Great Lakes Shipwrecks

 beginning with the letter

 F

The Great Lakes Shipwreck File

©1999-2007, David D. Swayze, Lake Isabella, MI, all rights reserved

 

Click Here for Source List

 
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  F. & P.M. NO. 2 - See DUNDURN


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  F. & P.M. NO. 3 - See   PERE MARQUETTE 3    


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  F. & P.M. NO. 4 - See   PERE MARQUETTE 4    


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  FABIOLA

Other names   :  built as ROYAL OAK, renamed, 1876

Official no.     : C72577

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1852, Oakville, Ont.

Specs               :  95x22x9 , 150g  131n

Date of loss    :  1900, Oct 21

Place of loss   :  off False Ducks Isls.

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : none

Carrying         :  coal

Detail              : Downbound from Oswego, NY, she foundered, probably in a storm. Her crew escaped by smallboat and landed at McDonald's Cove.

Owned by Capt. Bates

May have originally been the ROYAL OAK which sunk at Port Stanley in 1856 and was later recovered.

Rebuilt 1862, 1876

Sources            :   mmgl,osdo,hgl,do,jb


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  FAIR AMERICAN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1804, Oswego, NY

Specs               :  64 ft., 83 t.

Date of loss    :  1818, Oct

Place of loss   :  off mouth of Salmon R.

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  (storm)

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Wrecked. Worth about $1,000 at time of loss. Master: Capt. Sweet.

Purchased by the U.S. govt and armed with 2 guns in 1812, and  sailed with Perry's Fleet. Returned to commercial service about 1814.

Sources            :  hgl,is,asn


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   FAIR PLAY

Other names   :  ?  probably

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1817 or 18, Erie, Pa as a revenue cutter

Specs               :  47x15x6,  32 t.

Date of loss    :  1829, late Nov

Place of loss   :   near Cattaraugus Creek, NY

Lake                :  Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  light

Detail              :  The vessel was at anchor at Erie when she was torn loose and driven eastward up the coast with her three crewmen, eventually coming to rest at the location shown. Later it was reported that she dislodged herself from the beach and drifted away, never to be seen again.

Owned by her skipper, Capt. Harvey Fitch and Alvah Cable. Out of Buffalo.

Reportedly built as a revenue cutter. Her first private registry was in  Mar, 1823, but nothing is known of her history before that.

Sources            :  hgl,wmn,wl,wmhs,nsp

 

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  N.K. FAIRBANK

Other names   :  also shown as N.K. FAIRBANKS

Official no.     :  130033

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, freighter

Build info       :  1875, W. Morley, Marine City

Specs               :  205x37x11  980g  831n

Date of loss    :  1895, May 3

Place of loss   :  Morgan Point, near Port Colborne. Ont.

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  corn

Detail              : Bound Chicago for Ogdensburg, NY, she ran aground in smoke, then caught fire and "burned up."  Master: Capt. Truman Moore. Owner: J. W. Moore, Cleveland. Declared a total loss., but was sold off the beach for $250 [she was worth $30,000 before the fire] and recovered by Canadians who laid her up at Port Colcorne for two years.  Rebuilt as ELIZA H. STRONG(qv) in 1897.

Location also given as Potaganissing Bay, 8 mi from Detour, MI, in error.

Also heavily damaged in fire on Lake Erie in 1885.

Sources            :   nsp,ledc,lhdc,slh,wb,hgl


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  H.S. FAIRCHILD

Other names   :  none    also seen as H.S. FAIRCHILDS, H.L. FAIRCHILD

Official no.     :  11136

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1857,  Geo. Hardison, Charlotte, NY  as a bark (year also given in error as 1847)

Specs               :  136 ft, 347 t.  287n

Date of loss    :  1871, Oct 6

Place of loss   :  off the tip of Long Point

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  collision

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  wheat

Detail              : Bound Milwaukee for Buffalo, she collided with schooner HARVEST HOME on a dark night and quickly sank. Homeport: Buffalo

Converted from bark to schooner about 1870.

Major repairs in 1864

Sources            :  is,mv,hgl,nsp,rsl


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   FAIRFIELD

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  9195 

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1846, L. Shickluna, Niagara, Ont.

Specs               :  111x24x10, 169 t. [223 t. old meas.]

Date of loss    :  1869, Sep 29

Place of loss   :  at Bailey’s Harbor, WI

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none mentioned

Carrying         :  light

Detail              :  Inbound for Bailey’s Harbor to pick up a cargo of wood, she ran on a reef just outside the harbor and pounded heavily. She broke up over the next few days. Out of Chicago

After a long career in Canadian service she came into U.S. registry by 1864

Major repairs in 1856,61

Sources            :  hgl,nsp,mv,rsl,mdwl,wgts


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  FAIRPORT - See also BAYPORT, TECUMSEH


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  FAIRPORT

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger & package freight

Build info       :  1838, G. Miles, Fairport, OH

Specs               :  136x23x9, 259 t.

Date of loss    :  1844, Oct 12 or Oct 18

Place of loss   :  off Algonac, MI

Lake                : St Clair R

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      : none

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Reported burned to total loss, but hull probably actually recovered and rebuilt to sidewheeler TECUMSEH (qv) at Algonac, MI.

