| Date Built: 1885 | Construction: Wooden Steamer |
| Owners: | Builders: Morely & Hill of Marine City, MI |
| Dimensions: 231x38x13.6, 1457gt, 1170nt | Cargo: Coal |
Condition: Generally intact bow, broken wide apart in center. Masts broken above deck, fife rails, hand pump windlass. Stern mostly collasped. Penetrations difficult. |
Location: ENE of Nine Mile point, 9.2mi @ 21° from Thunder Bay Island Light | Depth: 138', Decks at 127' |
Date of Loss: 6/30/1906 |
Type of Loss: Collision |
Loss of Life: none |
GPS: 45° 10.073' / 083° 13.076' |
Co-ordinates are informational only, they maybe inaccurate and should
NOT BE USED FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES! |
On a foggy Saturday morning, June 30, 1906 the 231-foot steamer NEW ORLEANS was upbound with coal, inside of the downbound shipping channels, when she was rammed by the downbound steamer WILLIAM R. LINN. When the two ships finnaly spotted each other, there was no room for error. The ships both, trying to avoid a collision, both changed their courses in the same direction.
The NEW ORLEANS sank within minutes of the collision with her crew escaping to the LINN. As the NEW ORLEANS sank air pressure inside built so quickly that her wooden pilot house was blown clear of her decks. The following day a Life Saving Crew from Thunder Bay Island found it floating three miles south of Middle Island.
Her loss at the time was valued at $45,000
Sources: Bedford 2000; Hoagman 1999; NOAA 1999; Stonehouse 1992; Swayze 1999; McConnell; Kauffman; Barker
