Great Lakes Shipwrecks

 beginning with the letter

 L

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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  LA BELLE - See  MAROLD II     


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  FRANK LA FARGE

Other names   : ?

Official no.     : ?

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  ?

Specs               :  ?

Date of loss    :  1901

Place of loss   :  Thunder Bay, MI

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  (storm)

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Stranded and broke up.

Not shown on official records.

Sources            :   slh,nsp


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  M. LA LONDE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C74203

Type at loss    :  barge, wood, unrigged [St. Lawrence R. barge]

Build info       :  1875, M. LaLonde, Coteau du Lac, Que.

Specs               :  131x26x9, 340g  250n

Date of loss    :  1884

Place of loss   :  Lake Ontario

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Foundered in a gale.

Owned by Paradie of Montreal.

Sources            :  clu,win,mmgl


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  LA PETITE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  15100

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 3-mast

Build info       :  1866, J. Ketchum, Huron, OH as a brig

Specs               :  119x24x8, 172g  165n

Date of loss    :  1903, Sep 7

Place of loss   :  off Sturgeon Bay, WI

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  crockery, wood slabs

Detail              : She sprang a leak well offshore. She put up a distress signal and was picked up by the tug SYDNEY SMITH but foundered on the way in. Owned by Theo. Plathner of Milwaukee.

Capsized with some loss of life and declared lost on L. Huron in 1871, rebuilt after recovery.

Ashore and wrecked off Big Sable Point, Lake Michigan, in November of 1874. Four lives lost.

Sources            :  is(2&3-70,1&2-76),slh,ns1,lmdc,nsp,mpl,wgts


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  JULES LA PLANTE*

Other names   :  also known as JULIE PLANTE

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  none

Specs               :  none

Date of loss    :  1800's

Place of loss   :  "Lac de Ste. Claire"

Lake                : St Clair

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  all but 1

Carrying         :  not stated

Detail              :  a French-accented poem "The Wreck of the Jules LePlante," depicting the loss of a scow and its occupants, is possibly based on the loss of the scow-schooner EMILY(qv) in 1830.  The poem is also seen with Julie Plante as the name.

 *a ficticious craft, but the poem was probably based on a real incident.

Sources            :   sol,mol,lm


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   LA RABIDA

Other names   :  built as JESSE WINTER, renamed in 1903

Official no.     :  75850

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1876, Laughlin, Sheboygan, WI

Specs               :  75x16x6,  56g 54n

Date of loss    :  1906, Nov 25

Place of loss   :  near Naubinway, MI

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  10,000 Christmas trees

Detail              :  She was driven ashore by a gale. Her crew made it to shore after much difficulty, and spent a frigid night on the beach.

Owned by Capt. A. E. Dow, Manitowoc and sailed by him.

Sources            :   nsp,mpl,eas


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   LA SALLE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1835, Parsons, Huron, Ohio

Specs               :  83x24x10,  167 t.

Date of loss    :  1849, Sep 22

Place of loss   :  12 mi  off Racine

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  8 of 9

Carrying         :  grain

Detail              :  Bound Chicago to her homeport of Milwaukee, she was struck by a squall and capsized, drowning nearly all aboard her. May have been recovered. Out of Milwaukee, owned by Mitchell & Davis. Master: Capt. A. N. Scott(d).

Rebuilt, 1846. Last known enrollment 10/1846, annotated with a mention of her sale in Mar., 1848.

Sources            :    wmn,hgl,bb,wl,wmhs,whs

 

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  LAC LA BELLE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  15803

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1864, Ira LaFrinier, Cleveland as a passenger & package freighter

Specs               :  218x36x12, ft., 1187 t. (872 t. when built)

Date of loss    :  1872, Oct 13

Place of loss   :  20 mi off Racine, WI

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  8

Carrying         :  grain

Detail              : She opened her seams and foundered in a storm. Eight crew died when their lifeboat capsized. Master: Capt. W. H. Thompson. Owner: Engleman Transportation Co.,  Racine.

On Nov 23, 1866, she was carrying barrels of ores & package freight when she collided with the steamer MILWAUKEE in the St. Clair R. and sank with loss of 2. Converted to a bulk freighter after her recovery in 1869.

In 1865 she had gone ashore & was abandoned while upbound with treaty goods on L. Superior. Repaired for $5000.

She was twin engined and boilered, being the first or one of the first propellers on the lakes to have twin stacks.

Sources            :  eas,gwgl,ks,sol,nsp,hgl,st,mpl


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  LACKAWANNA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  140930

Type at loss    :  propeller, steel, package freight

Build info       :  1888, Cleveland Shipbuilding, Cleveland, hull# 1

Specs               :  260x39x22,  2016g  1595n

Date of loss    :  1906, Oct 27

Place of loss   :  north of Cleveland

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  collision

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  misc. freight

Detail              : She collided with N breakwall and sank. The Lifesaving Service  rescued her crew in a daring exploit. Owner: John McWilliams, Buffalo. Master: Capt. George Grasser.  Declared a total loss, but soon recovered. She was sold for saltwater use in 1916, scrapped about 1930.

