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Queen of the West

41.85° N, 81.39° W (rounded) · Ohio waters · lost 1903

  • Foundered
  • Lives lost: None recorded

41.85° N, 81.39° W · Rounded; not a dive position. Source: Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Queen Of The West.[2]

The oak-hulled ore carrier Queen of the West sprang a leak in heavy seas in August 1903 and sank about eight miles off Fairport Harbor, Ohio. Her crew's lifeboat overturned, but the steamer Codorus took everyone off just before she went down. No lives were lost. The wreck lies in about 71 feet of water.

The story

The Queen of the West was built in 1881 at William Crosthwaite's shipyard in West Bay City, Michigan, a wooden propeller with an oak hull about 215 feet long. Her first enrollment was issued at Port Huron that May.[2,1] Owned by C.L. Hutchinson and partners of Cleveland, she carried bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal and grain, and her tonnage was remeasured after a rebuild at Cleveland in 1901.[2,1]

In August 1903 she was carrying iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Erie, Pennsylvania. The Buffalo Evening News, as summarized by Ohio Sea Grant, reported that she called briefly at Cleveland to drop off the Sage, a vessel travelling with her, and then went on into building seas.[2] At about 4 a.m. the crew found a serious leak in the hull. The pumps fell behind, waves broke over the deck, and she began to settle. A distress signal went out, but the lifeboat capsized when the crew tried to launch it.[2]

The steamer Codorus then came up and took the crew off in a difficult transfer in which some were injured. Two passengers, daughters of the chief engineer, were nearly swept overboard while they waited. Minutes after the last person was aboard the Codorus, the Queen of the West sank. No one died.[2,1] The vessel record at Bowling Green State University dates the loss to August 20, 1903, 5 to 10 miles northeast of Fairport Harbor; Wikipedia's list gives August 8.[1,3]

Ohio Sea Grant places the wreck about eight miles north of Fairport Harbor in about 71 feet of water. Much of the wooden hull has gone and the bow is the most intact part; the engine, boiler, winches, chain and bow windlass are the most striking remains.[2]

Sources differ: Wikipedia's list of Lake Erie shipwrecks gives 8 August 1903; the HCGL record and the Buffalo Evening News of August 21, 1903 (via Ohio Sea Grant) support August 20.

Lives lost: The steamer Codorus took off the crew and two passengers.

Questions people ask

Did anyone die when the Queen of the West sank?

No. Her lifeboat capsized, but the steamer Codorus took off the crew and two passengers minutes before she sank in August 1903.

How deep is the Queen of the West wreck?

About 71 feet, roughly eight miles north of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, according to Ohio Sea Grant.

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. HCGL vessel record: QUEEN OF THE WEST, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  2. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Queen Of The West, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  3. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), 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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