Great Lakes Shipwrecks

 beginning with the letter

 Y

The Great Lakes Shipwreck File

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

 

Click Here for Source List

 


————————————————————————
±

  YAKIMA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27630

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1889, Quayle & Son, Cleveland

Specs               :  279x41x21,  1986gt  1658nt

Date of loss    :  1905, Jun 13

Place of loss   :  on Stag Island

Lake                : St Clair R

Type of loss    : nav. error/fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  iron ore

Detail              : She missed the channel and grounded, then caught fire before she could be released. Her remains were later refloated and dismantled. Owned by J.C. Gilchrist of Detroit

Sources            :   ns1,mv,nsp,mpl


————————————————————————
±

  YANKEE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27625

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

Build info       :  1884, J. Huxtable, Sand Beach, Mich

Specs               :  38x12x4,  12gt  11nt

Date of loss    :  1893, Sep 17

Place of loss   :  off Port Elgin, Ont.

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : none mentioned

Carrying         :  light

Detail              : She went ashore along with the barge BAHAMA and was wrecked in a gale. She was unable to be released and was abandoned the next year.

Sources            :   phr,mv,slh,lhdc,wb,hgl,nsp


————————————————————————
±

   YANKEE BLADE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27516

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1855, B. B. Jones, Buffalo

Specs               :  130x26x10,   256g   243n

Date of loss    :  1883, Sep 1

Place of loss   :  near Skillagallee

Lake                :  Michigan

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  507 t.ron ore

Detail              :  Bound St. Ignace, Mich., for Elk Rapids in a fresh wind and heavy sea, she sprang a leak 8 miles south of Skillagallee and foundered a short time later. Her crew was just able to abandon her in time, and made their way to Cross Village, Mich. in the smallboat. Two crewmen had deserted just before she sailed, saying she was unseaworthy. She went down in 15 fathoms of water. Master: Capt. O’Donnell. Owner: Messrs. Beckwith.

Ashore and given up for lost at Jacksonport, Wis., in April, 1882.

Sprung a leak and was quickly beached to prevent her sinking near St. Clair, Mich., Sep, 1867.

Sources            :  hgl,wmn,nsp,bb,mv

 

————————————————————————±

  YANTIC

Other names   :  known as IX-32, 1921-26

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  screw bark warship, NIPSIC class

Build info       :  1864, Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia

Specs               :  180x30x12, 900 t. [displ]

Date of loss    :  1929, Oct 22

Place of loss   :  Detroit

Lake                : Detroit R

Type of loss    :  hull failure

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  none

Detail              : Unserviceable since the turn of the century, she sank at her dock at the foot of Townsend Street and was abandoned by the Navy. She caught fire in 1930 and was partially destroyed.  Later dismantled in place.

She was  reportedly designed to be Abraham Lincoln’s yacht, and served with the Navy on the both the Atlantic (during the Civil War) and the Pacific. In 1898 she was loaned to the Michigan Naval Militia and the newspapers gleefully reported all of the many mishaps she had along the way. When she arrived she looked a shambles. She was re-engined by the Detroit Shipbuilding company the following year. She served with the militia as a clubhouse until 1917, then served as a training ship on the lakes until after WW1. She had been deemed "overaged" since about the turn of the century and moored at Detroit most of the time.  The bar which formed outside of her hull came to be called “Chickenbone Reef” due to the decades of  garbage dumping that the boat had done there. There were periodic local efforts to have her removed.

Official Navy History

Sources            :   mv,is,mpl,danfs,nsp


————————————————————————
±

   YONKERS

Other names   :  built as MILWAUKEE, renamed in 1902

Official no.     :  91150

Type at loss    :  unrigged barge, self unloading bulk freight and construction

Build info       :  1879, Thos. Quayle, Cleveland

Specs               :  264x37x16,  1209g   1195n

Date of loss    :  1917, Oct 4

Place of loss   :  at Ashtabula, OH

Lake                :  Erie

Type of loss    :  (navigational error)

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  bulk freight

Detail              :  She was under tow when she stranded on a bar at Ashtabula. Left in place to be salvaged the following spring, her hull was damaged beyond repair by the elements. Abandoned, the hulk was destroyed by fire June 5, 1918.

