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James H. Reed

Ohio waters · lost 1944

  • Collision
  • Lives lost: 12
  • Location withheld

This site's location is withheld. Lies near the U.S.-Canada boundary; the Gazetteer withholds positions that may fall in Ontario-protected waters. This page shows the general area only.

James H. Reed
Detroit Publishing Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Toned for this site.

The 448-foot ore carrier James H. Reed sank in minutes after a Canadian freighter rammed her in thick fog on Lake Erie in April 1944, killing 12 of her crew. Wikipedia describes her as the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie; the hull was later blasted apart as a hazard to shipping.

The story

When she was launched in 1903 at Wyandotte, Michigan, the James H. Reed was one of the largest freighters on the Great Lakes, 448 feet between perpendiculars and built for the iron ore trade.[1] She was named for James Hay Reed, a Pittsburgh lawyer and president of the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad.[2] From 1913 she sailed for the Interlake Steamship Company of Cleveland, carrying ore, coal and grain, and was involved in several accidents over four decades.[1,2]

In late April 1944 she was downbound from Escanaba, Michigan, for Buffalo with iron ore when she ran into thick fog over Lake Erie. Despite her fog signals, at about 5:30 in the morning the Canadian freighter Ashcroft struck her.[1,2] Badly holed, she sank quickly, and 12 of her crew died. The Ashcroft and a Coast Guard cutter rescued the 24 survivors.[1] The same morning, in the same fog, the freighter Frank E. Vigor sank after a collision in the Pelee Passage at the western end of the lake.[1,3]

The Reed settled in water too shallow for safety near a shipping lane, about 20 miles north of Conneaut and 42 miles west of Long Point.[2] In late November 1944 the wreck was dynamited down to a minimum depth of 45 feet, leaving it broken up and scattered over a wide area.[1,2]

Wikipedia calls her the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie.[1] Because the site lies close to the international boundary, the Gazetteer shows only its general area.

Sources differ: April 27, 1944, at about 5:30 a.m. (Ohio Sea Grant); Wikipedia's lead gives April 26.

Questions people ask

Is the James H. Reed the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie?

Wikipedia describes her that way. She was a 448-foot steel ore carrier that sank in 1944 after a collision in fog.

Why was the James H. Reed wreck dynamited?

She sank near a shipping lane in relatively shallow water, so in late November 1944 the wreck was blasted down to a minimum depth of 45 feet as a hazard to navigation.

Learn more

Museums and groups are linked for further reading; they are not connected with this site.

Look, don't take

Look, don't take. Shipwrecks and everything on them are protected by law; removing or disturbing anything can be a crime.

  • United States: under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (43 U.S.C. § 2105) the U.S. claims title to abandoned shipwrecks embedded in a state's submerged lands, or resting on them and eligible for the National Register, and transfers that title to the state.[4][5][6]
  • Ohio: R.C. 1506.32 requires a permit from the Director of Natural Resources, approved by the Ohio History Connection, to recover, alter, salvage or destroy abandoned property on, in or near a submerged watercraft or aircraft in Lake Erie.[7]

How Lake Erie wrecks are protected

Diving Lake Erie wrecks is dangerous: cold water, poor visibility, depth, entanglement and boat traffic. Nothing here is dive guidance or a dive position. Dive only with proper training, a qualified operator and current information from the groups that maintain moorings.

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Sources

  1. SS James H. Reed, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  2. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: James H Reed, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  3. SS Sir William Siemens, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. 43 U.S. Code 2105 - Rights of access (Abandoned Shipwreck Act: title to abandoned shipwrecks), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  5. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  6. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  7. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

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