Are there any ships on the bottom of Lake Erie?

Our Great Lake holds the remains of hundreds of vessels that disappeared beneath its surface. Today, divers and researchers work to preserve their stories. The Success sailed the globe for 106 years.



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A 119-year-old shipwreck has been found at the bottom of Lake Erie. The wooden steam barge Margaret Olwill sank in 50 feet of water during a nor'ester in 1899. Eight people died, including the captain, his wife and their 9-year-old son.

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With an average depth of just 24 feet (7 meters), this area is especially hazardous to ships because it features several rocky outcrops, shoals, and islands. (Lake Erie's average depth is 60 feet; Lake Superior's average depth is 149 feet.)

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But investigating that spot alone would require a year or two of searching. Fair warning: Mike Wachter says anyone who tries to find the M&B shouldn't do it for the gold. “Like most ships on the bottom of Lake Erie, there is no treasure,” he says. “The only real treasure is the stories and the history.”

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The Chesapeake // Lake Erie. The Chesapeake was carrying about 45 passengers when it collided with another ship and began to slowly sink in August 1846.

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The SS G. P. Griffith was a passenger steamer that burned and sank on Lake Erie on 17 June 1850, resulting in the loss of between 241 and 289 lives.

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MV Paul R. Tregurtha is the largest boat on the lakes, at 1,013 feet 6 inches (308.91 m) and capable of loading 68,000 tons of bulk cargo.

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Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet deep.



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In northeastern Ohio and Michigan folklore, Bessie is a name given to a lake monster in Lake Erie, also known as South Bay Bessie or simply The Lake Erie Monster.

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The eastern basin, which lies to the east of Erie, Pennsylvania (U.S.), and Long Point, Ontario (Canada), is the deepest and least productive of the three basins. Here, water up to 210 feet deep provides colder conditions for fish that cannot tolerate warm summer temperatures elsewhere in the lake.

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The largest and last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank on November 10, 1975.

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Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by area (31,700 mi2 /82,100 km2). It is also the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of 406 meters (1,332 feet). By most measures, it is the healthiest of all the Great Lakes.

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Lake Superior is the Cleanest and Clearest Great Lake Because of its somewhat isolated location and long cold winters, not much farming is done along Superior's shores. This means lower amounts of nutrients, sediments, and organic material are floating around the lake.

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Queen of the Lakes is the unofficial but widely recognized title given to the longest vessel active on the Great Lakes of the United States and Canada. A number of vessels, mostly lake freighters, have been known by the title.

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It is estimated that over 2,000 ships have been lost in Lake Erie; nearly 600 are believed to be in Ohio waters. To help document Ohio's maritime heritage, the State Historic Preservation Office created an inventory form that focuses on the specific details of a ship's character.

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On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior on its way to Detroit carrying full cargo from Wisconsin. The ship was caught in a severe storm with near hurricane force winds and waves up to 35 feet.

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Crossing one of North America's greatest waterways could be dangerous and many ships were lost in the Great Lakes due to storms or other accidents. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, some dating back as far as the 17th century.

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The British pirates led by George Colby attacked from shore in small boats. They would build fires at night on the shore of Lake Erie to lead the French to think they were near a port causing them to run aground on the rocks.

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The Erie region boasts over 20 known wrecks ranging in depth from 10 to 130 feet for all levels of diving experience. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes yet it boasts some of the fiercest weather.

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