GreatAmericanLakes

Shipwreck · Lake Superior · Foundered

SS Samuel Mather

A bulk freighter built in 1887, lost on Lake Superior in 1891. The record: “Sank in Whitefish Bay 21 November 1891 after colliding with the Brazil.”

Chart of the SS Samuel Mather wreck site on Lake Superior, with nearby wrecks markedSagamoreSS CometSS Superior CitySS John B. CowleSS ViennaSS MyronSS Samuel Mather

The vessel

On the record

Type
Bulk freighter
Builder
Quayle's, Thomas Sons
Completed
1887
Length
246 ft (75 m)
Beam
40 ft (12 m)
Tonnage
1576.23 GRT; 1286.72 NRT
Propulsion
Steam, propeller
Fate
Sank in Whitefish Bay 21 November 1891 after colliding with the Brazil
Coordinates
46.5718° N, 84.7054° W

The same year

Also lost in 1891

The same decade

Superior losses of the 1890s

On the bottom nearby

Nearest Superior wrecks

  1. Sagamore5.1 mi · lost 1901
  2. SS Comet13 mi · lost 1875
  3. SS Superior City13 mi · lost 1920
  4. SS John B. Cowle17 mi · lost 1909
  5. SS Vienna17 mi · lost 1892
  6. SS Myron22 mi · lost 1919

Straight-line distance between published positions.

By boat

Closest launches

On the horizon

Nearest lights

On shore

Worth the stop

Source

Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article SS Samuel Mather (1887), 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.