SS Emperor
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | SS Emperor | 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 | 48.2006, -88.4917 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Emperor was a Canadian lake freighter in service between 1911 and 1947. She was built between 1910 and April 1911 by the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company in Collingwood, Ontario, for Inland Lines, Ltd., of Midland, Ontario. She entered service on May 3, 1911. Emperor was sold to Canada Steamship Lines of Montreal, Quebec. Under the ownership of Canada Steamship Lines, she carried a wide variety of cargoes, but most frequently iron ore to Point Edward, Ontario, where it would be transported to Hamilton, Ontario, by train. After the opening of the fourth Welland Canal, Emperor carried the ore directly to Hamilton. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.
After discharging a cargo of coal in Fort William, Ontario, on June 3, 1947, Emperor headed to Port Arthur, Ontario, where she loaded 10,264 long tons (11,496 short tons; 10,429 t) of iron ore bound for Ashtabula, Ohio. She left Port Arthur at 10:55 p.m. (EST). The weather was clear, and visibility was good. At midnight, Captain Eldon Walkinshaw handed over watch duties to first mate James A. Morrey. Emperor ran hard aground on Canoe Rocks, on the northeast point of Isle Royale shortly before 4:15 a.m.
Diving & visiting
The wreck of Emperor rests in between 25 feet (7.6 m) of water at the bow, and 175 feet (53.3 m) of water at the stern, in two partially attached sections. The bow has sustained severe damage, mostly due to the impact of ice, while the stern is intact. The bow section stretches from 25 feet (7.6 m) at the bow's tip, down into about 80 feet (24.4 m) of water, where the intact stern section starts. The bow section includes two 7,000 pound (3,175.1 kg) anchors, a windlass and chain locker, as well as five relatively intact cargo hatches. The stern features an intact and penetrable engine room, an intact mast, and a partially intact cabin.
Location
- Recorded position: 48.2006, -88.4917 (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 Emperor (revision 1372505778), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Emperor 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
- Chester A. Congdon 2 km
- SS Monarch 1906 · 4 km
- SS Algoma 1885 · 10 km
- SS Kamloops 1927 · 24 km
- SS Glenlyon 1924 · 34 km
- SS America 1928 · 64 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States