Shipwreck · Lake Michigan · Foundered
R. J. Hackett
A Great Lakes freighter built in 1869, lost on Lake Michigan in 1905. The record: “Sank November 12, 1905.” The wreck is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Great Lakes freighter
- Builder
- Peck & Masters
- Launched
- November 16, 1869
- Length
- 208 ft (63 m)
- Beam
- 32 ft (10 m)
- Tonnage
- 749 gross as built; 1,129 after 1881
- Propulsion
- Triple-expansion steam engine
- Fate
- Sank November 12, 1905
- Wreck site
- Whaleback Shoal in Green Bay, 9.5 miles southeast of the Cedar River in Menominee County, Michigan.
- National Register
- Listed May 21, 1992 · ref. 92000464
- Lake
- Lake Michigan
- Coordinates
- 45.3578° N, 87.1819° W
The same year
Also lost in 1905
- SS William EdenbornErie · foundered
- MinnedosaHuron · foundered
- SS EtruriaHuron · collision
- SS KaliyugaHuron · foundered
- SS AppomattoxMichigan · stranded
- SS EastlandMichigan
- AmboySuperior · stranded
- MadeiraSuperior · foundered
- NoquebaySuperior · fire
- SevonaSuperior · foundered
The same decade
Michigan losses of the 1900s
- SS Atlanta1906
- SS Erie L. Hackley1903 · foundered
- SS Francis Hinton1909
- SS S. C. Baldwin1908 · foundered
- SS Walter L. Frost1903 · stranded
- Tennie and Laura1903 · foundered
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Michigan wrecks
- F. J. King22 mi
- SS Erie L. Hackley24 mi · lost 1903
- SS Australasia30 mi · lost 1896
- SS Lakeland39 mi · lost 1924
- SS Walter L. Frost56 mi · lost 1903
- SS Francisco Morazan56 mi · lost 1960
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Garrett Bay Road Boat Launch8.1 mi
- Liberty Grove Boat Ramp8.8 mi
- Sister Bay Marina12 mi
- Lake Michigan - Rowleys Bay Access12 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article R. J. Hackett, 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.