Converted from a package freighter to a bulk freighter in 1902, from a steamer to a barge in 1911.

Sources            :  eas,ns3,hcgl


————————————————————————
±

   YORK

Other names   : 

Official no.     :  British

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1792, Toronto

Specs               :  80 gt

Date of loss    :  1799, Dec

Place of loss   :  Devil's Nose, near site of Pultneyville, NY

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none 

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              :  Reported sticking on a rock by other vessels, with no prospect of getting her off.

Sources            :    rp,hgl,wmn


————————————————————————
±

  YORK

Other names   : ?

Official no.     : probably Canadian

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  ?

Specs               :  ?

Date of loss    :  early

Place of loss   :  off Salt Point, 25 mi W of the Soo

Lake                : Superior

Type of loss    :  (storm)

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : She sank off the mouth of Grant's Creek.

Sources            :  gwgl


————————————————————————
±

   YORK PACKET or PACKETT

Other names   :  also seen as YORK

Official no.     :  none [British]

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  ?

Specs               :  ?

Date of loss    :  1798, Apr 7

Place of loss   :  near Presqu'ile, Ont.

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm/sabotage

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  passengers, general freight

Detail              :  According to sworn statements given to a justice of the peace, the captain and mate deliberately ran her ashore in a storm and allowed her to wreck. Her crew and passengers made it ashore in a smallboat, while the culprits absconded with valuable portions of her cargo. She had been bound Genesee R. [Rochester] for York [Toronto]. Owned by S Heron and A Miles of York. Master: Capt. Murray.

This and YORK (above) are probably the same vessel.

Sources            : wl,wmn


————————————————————————
±

  YORK STATE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27514

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood

Build info       :  1857, F. N. Jones, Buffalo

Specs               :  303gt 288nt

Date of loss    :  1886, Oct 20

Place of loss   :  on Giant's Tomb, Georgian Bay

Lake                : Huron

Type of loss    :  (storm)

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  grain

Detail              : She went ashore and filled and was later wrecked by the swelling of her cargo. Bound Chicago for Midland, Ont. Owner: A. J. Sheel, Chicago.

Rebuilt in 1869 at Ashtabula

Rebuilt, 1883

Sources            :   nsp,mv,polk,slh,hgl,wl


————————————————————————
±

  YOSEMITE

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27541

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood, freighter

Build info       :  1867, G. Fordham, Sandusky , OH

Specs               :  152x29x10,  310 gt  229 nt

Date of loss    :  1892, Apr 30

Place of loss   :  off Emerson, MI, Whitefish Bay

Lake                : Superior

Type of loss    :  fire

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  light, barge attached

Detail              : She was lying at anchor with her barge RYAN when she caught fire and burned to a total loss. The crew narrowly escaped to the RYAN. Owned by Estes, et. al, Sandusky. Master: Capt. Miller.

Major repairs in 1874, 83,84; rebuilt in 1886

Sources            :   mv,polk,lol,lssc,is,www,lss,hgl,nsp


————————————————————————
±

  YOU TELL

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  65020

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

Build info       :  1866, W. Gangulon, Detroit

Specs               :  56x17x5,  38 gt.

Date of loss    :  1872, Sep 26

Place of loss   :  near Washington Isl., Isle Royale

Lake                : Superior

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  hay

Detail              : Bound Thunder Bay, Ont., for Ashland, WI, she  struck a shoal in a storm and foundered.

Owned by L. Tenney of Duluth

Sources            :   mv,irs,lss,bb,wl


————————————————————————
±

  YOUNG AMERICA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27515

Type at loss    :  propeller, wood

Build info       :  1853, Bidwell & Banta, Buffalo, NY

Specs               :  139x26x11, 359 t.

Date of loss    :  1873, Oct 20

Place of loss   :  near Oak Orchard, NY

Lake                : Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  150 passengers

Detail              : Her propeller's over-revving while out of the water during a storm disabled her engine, causing her to be blown ashore 2 mi W of  Yate's Pier. Later she pounded to pieces.

