Shipwreck · Lake Superior
SS Lafayette
A bulk carrier built in 1900, lost on Lake Superior in 1905. The record: “Broke up in the 1905 Mataafa Storm on 28 November 1905.”
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- bulk carrier
- Builder
- American Ship Building Company, Lorain, Ohio
- Completed
- 1900
- Length
- 454 ft (138 m)
- Beam
- 50 ft (15 m)
- Tonnage
- 5113 GRT, 3827 NRT
- Propulsion
- Triple expansion steam engine
- Crew
- 29
- Fate
- Broke up in the 1905 Mataafa Storm on 28 November 1905
- Lake
- Lake Superior
- Coordinates
- 47.0949° N, 91.5494° W
The story
Read the full history
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
- Samuel P. Ely8.3 mi · lost 1896
- SS Harriet B.10 mi · lost 1922
- Madeira12 mi · lost 1905
- SS Benjamin Noble12 mi · lost 1914
- Niagara (1904)15 mi · lost 1904
- Thomas Friant16 mi
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Stewart River5.0 mi
- Gooseberry River5.4 mi
- Flood Bay Wayside Rest5.9 mi
- Burlington Bay7.2 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
On shore
Worth the stop
- Gooseberry Falls State Park4.9 mi · park
- North Shore Scenic Drive — Highway 617.6 mi · drive
- Split Rock Lighthouse11 mi · lighthouse
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS Lafayette (1900), 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.