Great Lakes Shipwrecks

 beginning with the letter

 U

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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  U C 97

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  submarine, steel, mine-laying

Build info       :  1918, Blohm und Voss, Hamburg, Ger.

Specs               :  184x19x12[draft],  displacement [not tonnage]: 491 t. [surfaced], 571 t. [submerged]

Date of loss    :  1921, Jun 7

Place of loss   :  20 mi  offshore from Highland Park, IL

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  gunfire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : German submarine was a WWI prize and display ship which toured the Lakes in a post-war bond drive [1919-20]. After her usefulness was ended, and in line with naval treaty, she was sunk in gunnery practice from the gunboat U.S.S. WILMETTE (former EASTLAND, qv).

She had been launched but was not commissioned into the Kreigsmarine before the end of hostilities and was turned over to the allies.

UC-97 was located in 1992 at a depth of about 250 feet, but the exact location of the wreck has not been revealed.

Official U.S. Navy history of the boat.

Link to an excellent webpage on her.

Sources            :  is,janes,lmdc,anfs,mpl,ke,net(see above)


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  U.S. 240

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  167523

Type at loss    :  barge, steel, bulk freight

Build info       :  1919, Foundation Const. Co., Erie, PA

Specs               :  294g  263n

Date of loss    :  1923, Sep 13

Place of loss   :  off Port Colborne, Ont., near Windmill Pt.

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  (storm)

Loss of life      :  3

Carrying         :  sulphur

Detail              : Foundered enroute from Cleveland to New York City.

Laid down for U.S. Shipping Board [WWI].

Out of Buffalo

Sources            :  eas,mv,rkr,ledc


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  U.S.C.E. TUG No. 84 - See   WILLIAM M. HATCH  

 

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  U.S.C.G. cable boat No. 56022

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  USCG 56022

Type at loss    :  cable boat, steel

Build info       :  former U. S. military LCM (landing craft)

Specs               :  56 ft., 50 t. displ

Date of loss    :  1977, Dec 1

Place of loss   :  off Ontario-On-the-Lake, E of Nine Mile Point

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none mentioned

Detail              : Bound Oswego, NY for Niagara, she was caught in a storm and took on water faster than her pumps could handle. A CG tug that came to the rescue from Charlotte found her listing heavily. Her crew was taken off and the vessel taken in tow, but she sank before reaching port. The Coast Guard states that she was salvaged the same month and condemned the following July, but wreck divers located the vessel upside-down on the bottom at the point where she foundered, in 2004.

Story and photos.

Sources            :  jk,uscg,nsp



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   UARDA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25243

Type at loss    :  propeller, iron, passenger & freight

Build info       :  1881, D. Bell, Buffalo as a yacht

Specs               :   93x12x8,  93g

Date of loss    :  1912, Jun 4

Place of loss   :  Ripley, Mich [near Hancock]

Lake                :  Superior

Type of loss    :  fire [arson?]

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  ? [probably empty - she was undergoing repairs]

Detail              :  This small steamer was discovered to be afire late one evening while tied to Seager's wood dock at Ripley. Her skipper/owner believed the fire was purposly set. She burned to a shell. The hull was later removed to West Hancock, where she was sunk by ice  early the following spring. She still lies there, in 20 feet of water, where she was discovered by divers in 1970. Out of Hancock, owned by Scott & Werner and sailed by Capt. Werner.

Sources            :  bb,mv,nsp


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  UGANDA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25289

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1892, F. Wheeler, W. Bay City  hull# 88

Specs               :  291x41x20,  2053g  1709n

Date of loss    :  1913, Apr 19

Place of loss   :  4 mi E of White Shoals, Western Straits

Lake                : Michigan

Type of loss    :  ice

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  corn

Detail              : Bound Milwaukee for Buffalo, struck pack ice and cut her hull. Despite frantic effort by the crew to save her she finally sank. Crew of 22 saved by steamer DONALDSON.

