Thomas Friant
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Thomas Friant | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | ferry | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 46.8667, -91.4833 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Thomas Friant was a wooden-hulled ferry (later fish tug) that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1884 to her sinking in 1924. In January 1924, while gillnetting out of Two Harbors, Minnesota in Lake Superior, she was holed by ice, and sank with no fatalities. In 2004 her wreck was discovered in over 300 feet (91 m) of water in pristine condition. The wreck of Thomas Friant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Diving & visiting
In July 2004, while searching for the wreck of the bulk carrier Robert Wallace, shipwreck hunters Jerry Eliason, Ken Merryman, Kraig Smith and Randy Beebe found what they thought to be Robert Wallace 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Two Harbors, Minnesota, in about 300 feet (91 m) of water. Originally, the group thought Thomas Friant to be Robert Wallace because the camera they dropped over the wreck picked up images of the second and the third letters of the worn nameplate that looked like an R and an O. On August 1, 2004, the group anchored over the wreck again, and when the camera was sent down again, the wreck was this time identified as Thomas Friant.
Thomas Friant rests upright and totally intact in 290 to 305 feet (88 to 93 m) of water. Her hull is embedded up to the propeller hub in mud. Her smokestack is upright, and there are still fish nets, and various tools on board. There is also a heavy layer of silt around the wreck which heavily impairs visibility.
Location
- Recorded position: 46.8667, -91.4833 (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 Thomas Friant (fish tug) (revision 1373452454), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery”, “Thomas Friant 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 Benjamin Noble 1914 · 16 km
- SS Robert Wallace 19 km
- SS Harriet B. 1922 · 20 km
- Samuel P. Ely 1896 · 22 km
- SS Onoko 1915 · 22 km
- Madeira 1905 · 39 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States