Steamer St. Albans
Lake Name: Lake Michigan
Shipwreck Name: St. Albans
Additional Shipwreck Pictures
Vessel Type: Wooden Steamer
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Vessel Build Info: 1868, Ira Lafrinier, Cleveland
Shipwreck Specs: 135x26x11, 435 t.
Official Number: 23514
Names Other: none
Sinking Detail
A wooden steamer built in 1868 used to haul passengers and freight throughout the lower Great Lakes. She rammed a cake of ice, which filled the hole it had made in her hull. She rushed for shore, but as the ice melted, the vessel filled and sank. Bound Milwaukee for Ludington, she was a total loss of 35,000. She was a Northern Transportation Co. boat serving small Lake Michigan ports out of Grand Haven.
Loss Date: 1/30/1881
Loss Place: 8 mi NNE of Milwaukee
Loss Life: none of 27
Loss Reason: ice
Vessel Cargo: general merchandise, flour, cattle
Shipwreck Description
St. Albans is partially intact standing upright in 160 feet of water, 7 miles east of Milwaukee. Her cabins are gone and you can see the boilers on the top. The bow is also intact but you can see the impact from the collision with ice right behind the bow and a large debris field around the shipwreck. Penetration is possible but limited for the trained and experienced.
Dive Type: Entry level technical
Depth Deck(ft): 150 ft
Depth Bottom(ft): 160 ft
Depth Deck(m): 46 m
Depth Bottom(m): 49 m