Sources            :   ssm,eas,mv,vbs,slh,sbs,sol,ns2,h,lmdc,mpl


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   UNA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25228

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :   1877, J. McCarthy, Grand Haven, Mich

Specs               :   63x17x8,  44gt

Date of loss    :   1909, Oct 15

Place of loss   :   Algoma, Wis

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  She stranded in the harbor – apparently blew away from her moorings as nobody was aboard – and became a total loss. Out of Marquette, Mich.

Sank in 1897 in St. Joseph, Michigan harbor after striking a dock. Her crew was rescued by the LSS with difficulty.

Ashore near Grand Haven in 1890 and her crew rescued by the Lifesaving Service.

Sources            :    mv,bb,wmhs,hgl,wmn,jm,sn

 

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  UNADILLA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25021

Type at loss    :  schooner-barge, wood, 2-mast, lumber

Build info       :  1862, Lafrinier or Peck & Masters, Cleveland as a 3-mast schooner

Specs               :  154x31x13, 396g  376n

Date of loss    :  1913, Dec 2

Place of loss   :  at Cleveland

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Driven on breakwater and became a constructive total loss. Hulk was out of the water and was  left in place until destroyed by fire Nov 15, 1915. 53 years old!

Ashore on Gull Isl, L. Michigan and declared a total loss, Sep 1893. Also reported broken by storm in the Straits, Nov 20, 1886.

Rebuilt 1879, major repair 1881,86,94

Sources            :  eas,mv,ns2,nsp,mpl,hcgl


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  UNCLE SAM

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1833, Treat, Grosse Ile, MI as a sidewheeler

Specs               :  107x23x7,   280 t.

Date of loss    :  1847, Dec 18

Place of loss   :  E side of Kelley's Isl. [then called Cunningham's Island]

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    : sank

Loss of life      : none

Carrying         :  lumber

Detail              : Stranded and sunk in a NE gale, she broke up and became a total loss. Master: Capt. C. J. Magill. Owned by J. Stafford, Buffalo.

Rebuilt sidewheeler to bark, 1844. Last registration document, Oct., 1847, shows her as a schooner.

Sources            :  hgl,lhl,ledc,wl,ski,wmn


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  UNCLE SAM

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25131

Type at loss    :  propeller steam tug, wood

Build info       :  1863, A. Abernethy, Buffalo

Specs               :  59x15x5, 24 gt

Date of loss    :  1882, mid-March

Place of loss   :  Straits of Mackinac, just above Cheboygan

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  ice

Loss of life      : none mentioned

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : Bound to new owners in Muskegon, she went ashore, was crushed by ice and sank; she was reported broken up by Apr. 11 of the same year. Newspapers in July, 1883, said that she had been towed into Cheboygan at that time for the removal of her machinery to a new hull. Document surrendered in 1884. Owned by  Hudson & Christian, Muskegon, who expeacted to save her machinery.

Rebuilt at E. Saginaw, 1874

Rebuilt in  1880 after a fire at E. Saginaw

Sources            :   phr,hgl,lhl,ssm,slh,sbs,nsp,mv

 

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  UNDINE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C71158

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1868, D. Lavallee, Hamilton, Ont

Specs               :  108x23x12,  217gc  196nc

Date of loss    :  1890, Nov 1

Place of loss   :  20 mi W of Charlotte NY

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  400 t. coal

Detail              : Bound Sodus, NY for Hamilton, she was caught by gale while hugging  the south shore. She struck bottom and was holed in Braddock Bay. Water quickly overwhelmed her pumps and she sank, while her crew abandoned in her yawl. Owned out of Hamilton by her skipper, Capt. Ure.

She had iron knees and was wire-rigged.

Major repair in 1883

Sources            :   nsp,polk,hgl,mmgl,ib


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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  sidewheel steamer, wood

Build info       :  1855, J. P. Arnold, Port Union (Port Huron?), MI

Specs               :  92x18x8, 116 t. om

Date of loss    :  1865, Dec 30

Place of loss   :  at Detroit

Lake                : Detroit R

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Burned to total loss.

Sources            :   lhl,wl,nsp,eas


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   UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25138

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  1852, Ashtabula, Oh

Specs               :  82x22x7, 73 t.

