by length
SS William Edenborn
built 1900 · lost 1905
SS James H. Reed
Lake freighter · built 1903 · lost 1944
SS Sir William Siemens
Lake freighter · built 1896
SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2
Car Ferry · built 1905 · lost 1909
James B. Colgate
Whaleback freighter · built 1892 · lost 1916
Barge 104
Whaleback barge · built 1890 · lost 1898
Every Lake Erie wreck in the directory 18
By era of loss, oldest first.
Before 1850 3
- Walk-in-the-WaterSidewheel steamboatLost 1821 · Stranded · 132 ft
- ErieWooden steamshipLost 1841 · Fire · 176 ft · site unpublished
- Henry RoopSchoonerLost 1843 · Foundered · 65 ft · site unpublished
1850–1879 2
- SS G. P. GriffithWooden steamshipLost 1850 · Fire · 193 ft · site unpublished
- AtlanticLost 1852 · Collision · 267 ft · site unpublished
1880–1899 2
- Barge 104Whaleback bargeLost 1898 · Foundered · 288 ft
- SS Margaret OlwillSteam bargeLost 1899 · Foundered · 176 ft · site unpublished
1900–1929 4
- SS William EdenbornLost 1905 · Foundered · 497 ft
- SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2Car FerryLost 1909 · Foundered · 338 ft
- James B. ColgateWhaleback freighterLost 1916 · Foundered · 308 ft
- SS Howard S. GerkenDredgeLost 1926 · Foundered · 155 ft
1930–1959 3
- ArgoTank bargeLost 1937 · Foundered · 120 ft
- ClevecoTanker bargeLost 1942 · Foundered · 260 ft · site unpublished
- SS James H. ReedLake freighterLost 1944 · Collision · 468 ft
Year not recorded 4
- Anthony WayneSidewheel steamer - passengers and package freightFoundered · 157 ft · NRHP
- CortlandBarqueCollision · 243 ft · site unpublished
- Morning StarSteamshipCollision · 243 ft
- SS Sir William SiemensLake freighterCollision · 432 ft
Beyond the wrecks
More on Lake Erie
How many shipwrecks are in Lake Erie?
This directory lists 18 Lake Erie wrecks that have a documented history: a named vessel with its record. The lake holds far more. Historians count losses on the Great Lakes in the thousands, and most of them are small vessels with no published record or a wreck site nobody has found.
What is the oldest shipwreck in Lake Erie?
By year of loss, the earliest in this directory are Walk-in-the-Water (1821), Erie (1841), Henry Roop (1843). Older losses happened; these are the earliest with a documented vessel record.
When were the most ships lost on Lake Erie?
Among the wrecks listed here, the 1840s count the most: 2. Wooden sail and early steam, heavy traffic and no weather forecasting made the late nineteenth century the worst run on every lake.
Can you dive Lake Erie shipwrecks?
Many, yes. Wreck sites on the U.S. side generally belong to the state, and removing anything from them is illegal. Cold water, depth and poor visibility make most of them technical dives. Read the visiting notes on our shipwreck index before you plan one.
Vessel facts from the infoboxes of English Wikipedia articles in its “Shipwrecks of Lake Erie” category, retrieved 2026-10-11; National Register references link to NPS NPGallery. Shoreline from Natural Earth (public domain). Charts are not for navigation. Corrections to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.