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Sarah E. Sheldon

41.50° N, 82.11° W (rounded) · Ohio waters · lost 1905

  • Stranded
  • Lives lost: 2

41.50° N, 82.11° W · Rounded; not a dive position. Source: Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Sarah E Sheldon.[2]

Built of oak at Black River, the town now called Lorain, in 1872, the steamer Sarah E. Sheldon was wrecked only a few miles from her birthplace when an October 1905 gale drove her onto a reef east of Lorain. The Life-Saving Service rescued survivors; two people died.

The story

The Sarah E. Sheldon was built in 1872 at Black River, Ohio, the town now called Lorain, by the shipbuilder E.M. Peck for a group of Cleveland owners. She was a wooden propeller of about 184 feet, built of oak, and over 33 years she carried coal, grain and iron ore around the lakes.[2,1] She was first enrolled at Cleveland in October 1872, and Ohio Sea Grant notes she had a major repair in 1883.[1,2]

On October 20, 1905, she was bound from Cleveland for Sarnia, Ontario, with coal when a huge gale caught her off the Ohio shore. She struck a reef and broke up about 600 feet from land near Lake Breeze, just east of Lorain.[2,1] The U.S. Life-Saving Service rescued the survivors, but two people were lost.[2,1] Wikipedia's list of Great Lakes shipwrecks likewise records that the wooden bulk carrier struck a reef off Lorain and broke up.[3]

Wikipedia's list records two other Lake Erie losses on the same date: the Tasmania, which sank off Point Pelee, and the Siberia, which ran aground off Long Point.[3]

Because she broke up so close to shore, the Sheldon's remains lie in shallow water off Sheffield Lake. Ohio Sea Grant mentions the wreck as one of the shallow sites off this stretch of coast that are accessible to novice divers and snorkellers when conditions allow.[4]

Questions people ask

Where did the Sarah E. Sheldon wreck?

On a reef about 600 feet offshore near Lake Breeze, just east of Lorain, Ohio, in a gale on October 20, 1905.

How many people died?

Two, according to the HCGL vessel record. The U.S. Life-Saving Service rescued the survivors.

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.[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]

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: SHELDON, SARAH E., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
  2. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Sarah E Sheldon, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  3. List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Alva B, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  5. 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 .
  6. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  7. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  8. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

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