Shipwreck · Lake Superior · Collision
Thomas Wilson
A whaleback freighter built in 1892, lost on Lake Superior in 1902. The record: “Sunk in a collision with George Hadley.” The wreck is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The vessel
On the record
- Type
- Whaleback freighter
- Builder
- Alexander McDougall; American Steel Barge Company
- Launched
- April 30, 1892
- Completed
- 1892–1902
- Length
- 308 ft (94 m)
- Beam
- 38 ft (12 m)
- Tonnage
- 1713 GRT; 1318 NRT
- Propulsion
- Two Scotch boilers, 160 psi,; One triple-expansion steam engine powering one propeller
- Fate
- Sunk in a collision with George Hadley
- Wreck site
- 7/8 of a mile outside the Duluth Harbor entrance, Duluth, Minnesota
- National Register
- Listed July 23, 1992 · ref. 92000844
- Lake
- Lake Superior
- Coordinates
- 46.7833° N, 92.0694° W
The same year
Also lost in 1902
- SS BannockburnSuperior · foundered
- SS Robert WallaceSuperior · foundered
The same decade
Superior losses of the 1900s
- Amboy1905 · stranded
- Madeira1905 · foundered
- Moonlight1903
- Niagara (1904)1904
- Noquebay1905 · fire
- Ottawa1909 · fire
- Sagamore1901 · collision
- Sevona1905 · foundered
- SS Cyprus1907 · foundered
- SS D. M. Clemson1908 · foundered
On the bottom nearby
Nearest Superior wrecks
- Mayflower3.1 mi · lost 1891
- USS Essex5.2 mi
- SS Onoko14 mi · lost 1915
- SS Robert Wallace17 mi · lost 1902
- Niagara (1904)18 mi · lost 1904
- SS Benjamin Noble22 mi · lost 1914
Straight-line distance between published positions.
By boat
Closest launches
- Barkers Island Marina4.5 mi
- Brighton Beach5.0 mi
- Loons Foot Landing6.0 mi
- McQuade Safe Harbor9.7 mi
On the horizon
Nearest lights
- Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light0.9 mi
- Duluth Harbor North Pier Light0.9 mi
- Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light1.1 mi
On shore
Worth the stop
- North Shore Scenic Drive — Highway 6125 mi · drive
Source
Vessel facts on this page come from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Thomas Wilson (shipwreck), 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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