Great Lakes Shipwrecks

 beginning with the letter

 O

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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   ELLEN O'BRIEN

Other names   :  also seen as JOHN O'BRIEN, JULIAN V. O'BRIEN

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  propeller tug, wood

Build info       :  1864, Buffalo

Specs               :  27 t.

Date of loss    :  1866, May 27

Place of loss   :  off Sheerwater, Grand Island, Niagara R.

Lake                :  Erie

Type of loss    :  explosion

Loss of life      :  1

Carrying         :  tug in tow

Detail              :  She had just arrived off Sheerwater when her boiler exploded violently. Fortunately, her skipper/owner was the only casualty.

Owned by her master,  Capt. John J. Klepser(d), Buffalo.

Sources            :    nsp,hgl,lhl


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  FRANK O'CONNOR

Other names   :  built as prop CITY OF NAPLES, renamed in 1916

Official no.     :  126899

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1891, J. Davidson, W. Bay City  hull# 50

Specs               :  301x43x20, 2109g  1772n

Date of loss    :  1919, Oct 2

Place of loss   :  10 mi off Cana Isl., near tip of Door Pen.

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  coal

Detail              : She caught fire, burned to total loss and sank offshore. Her crew was rescued by the Cana Isl. lightkeeper and the Bailey's Harbor C.G.

Sources            :  eas,vbs,mv,ns2


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   MARY O’GORMAN

Other names   :  also seen as M. O'GORMAN

Official no.     :  C none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1867, Wm. LaChappelle, Kingston, Ont.

Specs               :  89x20x7, 108 t.

Date of loss    :  1884, Jan 22

Place of loss   :  at Kingston, Ont.

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  She burned to a total loss. She was probably laid up for the winter at the time. Owned out of Kingston by Malone, Cleveland & Elliot.

Found dismasted and abandoned off Oswego, NY, in Nov of 1869, with her cabin door locked and her crew apparently lost [yawl later found capsized]. She later came ashore 9 miles E of Oswego.  7 lives were lost.

One report says she was ashore near Oswego in 1883.

Sources            :  hgl,nsp,mmgl,mdwl,wmn


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  LOUIE O'NEILL

Other names   :  built as S.D. CALDWELL, renamed in 1884

Official no.     :  14654

Type at loss    :  schooner-barge, wood

Build info       :  1862, Stevens & Presley, Cleveland  as a propeller

Specs               :  196x31x13,  523 t.

Date of loss    :  1887, Apr 29

Place of loss   :  off Port Stanley

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  collision/storm

Loss of life      : none

Carrying         :  coal

Detail              : She foundered as a result of a collision with the schooner THOMAS L. PARKER, another of a line of schooners behind the tug V SWAIN, which encountered a gale and went out of control. Her crew made it to Conneaut in her boat, after struggling against the storm for 60 hours. Her name change and her loss were reported at Port Huron on the same date,  May 18, 1887.

Owned by Robert Holland, Marine City.

Major repair in 1879. Rebuilt from prop to barge in 1884.

Sources            :   phr,lhl,mv,hgl,mpl,es2-4,es3-1,ewe


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  W.H. OADES

Other names   :  none   also seen as WALTER H. OADES

Official no.     :  62445

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1869, J. Oades, Detroit

Specs               :  170 ft., 230g  219n

Date of loss    :  1888, Aug 20

Place of loss   :  2 mi from "the Dummy" [Pt. Pelee]

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  collision

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  16,000 bu  wheat

Detail              : She collided with big schooner R. HALLARAN and sank. The HALLORAN just continued on, while the OADES' crew escaped in her yawl to the "Dummy" lighthouse. Out of Oswego, owned by Stone, et. al. Master: Capt. Pat Hurley.

She had been dubbed "the unluckiest boat on the lakes," due to her numerous mishaps and accidents, including groundings in 1872, 1880, 1881 and 1884.

