Shipwreck · Lake Superior · Fire
SS R. G. Stewart
A packet steamer built in 1878, lost on Lake Superior in 1899. The record: “ran aground and burned near Michigan Island.”
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Packet steamer
- Launched
- 1878
- Length
- 100 ft (30 m)
- Tonnage
- 197 gross tonnage
- Fate
- ran aground and burned near Michigan Island
- Lake
- Lake Superior
- Coordinates
- 46.8734° N, 90.4750° W
The story
Read the full history
The same year
Also lost in 1899
- SS Margaret OlwillErie · foundered
- TypoHuron · collision
- SS John V. MoranMichigan · foundered
The same decade
Superior losses of the 1890s
- Antelope1897 · foundered
- Mayflower1891 · foundered
- Samuel P. Ely1896
- SS Henry Chisholm1898 · foundered
- SS Samuel Mather1891 · foundered
- SS Vienna1892 · collision
- SS Western Reserve1892 · foundered
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Superior wrecks
- SS Marquette3.6 mi · lost 1903
- Noquebay4.9 mi · lost 1905
- Moonlight5.4 mi · lost 1903
- Ottawa14 mi · lost 1909
- Lucerne17 mi · lost 1886
- SS Ira H. Owen18 mi · lost 1905
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Red Cliff15 mi
- Bayfield City Boat Launch17 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
- Michigan Island Light1.0 mi
- Gull Island Light2.8 mi
- Outer Island Light14 mi
On shore
Worth the stop
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore10 mi · park
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS R. G. Stewart, 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.