What was the worst shipwreck in Lake Michigan?

September 8, 2010 marked the 150th anniversary of the sinking of the Lady Elgin. The worst tragedy ever seen on the Great Lakes, this event looms large in Winnetka and Lake Michigan history. Just before midnight on September 7, 1860, a palatial sidewheel steamboat named the Lady Elgin left Chicago bound for Milwaukee.



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It is estimated that there are nearly 1,500 shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, which in its deepest spot is nearly 1,000 feet deep. While the remains of numerous ships can be found along the shoreline, only about 300 wrecks beyond the surf line have been located.

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When launched on June 8, 1958, the Fitzgerald was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and is the largest ship to have sunk there. The freighter went down in a storm on November 10, 1975, taking with her the entire crew of 29.

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Lake Michigan wrecks: the oldest and the mostest Lake Michigan contains more shipwrecks than any of the other Great Lakes, as well as the oldest recorded one: the French ship Griffon, the first European vessel to sail the Lakes. It vanished with all six hands in 1679.

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The oldest known shipwreck in Michigan is the Le Griffon, which is believed to have sunk in Lake Michigan in 1679. Michigan's shipwrecks are protected as publicly-owned resources. They are protected in 12 underwater preserves in order for divers and historians to gather information and complete research.

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Unpredictable weather makes them some of the most dangerous waters in the world. Sudden storms, fire, and fog have resulted in the destruction of these many thousands of vessels. Just over twenty percent of those vessels have come to rest on the bottom of Lake Michigan, second only in quantity to Lake Huron.

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Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot inspired popular interest in this vessel with his 1976 ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.

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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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