Atlantic was a steamboat that sank in Lake Erie after a collision with the steamer Ogdensburg on 20 August 1852, with the loss of at least 150[1] but perhaps as many as 300 lives.

[7] On the afternoon of 19 August 1852, Atlantic left Buffalo, heading for Detroit, under the command of Captain J. Byron Pettey.

[9] Atlantic stopped at Erie, Pennsylvania to pick up even more Norwegian immigrants waiting for ships to take them west to Detroit.

Around half of the immigrants waiting were taken aboard; roughly seventy had to be left behind due to lack of space.

[7] The lake was calm; the sources are unclear about the level of visibility, with reports indicating everything from a light mist to a heavy fog.

[15][14] Water flowing in through the hole in Atlantic soon flooded the boilers, bringing the ship to a halt.

[15] An attempt was made to launch Atlantic's three boats; one capsized,[16] and Captain Petty suffered a concussion while lowering another, leaving him unable to provide any more assistance.

[16][15] The bow of Atlantic began to sink, but the stern was kept above water by air trapped inside the ship.

When it was near midnight we were awakened by a load crash and saw a large beam fall down upon a Norwegian woman of our company.

Another ship had collided with ours and knocked a large hole in the side of the Atlantic so that a flood of water rushed into the cabins and people came up as thick and fast as they could crowd themselves.

When I discovered that all of my family were alive, I was as full of joy as if I had become the richest man in the world, despite the fact that we had lost all of our goods.

An account of the catastrophe’s cause came from one of our newspapers and is as follows:‘Atlantic sailed from Buffalo in the evening at eleven o’clock and came in sight of the Propeller Ogdensburg that belonged to a competitive company.

At the last moment the Ogdensburg had time to turn hastily aside to escape the Atlantic and advance a short distance, but in anger at this attack the Ogdensburg turned and with a mighty spring, pushed a big hole in the Atlantic’s side so that the water soon caused the ship to sink.

A trial of the officers of each ship was held with the result that the Atlantic was blamed for the misfortune.’"[22]Ogdensburg steamed to the nearest port, which was Erie, Pennsylvania.

[16] They also spoke out against the poor quality of the life preservers on Atlantic and commended the captain of Ogdensburg for returning to the scene.

[20] That fall, diver John Green was hired by American Express to dive the wreck and retrieve Atlantic's safe and money known to be in a cabin, but his attempts failed.

[28] The legal battle over the cause of the wreck went to the United States Supreme Court, who ruled that both ships were at fault.