Shipwreck · Lake Superior · Foundered
SS Ira H. Owen
A lake freighter built in 1887, lost on Lake Superior in 1905. The record: “Sank in the Mataafa Storm on Lake Superior.”
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Lake freighter
- Builder
- Globe Iron Works Company of Cleveland, Ohio
- Launched
- July 7, 1887
- Completed
- 1887
- Length
- 278 ft (85 m)
- Beam
- 39 ft (12 m)
- Tonnage
- 1753.22 GRT; 1497.77 NRT
- Propulsion
- 1 × fixed pitch propeller
- Crew
- 19
- Fate
- Sank in the Mataafa Storm on Lake Superior
- Lake
- Lake Superior
- Coordinates
- 46.8950° N, 90.1010° W
The same year
Also lost in 1905
- SS William EdenbornErie · foundered
- MinnedosaHuron · foundered
- SS EtruriaHuron · collision
- SS KaliyugaHuron · foundered
- R. J. HackettMichigan · foundered
- SS AppomattoxMichigan · stranded
- SS EastlandMichigan
- AmboySuperior · stranded
- MadeiraSuperior · foundered
- NoquebaySuperior · fire
The same decade
Superior losses of the 1900s
- Moonlight1903
- Niagara (1904)1904
- Ottawa1909 · fire
- Sagamore1901 · collision
- SS Bannockburn1902 · foundered
- SS Cyprus1907 · foundered
- SS D. M. Clemson1908 · foundered
- SS Fedora1901 · fire
- SS Hudson1901 · foundered
- SS John B. Cowle1909 · foundered
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Superior wrecks
- Moonlight14 mi · lost 1903
- SS Marquette16 mi · lost 1903
- SS R. G. Stewart18 mi · lost 1899
- Noquebay21 mi · lost 1905
- Ottawa31 mi · lost 1909
- Lucerne34 mi · lost 1886
Straight-line distance between published positions.
On the horizon
Nearest lights
- Gull Island Light16 mi
- Michigan Island Light19 mi
- Outer Island Light19 mi
On shore
Worth the stop
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore27 mi · park
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS Ira H. Owen, 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.
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