Stranded and lost near Buffalo, Nov 14, 1850.

Out of Buffalo.

Sources            :  eas,lhl,hgl,st,nsp,bb,jm


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   FAITH

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  C ?

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1867, Taylor, Wallaceburg, Ont.

Specs               :  62x18x5,   50 t.

Date of loss    :  1878, Oct 28

Place of loss   :  near Goderich, Ont., north of Point Farm

Lake                :  Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none mentioned

Carrying         :  cedar posts

Detail              :  Reported ashore and a total loss. Broken up by the 30th

"From Pike Bay" owned by R. Gawley

Sources            :    nsp,wmn,clu,mmgl

 

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  FALCON

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, passenger & package freight

Build info       :  1853, J.L. Wolverton, Detroit

Specs               :  199x30x12,  664 t.

Date of loss    :  1856, Oct 18

Place of loss   :  Chicago R.

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  grain

Detail              : Burned to a total loss on the river, then sank. Her hulk remained locked in the ice all winter. She was raised in May of 1857 by tugs CALEB CUSHING and TARLETON JONES and resunk several miles out in the lake.

Owned by Western Transportation Co.

Sources            :   nsp,lhl,wl,eas,ctw,air


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   FALCON

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  (9190)

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  (1853, Bailey, Racine, WI)

Specs               :  (97x25x9, 126 t. [183 t. om])

Date of loss    :  1869, Oct 5

Place of loss   :  at Cleveland

Lake                :  Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  shingles and lath

Detail              :  Bound Alpena for Cleveland, she sheered off while coming into the harbor and struck the end of the west pier. She was brought around to the side and tied up, but broke away and went ashore, where she pounded to pieces.

Major repair in 1861

Vessel shown in parentheses, only one on official lists, still existed and was reported lost in 1876.

Sources            :    nsp,hgl,mv,bb,rsl,mdwl


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   FALCON

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  9190

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  1853, Bailey, Racine, WI

Specs               :  97x25x9, 126 t. [183 t. om]

Date of loss    :  1876, Apr 27

Place of loss   :  at Chicago

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              :  She went ashore near St. Joseph, Mich, in October of 1875. In mid-April of '76 the tug BEN DRAKE pulled her off and repaired her enough for the tow to her homeport of Chicago. When almost in port the was struck my a squall and her temporary repairs failed, causing her to sink near the mouth of the harbor. Speculation was that at this point she would hardly have been worth saving. In  mid-May the combined effort of 8 or 10 tugs was used to drag the hulk 3-400 feet out of the channel, but a larter storm moved her back to a point where she was a hazard. In June a wrecker was contracted to "blow her up with torpedoes."  Owned by Clark Bros., Chicago.

Repairs in 1868

Sources            :    nsp,mv,rsl,wl,wmhs,wmn

 

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  FALCON

Other names   :  built as steamer KATE BUTTIRONI, renamed 1901

Official no.     :  14393

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1881, G. Koenig [aka King], Marine City, MI

Specs               :  174x31x20  865g  693n

Date of loss    :  1909, Nov 7

Place of loss   :  shore of S. Fox Isl.

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  iron ore

Detail              : Bound Escanaba for East Jordan, Mich, she was driven aground in a gale and went to pieces. Her crew made it ashore in her yawl.

Drove ashore while running at speed near the same spot in August of 1905.

Sources            :  eas,mv,nsp,ns1,mpl,hcgl


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  ANNIE FALCONER

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C83285

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1867, G. Thurston, Kingston, Ont.

Specs               :  107x24x9, 201g, 175n.

Date of loss    :  1904, Nov 12

Place of loss   :  off South Bay Point, near Amherst Isl.

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  1

Carrying         :  coal

Detail              : She swamped and sank in a storm. Her crew made it safely to Amherst I. on their own in 5.5 hours, but mate later died of exposure. Bound Sodus, New York for Kingston, Ont. Owned by her skipper, Capt. M. Ackerman of Picton.

Stranded and declared a total loss on L. Ont., Oct 14, 1893.

Rebuilt, 1881

Wreck surveyed by S.O.S. and others in 1982-3.

Sources            :  csqw,ns1,h,mmgl,wb,win,mpl,do


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  FALLING WATERS

Other names   : none

Official no.     :  120183

Type at loss    :  steamer, wood, passenger ferry

Build info       :  1873, Rochester, NY

Specs               :  37 t.

Date of loss    :  1875 or 74

Place of loss   :  ?

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : no detail

Sources            :  is,bb    


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  FALMOUTH

Other names   :  built as TURNER & KELLER, renamed in 1876

Official no.     :  24984

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 3-mast

Build info       :  1873, Hanson & Scove, Manitowoc

Specs               :  234 t.

Date of loss    :  1880, Nov 21

Place of loss   :  harbor mouth at Buffalo

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  1

Carrying         :  16,000 bu wheat

Detail              : While attempting to enter the harbor in a storm, she was driven into the breakwater and sank. The cook refused to leave the vessel without her luggage, and was lost. Bound Toledo, OH, for Oswego. Out of Oswego. Master: Capt. Thomas Murray.