Morning Star
41.61° N, 82.21° W (rounded) · Ohio waters · lost 1868
- Collision
- Lives lost: 30–32
41.61° N, 82.21° W · Rounded; not a dive position. Source: Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Morning Star.[2]
The Detroit and Cleveland line's sidewheel steamer Morning Star sank within minutes after colliding with the bark Cortland near midnight in June 1868, about eight miles off Lorain, Ohio. At least 30 people died; the true number is unknown because many passengers were not on the manifest.
The story
The Morning Star was built at Trenton, Michigan, in 1862, a wooden sidewheel steamer 243 feet long with paddle wheels 38 feet across, run by the Detroit and Cleveland Steam Navigation Company on its overnight route between the two cities.[1,2] In 1866 two men tried to burn her in an insurance fraud, but a soldier spotted the fire in time.[3]
In June 1868 she left Cleveland for Detroit with first-class and other passengers and a mixed freight that, according to Ohio Sea Grant, included pig iron, kegs of nails, mowing machines, glass, cheese and barrels of oil.[2] Close to midnight, on a rainy night with a north wind, she struck the iron-ore bark Cortland. Captain E.R. Viger tried to launch the lifeboats, but the steamer went down before they could be lowered. He and 14 others survived by clinging to the torn-off hurricane deck until her sister ship, the R.N. Rice, picked them up about three hours later.[3]
No one knows exactly how many died. Many passengers, some of them recent immigrants, were not listed on the manifest and had no one to report them missing. Wikipedia counts at least 30 dead and the HCGL vessel record 32, with more lost on the Cortland.[3,1] For weeks afterwards, bodies from both ships washed ashore.[4]
Divers found the wreck in April 1980.[3] It lies about eight miles north of Lorain in 59 to 68 feet of water on a soft bottom into which much of the hull has settled. Parts of the paddle wheels, the large boiler and the walking beam stand out among the mussel-covered timbers.[2] The Maritime Archaeological Survey Team has placed a seasonal mooring buoy on the site.[2]
Sources differ: June 20 (HCGL) or June 21, 1868 (Ohio Sea Grant); the collision happened close to midnight.
Lives lost: Wikipedia: at least 30; HCGL: 32. The exact number is unknown because many passengers were not on the manifest.
Questions people ask
How many people died on the Morning Star?
At least 30 (Wikipedia) and 32 by the HCGL count. The exact toll is unknown because many passengers were not on the manifest.
Where is the Morning Star wreck?
About eight miles north of Lorain Harbor, Ohio, in 59 to 68 feet of water, according to Ohio Sea Grant.
Learn more
- Ohio Sea Grant: Morning Star
- Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST) mooring program
- National Museum of the Great Lakes, Toledo
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.[5][6][7]
- 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.[8]
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.
Nearby lighthouses
- Lorain Lighthouse Tower climbs
- Vermilion Lighthouse Grounds open
- Southeast Shoal Lighthouse View from a boat
- Huron Harbor Lighthouse View from shore
- Middle Island Lighthouse (ruin) Ruin or relocated
Nearby shipwrecks
Nearby · Sponsored
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Sources
- HCGL vessel record: MORNING STAR, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
- Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Morning Star, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
- Morning Star (1862 ship), Wikipedia. Accessed .
- Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Cortland, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
- 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 .
- 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
- 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
- Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .
- List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
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