Shamrock
Wooden Steam Barge
Historic Research Collection

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GPS Location: N45° 03.077’ W83° 26.052’
Depth: 11 Feet
Wreck Length: 146 Feet Beam: 30 Feet
Gross Tonnage: 403 Cargo: Lath
Launched: 1875 by Bower and Cash at St. Clair, Michigan
Wrecked: June 24, 1905
Description: The Shamrock was built as the schooner barge John W. Hanaford and reconstructed as a steam lumber carrier in 1904.  It was bound from Midland, Ontario to Toledo with a cargo of lath when it encountered a furious gale on the open lake.  The ship sprung a leak and became waterlogged, but the lath cargo kept it afloat until it was beached at Black River, Michigan.  The abandoned vessel was later towed to Alpena by the steamer City of Holland and left a short distance from the mouth of the Thunder Bay River.  The machinery was later removed, but many interesting structural features can still be seen on the wreck.