Not in '69 mvus

Sources            :   polk,hgl,mv,nsp,osdo,hgl,es3-1,wmn


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  OAKLAND

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  19298

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, package freight

Build info       :  1867, Wm. Loomas, Erie, PA on the hull of the 1840 steamer MISSOURI

Specs               :  184x28x10,   311g

Date of loss    :  1883, Sep 17

Place of loss   :  off Conneaut, OH

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none of 11

Carrying         :  lumber

Detail              : Bound Bay City, MI, for Erie, PA, having just dropped  the barge GEORGE W WESLEY at Cleveland, she was overwhelmed by a NW  gale. Foundered after seven of her crew had abandoned in her tiny yawl. The four who remained on board as she went down were rescued from a makeshift raft 30 hours later. Out of Cleveland, owned by Capt. Stevens, her skipper.

Lytle list shows her as "abandoned" the same year.

Sources            :   lhl,hgl,polk,iwm,nsp


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  OAKWOOD

Other names   :  built as prop CITY OF BERLIN, renamed CHARLES A LUCK in 1915, RICHLAND STAR in 1916, OAKWOOD in 1925

Official no.     :  126717

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1891, J. Davidson, W. Bay City  hull# 40

Specs               :  298x41x21,  2050g  1711n

Date of loss    :  1925, Aug 9

Place of loss   :  Blackwell's Canal, Buffalo

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    : stranded/fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  light

Detail              : She stranded on Miller's Point, Lake Erie, in heavy weather on Jun 8. She was recovered by a Toronto salvager and towed to Buffalo, but burned to a total loss during surveying. What was left of her was later burned again to salvage metal parts.

Sources            :   vbs,mv,sol,ns3,mv,eas


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   OCEAN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood. 2-mast

Build info       :  1836, Swan Creek, Mich

Specs               :  43 t.

Date of loss    :  1845, Nov 10

Place of loss   :  6 mi N of St. Joseph

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  6

Carrying         :  lumber

Detail              :  Found on her beam ends 2 miles off shore after a heavy storm. She appeared to have capsized and all her crew lost.

Out of Mackinac. Master: Capt. McGregor(d). Her 2nd mate,  Henry Newton Quiner [perished], was grandfather to author Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Sources            :    wmn,wmhs,nsp,bb,wmn

 

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  OCEAN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 3-mast

Build info       :  1843,  Brockville, Ont.  [Cleveland]

Specs               :  121 t.

Date of loss    :  1854, Oct 17

Place of loss   :  Port Dalhousie, Ont.

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  “valuable” merchandise [vessel & cargo worth  £80,000.]

Detail              : Bound Toronto for Goderich and Owen Sound, Ont., she caught fire and burned to a total loss. By the end of November, her captain and an accomplice [named Fagan (!)] had been arrested for arson and for stealing the vessel’s cargo. Out of Toronto, owned by Capt. William H. Fellowes. Master:  Capt. Rae.

Sources            :  is,hgl,nsp,clu,rnc


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  OCEAN

Other names   :  built as brig SAGINAW, renamed before 1864

Official no.     : C33455

Type at loss    :  brig, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1847, F.N. Jones, Buffalo

Specs               :  119x23x9,  210 t.

Date of loss    :  1865, Oct 15

Place of loss   :  off Fairport, OH

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  hoops

Detail              : She sprung a leaka and capsized off Fairport. Her crew held on to her upturned keel until she washed ashore.  The vessel and her cargo were a total loss. Owned by Neill and Bulley, Sarnia [also given as Whitaker, Detroit].

Declared a total loss after waterlogging near Port Stanley, Ont., in Sep, 1860. Raised and rebuilt in "62-3.

Sold Canadian, 1851.

Sometimes shown as a bark.

Sources            :   tel,slh,hgl,mmgl(NAC),rsl,nsp


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  OCEAN

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  53063

Type at loss    :  schooner-barge, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1850, E. B. Ward, Newport, MI as a sidewheel steamer

Specs               :  246x36x13, 578 t.

Date of loss    :  1873, Oct 20

Place of loss   :  near Pte Aux Barques, MI

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  lumber

Detail              : She was lost from tow of the propeller NEPTUNE  off  Tawas Bay, then drifted ashore near Pte Aux Barques and was wrecked.

