List of shipwrecks of Isle Royale

Still to be found beneath the waves of Lake Superior are the wooden sidewheeler, Cumberland (1877); bulk freighter, Chester Congdon (1918); and the first 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) Canadian wheat packet, Emperor (1947).

Along the north shore of the lake, the most celebrated wreck is that of the America which served as a connection between Isle Royale and the mainland and was a highway from Duluth, Minnesota, to Port Arthur, Ontario.

The Passenger Steamer Cumberland had spent July 21–23, 1877 aground on a bar near Nipigon, Ontario, just prior to heading out into the clear lake from Thunder Bay.

She was headed to Duluth, running in clear weather with a light breeze out of the south, when she ran hard upon the reef.

A salvage crew tried to float the ship off the reef, but gave up when the weather turned sour in early August.

The 'elements' of the lake have left only scattered sections of her hull, sidewheel and anchor from 20 to 140 feet (6 to 43 m) deep on the Rock of Ages Reef.

Sunday, October 1898 she was headed east towards the Soo when her tow separated in a storm north of Copper Harbor, Michigan.

On the morning of the 20th, while preparing to begin a search of the Isle Royale harbors for the tow Martin, the Chisholm ran hard atop the reef.

So badly damaged was the hull that the salvage crew estimated that it would take 8–10 pumps to lower the water in the hold.

The Cox had been headed for Fort William and was making a good 10 statute miles per hour (16 km/h) in a calm lake when she struck.

Duluth, Minn. June 7 (AP) An old passenger steamer, the AMERICA, is lying on the bottom of Lake Superior tonight under 17 fathoms [31 m], of water.

On June 10, 1907, the America had just stopped to drop off supplies at either Grand Portage or the old Parkerville dock in the Susie Islands.

As the crew was putting the final packages into place, a new 2nd Porter, Harvey Holler (16 years old), stepped backwards and out the open gangway.

And no sooner had it come to rest, than the engines would pound and the America would slip back into the fog, headed for the next meeting along the shore.

Heading for North Gap and open water, the Captain retired and let First Mate Wicks and a helmsman take the watch.

Smith ordered the helmsman, Fred Nelson, to head towards a gravel beach before the ship floundered and lost headway.

A. Booth and Sons elected not to salvage the America, probably due to the completion of Minnesota Trunk Route I (US 61).

The decrease in weight and the upward pressure of the ice floated the wreck and it settled beneath the surface.

At that time, she was retired by her owners who called her the Meteor, a whaleback designed ship now on display in Superior, Wisconsin.