Shipwreck · Lake Erie · Foundered
SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2
A car Ferry built in 1905, lost on Lake Erie in 1909. The record: “Lost in a storm on December 8, 1909, with 30–38 passengers and crew (2 absentees).”
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Car Ferry
- Builder
- American Ship Building Company of Cleveland, Ohio
- Completed
- 1905
- Length
- 338 ft (103 m)
- Beam
- 54 ft (16 m)
- Tonnage
- 2514 GRT
- Crew
- 30–38
- Fate
- Lost in a storm on December 8, 1909, with 30–38 passengers and crew (2 absentees)
- Lake
- Lake Erie
- Coordinates
- 42.1760° N, 80.2820° W
The story
Read the full history
The same year
Also lost in 1909
- SS Oscar T. FlintHuron · fire
- SS RussiaHuron · foundered
- SS W. P. ThewHuron · collision
- SS Francis HintonMichigan
- OttawaSuperior · fire
- SS John B. CowleSuperior · foundered
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Erie wrecks
- SS Howard S. Gerken13 mi · lost 1926
- SS James H. Reed27 mi · lost 1944
- James B. Colgate75 mi · lost 1916
- SS William Edenborn82 mi · lost 1905
- Walk-in-the-Water86 mi · lost 1821
- SS Sir William Siemens87 mi
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Walnut Creek7.2 mi
- Vista Launch7.8 mi
- Niagara Launch8.0 mi
- West Pier Launch8.7 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
- Presque Isle Light8.6 mi
- Erie Yacht Club Light8.6 mi
- Erie Harbor North Pier Light11 mi
On shore
Worth the stop
- Presque Isle State Park8.9 mi · park
- Erie Land Lighthouse12 mi · lighthouse
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, retrieved 2026-10-11. We print the fields as recorded and add nothing; a missing field means the record is silent. Tonnage and dimensions were often measured more than one way in their day, so they can differ between sources.
Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.