Shipwreck · Lake Michigan · Foundered
SS Ironsides
A package freighter built in 1864, wrecked on Lake Michigan. The record: “Sank in a storm on Lake Michigan.”
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Package freighter
- Builder
- Ira Lafrinier or Quayle & Martin of Cleveland, Ohio
- Launched
- July 23, 1864
- Completed
- 1864
- Length
- 231 ft (70 m)
- Beam
- 31 ft (9 m)
- Tonnage
- 973 GRT; 1123.75 GRT (after re–measurement)
- Propulsion
- 2 × 9 ft 4–bladed fixed pitch propellers
- Fate
- Sank in a storm on Lake Michigan
- Lake
- Lake Michigan
- Coordinates
- 43.0483° N, 86.3191° W
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Michigan wrecks
- SS Henry Cort12 mi · lost 1934
- SS Michigan20 mi · lost 1885
- SS John V. Moran20 mi · lost 1899
- SS Milwaukee (b. 1868)37 mi
- PS Alpena37 mi · lost 1880
- SS Novadoc46 mi · lost 1940
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Grand Haven Municipal4.9 mi
- Cottage Grove12 mi
- Grand Trunk12 mi
- Hartshorn Municipal Marina13 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
- Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Light3.2 mi
- Grand Haven North Pierhead Light3.3 mi
- Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Light3.3 mi
On shore
Worth the stop
- Grand Haven State Park3.6 mi · beach
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS Ironsides, 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.