Sources            :   slh,mv,ledc,nsp,


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   LADY ANN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood  (or sloop)

Build info       :  1849, Kenosha, WI

Specs               :  48x17x6,  30 t. om

Date of loss    :  1855, Sep 18

Place of loss   :  near Kenosha, WI

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  Drove ashore in a gale and pounded to pieces.

Sources            :    nsp,bb


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   LADY BAGOT

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  C none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1842, L. Shickluna, St. Catharines, Ont.

Specs               :  87x18x8,  111 t.

Date of loss    :  1852, Nov 11

Place of loss   :  near the mouth of the Welland Canal

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  She went ashore in a gale and was expected to be recovered, but shows in records as a total loss.

Out of Hamilton, Ont.

Sources            :    mmgl,hgl,nsp


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  LADY COLBOURNE - See   THAMES    


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  LADY DUFFERIN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C?

Type at loss    :  schooner-barge, wood, 3-mast, salvage vessel

Build info       :  1872, L. McDermott or McDermand, Port Burwell

Specs               :  135x24x11, 356 gc

Date of loss    :  1886, Oct 24

Place of loss   :  Georgian Bay, near Cabot Head

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : She was lost from the tow of the prop W.B. HALL and went ashore on the point of land now called Dufferin Point. She became a total loss.

Heavily damaged in a wreck on Caribou Island, Lake Superior in 1884.

She reportedly carried an unusual spritsail as late as 1882.

Sources            :   nsp,is,lh,lhdc,mmgl,lss,do,es


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  LADY ELGIN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

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

Build info       :  1851, Bidwell & Banta,  Buffalo

Specs               :  231x33x12, 819 t

Date of loss    :  1860, Sep 7

Place of loss   :  off Winnetka, IL

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  collision

Loss of life      :  297 of 400

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : The luxurious passenger boat collided with the 2-mast schooner AUGUSTA (see COLONEL COOK) in darkness and heavy weather and went to the bottom from a gaping hole in her engine room. The damaged AUGUSTA ran for Chicago, not knowing steamer’s wound would be fatal. Passengers included hundreds of excursionists, a Milwaukee militia group, a group of Milwaukee policemen, two newspaper publishers and a member of the British Parliament. About 100 from the LADY made it to shore on wreckage or in lifeboats. She had been a darling of the lakes for her entire career and her comings and going were reported often in the newspapers of the time, though her insurance rating had slipped in years recent to the loss. Master: Capt. Jack Wilson(d).

Wreckage was located in 1989, much litigation followed.

She suffered a significant fire on Lake Superior in 1856.

Ashore near Copper Harbor, Lake Superior in the summer of 1858. Thought to be a hopeless case, but removed after several days.

Sources            :  eas,is(1-60),ms,lm,glss,sol,is,lmdc,hgl,nsp,mpl,wl


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   LADY ELGIN

Other names   :  ?

Official no.     :  US?

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  

Specs               :   “small”

Date of loss    :  1887, Oct 23

Place of loss   :  1  mi above Goderich, Ont.

Lake                :  Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  (none)

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  She drove ashore in a gale the 23rd and was reported broken up by the 26th. Reported ashore and abandoned in early Nov.

Reportedly out of Sand Beach, Mich.

Capsized in a gale on Nov 12, 1882 and lost all 3 hands near Chantry Island, Southampton, Ont..

Sources            :    rp,nsp,hgl,jb,es3-1


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  LADY ESSEX - See  JAY BIRD     


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  LADY FRANKLIN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  14827

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1861, J.W. Banta*, Chicago as a propeller

Specs               :  138x27x11, 302g  288n

Date of loss    :  1895, Sep 30

Place of loss   :  Hammond Bay, near Cheboygan, MI

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  RR ties

Detail              : Caught by a storm while sheltering, she dragged her anchors until she parted her chains,  was driven ashore and wrecked.  She was later stripped by thieves. Owned out of Algonac by Abram Smith

Rebuilt to a schooner after a major fire on the Detroit R. in Sep, 1876, in which one crewman died and the vessel burned to the bilges. Master: Capt. Geo. Tucker. Document surrendered in 1877, reinstated in 1882 after the rebuild.

*Built by Edwards Bros. at Banta Shipyard.

Heavily damaged in a grounding in Neebish Channel, St. Mary's R, in October, 1872.

Converted from a passenger vessel to a steambarge about 1872.

Sources            :   nsp,slh,h,lhdc,lhl,phr,mpl,es,rsl


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  LADY HILLIARD - See CASPIAN (1866 loss)


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   LADY MACDONALD

Other names   :  often seen as LADY MCDONALD

Official no.     :  C71278

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 3-mast

Build info       :  1873, G. H. Pontine, Port Burwell, Ont

Specs               :  135x23x11,   284gc  284nc

Date of loss    :  1892, Jul 16

Place of loss   :  near Fair Haven, N.Y.

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none mentioned

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  Driven ashore by near-hurricane force winds and wrecked, a total loss. Out of Kingston, Ont.

Ashore near Salmon Point, Ont., in 1877 and damaged.

Wind-driven, she crashed into a bridge at Oswego, NY in 1888, causing heavy damages to both herself and the bridge and stimulating a number of international lawsuits.

Sources            :    nsp,wl,mmgl

 

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  LADY MOULTON

Other names   :  built as G.J. WHITNEY, probably renamed in 1862

Official no.     : C33574

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood