PS Lotta Bernard was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steam barge that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1869 to her sinking in 1874.

When she entered service, she was chartered by the Northern Transportation Company to carry cordwood from the Portage River and Put-in-Bay to Cleveland, Ohio.

During this time, she was contracted to haul building materials from Bark Bay, Wisconsin, to Duluth to be used in the construction of the first grain elevator in that port.

On October 29, 1874, Lotta Bernard left what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario under the command of Captain Michael Norris.

As the huge waves pounded her hull, they began to smash her cabins apart, eventually leaving only the smokestack standing.

She was what was called a "rabbit" type steamer, which meant that all her cabins were located at the stern, and her forward decks were left open.

[3] When she entered service on November 5, 1869, she was chartered by the Northern Transportation Company to carry cordwood from the Portage River and Put-in-Bay to Cleveland, Ohio.

Under Tenney's ownership, she was contracted to haul building materials from Bark Bay, Wisconsin, to Duluth to be used in the construction of the first grain elevator.

[7] On November 17, 1871 Lotta Bernard was torn from a dock in Grand Marais, Minnesota and was blown ashore, sustaining damage to her hull, rudder, paddlewheels and her boiler.

[2] On November 28, 1872 while carrying a cargo of flour, feed and grain, Lotta Bernard broke her rudder chains in a snowstorm and beached near Ontonagon, Michigan.

The group of ten found a local Ojibwe camp, where they received shelter, food and got a chance to dry their soaked clothes.