Madeira 1905
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | Madeira | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1905 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | schooner barge | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Wikidata P828 has cause (on P793 event): storm |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 47.2061, -91.3581 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Madeira was a schooner barge that sank off the coast of Minnesota in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905. A schooner barge is a type of ship that functions like a barge, in that it is towed by a steamship, but also has sails like a schooner. This type of ship evolved from wooden sailing ships that were cut down into barges and towed behind wooden steamships, a practice which originated in the late 1880s in coastal areas. This design was commonly used in the Great Lakes for transporting grain, iron ore, and other products.
Diving & visiting
In 1955, divers from the Frigid Frogs dive club in Duluth, Minnesota, first explored the wreck, but reported that there was little or no treasure on board. In 1960, a salvage company purchased the rights to the ship from the Pittsburgh Steamship Division of U.S. Steel Corporation. Divers removed one of the anchors and the ship's wheel, which were sold to the nearby Split Rock Trading Post. In 1974, a wrecking crew spent significant effort salvaging steel from Madeira. The ship currently lies broken in three sections.
Location
- Recorded position: 47.2061, -91.3581 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Madeira (ship) (revision 1373363761), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- Hesper 1905 · 10 km
- Samuel P. Ely 1896 · 32 km
- SS Harriet B. 1922 · 37 km
- SS Benjamin Noble 1914 · 38 km
- Thomas Friant 39 km
- SS Robert Wallace 49 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Steam era