Owned by Northern Transportation Co.

Engine & boiler recovered the next year

Date also given as Sep 2, 1874 & Sep 2, 1873.

Major repair in 1864

Sunk at Alexandria Bay, NY, St. Lawrence R., in July of 1854

Sources            :   lhl,eas,nsp,is,mpl,wl,rsl


————————————————————————
±

  YOUNG AMERICA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1854, Geo. Rogers, Oswego, NY

Specs               :  124x25x10, 331 t.  om

Date of loss    :  1855, Sep

Place of loss   :  N of Racine

Lake                : Mich

Type of loss    :  collision

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  ?

Detail              : Collided with the schooner BLACK HAWK and sank in about 200 feet of water.

Out of Oswego, probably owned by H. M. Ames

Sources            :  bb,wmhs,wl,rp

 

————————————————————————±

  YOUNG AMERICA

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27508

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1853, F. N. Jones, Buffalo as a brig

Specs               :  130x25x10,   243g  231n

Date of loss    :  1880, Aug 20

Place of loss   :  near Kelley's Isl.

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      : ?

Carrying         :  stone

Detail              : She foundered in shallow water. Declared a total loss, she was recovered in 1883.

Abandoned in 1900.

Sunk and reported broken in two at Dunkirk, NY, in Nov, 1875.

Dismasted and heavily damaged in a collision with the schooner SURPRISE off Chicago, Jun, 1858

Sources            :   phr,polk,mv,eas,h,nsp,bb


————————————————————————
±

   YOUNG LEOPARD

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1836, J. B. Hamblin, Avon, OH

Specs               :  58x18x6,  53 t. om

Date of loss    :  1856, Nov 22

Place of loss   :  "Toronto bar,"  Toronto

Lake                :  Ontario

Type of loss    :  storm 

Loss of life      :  none

Carrying         :  coal and salt

Detail              :  This schooner dragged her anchors while riding out a storm, went on the Toronto bar opposite Queen's Wharf and capsized. For some time it was expected that she would be released, but she finally broke up by Dec 5. Out of Oswego, NY.

Sources            :  nsp,wl,wmn,air

 

————————————————————————±

  YOUNG HICKORY

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  27540

Type at loss    :  sidewheel steamer, wood, steam barge

Build info       :  1864, G. Fordham, Sandusky, OH

Specs               :  82x20x4,  59 t.

Date of loss    :  1877, Oct 31

Place of loss   :  off Claybanks area, near Port Burwell, Ont. (also reported as “off Bar Pt.”)

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  1

Carrying         :  wood

Detail              : She foundered in a gale. The schooner  PORTER rescued her people, which included another full crew that the HICKORY had previously rescued. The wreck was abandoned the next year.

Described in one report from her homeport of Sandusky as “the only old-fashioned sternwheeler on Lake Erie,” still other newspaper sources describe her as a “steambarge” (i.e. propeller).

Sources            :   www,lhl.mv,h,usls,es,nsp,wmn


————————————————————————
±

  YOUNG LION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     :  none

Type at loss    :  schooner, wood, 2-mast

Build info       :  1830, Buffalo, NY*

Specs               :  73x25x8,  83 t. om

Date of loss    :  1836, July 6

Place of loss   :  12 mi from Erie, PA

Lake                : Erie

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  3 of 8

Carrying         :  RR iron and lumber

Detail              : She opened her seams in a heavy blow and sank quickly with just her topmasts left above water. Five crew saved themselves by clambering up them and were later rescued by the schooner NEW YORK. Bound Buffalo for Toledo. Owned by Smith, Macy & Russell of Buffalo. Master: Capt. Moran.

Sources            :   nsp,hgl,wl


————————————————————————
±

  YOUNG LION

Other names   :  none

Official no.     : C none

Type at loss    :  propeller steam tug, wood

Build info       :  1862, Donaldson & Andrews, Port Dalhousie, Ont.

Specs               :  98gc  62nc