Chester A. Congdon
![Unknown authorUnknown author, published by the National Park Service.[1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chester_A._Congdon.jpg){kind=link}
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Chester A. Congdon | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | cargo ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Grounding or wreck on rocks | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 48.1933, -88.5144 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Chester A. Congdon was an American lake freighter in service between 1907 and 1918. She was built under the name Salt Lake City in 1907 by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of South Chicago, Illinois, for the Holmes Steamship Company, and was intended to be used in the grain trade on the Great Lakes. She entered service on 19 September 1907, when she made her maiden voyage. In 1911, Salt Lake City was sold to the Acme Transit Company. A year later, she was transferred to the Continental Steamship Company, and was renamed Chester A. Congdon, after lawyer and entrepreneur Chester Adgate Congdon. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.
At 02:28 (EST) on 6 November 1918, Chester A. Congdon left Fort William, Ontario, under the command of Captain Charles J. Autterson, loaded with 380,000 bushels of wheat bound for Port McNicoll, Ontario. At 04:00, shortly after leaving the shelter of Thunder Bay, Chester A. Congdon encountered a heavy storm. Captain Autterson decided to return, and anchored in Thunder Bay until 10:15 a.m. when Chester A. Congdon headed back to open water. Shortly after she passed Thunder Cape, a thick fog descended on Lake Superior.
Diving & visiting
Chester A. Congdon became the largest shipwreck sunk near Isle Royale. She rests in two pieces, with the bow on the south side of the reef now known as Congdon Shoal in 60–120 feet (18.3–36.6 m) of water, and the stern on the north side in between 20 and 210 feet (6.1 and 64.0 m) of water. The bow rests at the base of an underwater cliff at an angle of between 35° and 59°, with the partially damaged stem pointing towards the shoal. The wreck contains an intact pilothouse and forecastle deck, as well as penetrable living quarters, and a windlass room which is accessible through a hole in the forward deck.
Location
- Recorded position: 48.1933, -88.5144 (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 Chester A. Congdon (revision 1370013021), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Chester A. Congdon wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Emperor 2 km
- SS Monarch 1906 · 6 km
- SS Algoma 1885 · 9 km
- SS Kamloops 1927 · 22 km
- SS Glenlyon 1924 · 32 km
- SS America 1928 · 62 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States