SS America 1928
Marker: recorded wreck position (Interwar).
Key facts
| Name | SS America | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1928 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Interwar | derived from year |
| Ship type | packet boat | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 47.8942, -89.2208 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
America was a packet boat transporting passengers, mail, and packages between settlements along the North Shore of Lake Superior, an inland sea in central North America. Built in 1898, America sank in Washington Harbor off the shore of Isle Royale in 1928, where the hull still remains. The wreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Diving & visiting
On June 6, 1928, America steamed out of Duluth on her normal route. She arrived in Isle Royale's Washington Harbor in the early morning hours of June 7 to drop off passengers, and left again before dawn. Once the ship had cleared the dock, the captain turned over the helm to the first mate. Five minutes later, America hit a submerged reef as she was leaving Washington Harbor. Although the captain returned to the helm and attempted to beach her, America ran aground on a second reef. All 16 passengers and 31 crew aboard were successfully transported to lifeboats.
America lies along a steep underwater cliff, with the wreckage sitting as deep as 85 feet to as shallow as only two feet to the surface, and can be easily seen by visitors arriving in Washington Harbor. The ship lies about 190 feet from Isle Royale. The hull is completely intact, as are the belowdeck cabins and the stern. The forward part of the superstructure is missing due to the elements and salvage operations. The effects of winter ice can be seen as far down as 30 feet below the surface, and alterations to the vessel from earlier salvage attempts are apparent.
America is one of the most popular wrecks for diving in Isle Royale National Park, with over 210 dives in 2009 out of 1062 dives made to wrecks in the park.
Location
- Recorded position: 47.8942, -89.2208 (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 SS America (1898) (revision 1372505572), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck”, “The wreck today”; 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
- SS Cumberland 1877 · 9 km
- SS Henry Chisholm 1898 · 9 km
- USS Puritan 1933 · 9 km
- SS Glenlyon 1924 · 36 km
- SS Kamloops 1927 · 40 km
- SS Algoma 1885 · 57 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Interwar