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The largest and deadliest Lake Erie shipwrecks

Short answer

Lake Erie's deadliest wrecks were crowded passenger steamers: the G.P. Griffith, which burned in 1850 with 241[1] to 289[1] lost; the Erie, which burned in 1841 with up to 254[2]; and the Atlantic, sunk in a collision in 1852 with 130[3] to 300[3], according to Wikipedia's articles on each ship.

Key numbers

MeasureValue
G.P. Griffith, 1850241[1] / 289[1]
Erie, 1841 (estimates)about 170[2] / 254[2]
Atlantic, 1852 (estimates)130[3] / 300[3]

The deadliest

The worst disasters on Lake Erie came in the 1840s and 1850s, when steamers packed with immigrants carried settlers west from Buffalo. Records were poor and passenger lists incomplete, so every toll is a range. The G.P. Griffith caught fire off Lake County, Ohio, in June 1850; at least 241[1] and perhaps 289[1] people died, and Wikipedia ranks it as the third-deadliest Great Lakes shipping disaster.[1] The Erie burned off Silver Creek, New York, in August 1841; early estimates were about 170[2] dead and later accounts as many as 254[2].[2] The Atlantic sank after a collision near Long Point in August 1852, with estimates from 130[3] to 300[3].[3] The table lists the ten deadliest losses with their own pages in this gazetteer, each with the range its sources give.

WreckYearLives lost
G.P. Griffith1850241–289[1]
Erie1841170–254[2]
Atlantic1852130–300[3]
Anthony Wayne185038–70[4]
Marquette & Bessemer No. 2190930–38[5]
Morning Star186830–32[6]
James B. Colgate191625–26[7]
Merida191623[8]
Sand Merchant193619–20[9]
Dean Richmond189317–20[10]

The largest

The biggest ships on the bottom are twentieth-century steel freighters. The longest wreck documented here is the 448-foot ore carrier James H. Reed, sunk in a collision in fog in 1944, followed by the 432-foot Frank E. Vigor, lost the same year in another fog-bound collision in the Pelee Passage.[11,12] The steel freighter Merida, 360 feet long, and the car ferry Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, 338 feet, were both lost with everyone aboard.[8,5] Lengths come from each wreck's cited vessel records.

WreckYearLength
James H. Reed1944448 ft (137 m)[13]
Frank E. Vigor1944432 ft (132 m)[12]
Merida1916360 ft (110 m)[8]
Marquette & Bessemer No. 21909338 ft (103 m)[14]
James B. Colgate1916308 ft (94 m)[7]

Storms that sank several ships

Some of the lake's worst days involved many ships at once. The Black Friday storm of October 20, 1916, sank four large vessels, and Wikipedia counts forty-nine dead, though the tolls for the individual ships add up to more.[15] The storm pages tell those stories ship by ship, alongside the gales of 1893, 1900, 1909 and 1913.

Questions people ask

What was the deadliest shipwreck on Lake Erie?

Probably the G.P. Griffith, which burned off Ohio in 1850 with 241 to 289 lost; the Erie (1841) and Atlantic (1852) tolls overlap with it, so the ranking is uncertain.

What is the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie?

Among the wrecks documented here, the 448-foot ore carrier James H. Reed, sunk in a collision in fog in 1944.

Related questions

Sources

  1. SS G. P. Griffith, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  2. Erie (steamship, sank 1841), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  3. Atlantic (1848 ship), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  5. SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  6. HCGL vessel record: MORNING STAR, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  7. HCGL vessel record: COLGATE, JAMES B., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  8. HCGL vessel record: MERIDA, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  9. HCGL vessel record: SAND MERCHANT, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  10. List of shipwrecks in 1893, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  11. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: James H Reed, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  12. SS Sir William Siemens, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  13. SS James H. Reed, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  14. HCGL vessel record: MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO. 2 (1st), Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  15. 1916 Black Friday storm, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  16. Lake Erie Gazetteer data: this site's own compiled records (lighthouses, shipwrecks, storms), Lake Erie Gazetteer (WeldonPC). Accessed .

Facts as of · page checked · Markdown version

How to cite

Lake Erie Gazetteer, Lake Erie's deadliest shipwrecks, lakeerie.info/facts/largest-and-deadliest-lake-erie-shipwrecks, accessed October 19, 2026.