SS Hudson 1901
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | SS Hudson | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1901 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 47.4989, -88.2533 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Hudson was a steel-hulled package freighter that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1887 to her sinking in 1901. On September 16, 1901, while heading across Lake Superior with a cargo of wheat and flax, she ran into a storm and sank with the loss of all 25 crew off Eagle Harbor, Michigan (located on the Keweenaw Peninsula). For nearly 118 years the location of Hudson's wreck remained unknown, until in July 2019 her wreck was found in 825 feet (251 m) of water, completely intact.
In all likelihood, she is the second deepest shipwreck on the Great Lakes, behind the bulk freighter Scotiadoc (discovered in 2013 at a depth of 870 feet [270 m]), and tied with the composite bulk freighter S.R. Kirby (discovered in 2018).
Diving & visiting
In mid-2019, Jerry Eliason of Cloquet, Minnesota and Kraig Smith of Rice Lake, Wisconsin were searching for the wrecks of Hudson, the paddle steamer Sunbeam and the composite bulk freighter S.R. Kirby, which had already been found by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) in June 2018, but had not yet been made public. Eventually, Eliason and Smith found a likely looking target in over 800 feet (240 m) of water about 4 miles (6.4 km) off Eagle Harbor, Michigan. In mid-July, they set out to the target. When they were above the wreck, they dropped a camera attached to a 1,000 feet (300 m) cable.
The wreck of the Hudson rests in 825 feet (251 m) of water, with her hull completely intact. Her bow is buried in the lake bottom, with her stern rising about 20 feet (6.1 m) from the bottom. All that remains is her steel hull, because when she sank, her cabins broke free and floated away. Due to the depth of her wreck, she is almost impossible for divers to explore. Eliason reported that Hudson and S.R. Kirby, both resting at the same depth, are likely the second deepest shipwrecks ever located on the Great Lakes, after the freighter Scotiadoc which rests in 870 feet (270 m) of water near the Sleeping Giant.
Location
- Recorded position: 47.4989, -88.2533 (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 Hudson (1887) (revision 1380054664), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck discovery”, “Hudson 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 Glenlyon 1924 · 63 km
- SS Algoma 1885 · 71 km
- SS Kamloops 1927 · 76 km
- SS Monarch 1906 · 78 km
- Chester A. Congdon 80 km
- SS Emperor 80 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Steam era