Date of loss    :  1870,  Oct 30

Place of loss   :  St. Joseph, Mich

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  She weathered a storm outside the harbor for two days, but struck on some pilings while trying to enter. After one of piles worked loose she careened over and sank, coming to rest near the end of the south pier. She soon broke up, and her remains were later scattered by the tug DAISY LEE. Owned by Boutell, Mitchell and Westover, Bay City, Mich.

Rebuilt  in 1854 and again in 1857 at Holland, Mich, by H. Revell.

Sources            :  bcha,mv,jm,bb

 

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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25083

Type at loss    :  propeller steam tug, wood

Build info       :  1863, Lockport, NY

Specs               :  75x16x6,  36gt

Date of loss    :  1870, Nov 14

Place of loss   : Saginaw Bay off Pte Au Gres

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      : none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : She was loitering in the bay,  waiting for a tow ,when she caught fire and  burned to a total loss. The crew, which had been at dinner at the time, launched her boat quickly and got away just before she sank.

Rebuilt in the winter of 1865-6. Owned by B. Boutelle & Co., Saginaw.

Heavily damaged in a boiler explosion at Muskegon in 1866, and had another boiler explosion on Lake Huron in September of the same year.

Sources            :   phr,hgl,eas,slh,lhl,nsp


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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  25048

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1861, S. Bates, Manitowoc, WI

Specs               :  163x26x12,  553g  434n

Date of loss    :  1873, Sep 25

Place of loss   :  Au Sable Point

Lake                : Superior

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  iron ore

Detail              : Blown into shallows  near point by westerly gale. Later pounded to pieces. Out of Green Bay.

Engine recovered in 1874, boiler recovered in 1875.

At the time of her loss there were 16 lakes vessels with this name, causing some confusion.

Most of her machinery, as well as her first skipper, came from the Goodrich steamer OGONTZ.

Sources            :   lhl,mv,nsp,gwgl,ms,lss,rsh,nsp,rsl


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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C none

Type at loss    :  sidewheeler, wood, passenger & package freight ferry

Build info       :  1857, Knight & Hunter, Windsor*

Specs               :  163x33x10,  1190 t.

Date of loss    :  1876, Jun 16**

Place of loss   :  at Port Huron, MI, just below Black R.

Lake                : St Clair R

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : Burned to total loss while laid up.

*also given as 1856, Jenking, Walkerville

 **also given as 1867, 1875 and 1877. She may have had another fire at Port Huron in the summer of 1875.

Sources            :  csv,mmgl,clu,slh,is,st,es


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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  60064

Type at loss    :  scow-schooner, wood

Build info       :  1877, W. Bay City

Specs               :  33x8x3,  5g

Date of loss    :  1883?

Place of loss   :  unreported

Lake                : unreported

Type of loss    : unreported

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : No detail.  Enrollment surrendered at Port Huron Dec 15, 1883, annotated "wrecked," shown in 1884 Merchant Vessels as "lost or otherwise out of service."

Sources            :   phr,vbs


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  UNION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1873, J. Glover, Port Ryerse, Ont.

Specs               :  71x18x7, 72 t.

Date of loss    :  1886, Sep 18

Place of loss   :  near Rondeau, Ont.

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : none mentioned

Carrying         :  lumber

Detail              : Bound Tyrconnel for Detroit, she was dismasted and thrown ashore  the 17th, then pounded to pieces the next day. Out of Port Dover, owned by Charles Aid, et.al. or by Capt. Voight.

Sources            :   polk,nsp,mmgl,win,clu,ledc


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   UNION

Other names   :  built as WATERTOWN [replaced an earlier vessel of the same name, see below] Last name in 1888

Official no.     :  C92654

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, ferry

Build info       :  1866, F. Jenkins, Kingston, Ont.*

Specs               :  132x24x7,   267gc  163nc

Date of loss    :  1902

Place of loss   :  Niagara R. at Fort Erie

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  hull failure

Loss of life      :  ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  Sunk - maybe scuttled. Out of St. Catharines, owned by Fort Erie