Dragged onto a reef by ice and sunk  near Buffalo in May, 1872, finally recovered in August after many attempts.

Former Ward Line steamer was rebuilt from sidewheeler to barge at Detroit, 1862.

Repaired in 1866.

Sources            :   phr,slh,nsp,hgl,mpl


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  OCEAN

Other names   :   rebuilt to barge HELENA after this accident

Official no.     : C88633

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

Build info       :  1872, Andrews & Son., Port Dalhousie, Ont.

Specs               :  137x29x12, 683gc 454nc

Date of loss    :  1904, Nov 18

Place of loss   :  Port Dalhousie, Ont.

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : She burned at Muir's drydock. She was a total loss, but her remaining hull was later converted to a barge. Hailed from St. Catharines but owned by G. E. Jasquier & Co., Montreal.

Also sank on Lake Ontario in 1894.

Rebuilt, 1884

Sources            :  hgl,win,is,polk,nsp,ns3,csv,eas


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   OCEAN EAGLE

Other names   :  built as brig H. H. SIZER, renamed in 1860

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  brig, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1845, Pillar Point [Sackett's Harbor]

Specs               :  381 t.

Date of loss    :  1862, Oct 23

Place of loss   :  at Sheboygan, Wis

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  15,000 bu rye

Detail              :  While attempting to enter Sheboygan harbor in heavy weather, she collided with the pier and was pounded to pieces, tearing a huge chunk out of the pier in the process. Her captain was unfamiliar with the harbor and was using an edition of the Coast Pilot which did not show the new pier lights correctly.  Owned and sailed  by Capt.  M. Gallighan, Buffalo

Major repairs in 1855 by Rogers, Oswego

As  SIZER, she had major accidents in 1846 (with loss of life), 1851 & 1853

Sources            :  hgl,wmn,bb,jm,nsp

 

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  OCEAN WAVE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

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

Build info       :  1852, Molson & Merritt, Montreal

Specs               :  174x26x11, 182t.

Date of loss    :  1853, Apr 30

Place of loss   :  3 miles off Pt. Traverse, near False Duck Isl

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  36  (also given as 23, 28, and 33)

Carrying         :  flour, pearl ash, seed, hams, butter, tallow

Detail              : She had been bound Toronto for Ogdensburg, NY when she caught fire offshore and her upperworks were totally destroyed in 10 or 15 minutes, according to witnesses. The hull sank about 90 minutes later. Her captain was the only survivor. She reportedly had much gold & silver coinage in her safe. A wood-burner, she caught fire on the upper deck from sparks from her stack., or possibly from her engine (reports of the crew vary). 27 [or 22] survivors were rescued by schooners EMBLEM(see OLIVIA) and GEORGIANA. She was replaced by the propeller BOSTON(qv), which was wrecked in a collision the following year. Master: Capt. A. D. Wright. Had been sold American shortly before the accident, owned by [or chartered to ] the Northern Rail Road Company of Ogdensburgh, NY. She was located and her cargo salvaged in 1857.

Wreck located in 1991.

Sources            :  csqw,hgl,sol,is,csv,osdo,mmgl,hgl,rp,eas,do2,nsp


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   OCEAN WAVE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  18912

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 3-mast

Build info       :  1853, Peck & Masters, Ohio City [Cleveland] as a brig

Specs               :  129x25x10,  214 t. [308 t. om]

Date of loss    :  1869, Nov (19)

Place of loss   :  at Hammond Bay, eastern Straits

Lake                :  Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  (none)

Carrying         :  13,000 bu corn

Detail              : Bound Chicago for Ogdensburgh, NY, she went ashore in the bay and became a total loss. Owned by J. Dennehy and Capt. H.  Faith [her skipper], Chicago.

She was struck by a violent squall and capsized near Chambers Island, Lake Michigan, in the summer of 1866. Reported a total loss, but recovered and rebuilt to a schooner at Menominee the next year.

Major repairs in 1862.

Sources            :    nsp,hgl,rsl,wl,mv


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   OCEAN WAVE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  19197

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