In the evening of April 29, 1909, Russia left Alpena, Michigan, with a cargo of cement, wire fencing, galoshes and multiple barrels of dry goods, destined for Duluth, Minnesota.

An eventual lull in the storm convinced Captain John McLean to continue towards Point DeTour, instead of turning back.

When this effort to save Russia was also unsuccessful, Captain McLean gave the order to abandon her early in the morning of April 30.

[8] Beginning in the mid-1840s, Canadian companies began importing iron vessels, prefabricated by shipyards in the United Kingdom.

[8] Despite the success of Merchant, wooden vessels remained preferable to iron ones until the 1880s, due to their inexpensiveness and the abundance of timber.

[13][14] Russia (US official number 110063) was built in 1872 in Buffalo, New York, by the King Iron Works, with the Gibson & Craig shipyard as the subcontractor.

[15] She had double bottom ballast tanks, two watertight bulkheads, a steel boilerhouse, two decks, cabins capable of accommodating up to 50 passengers, six cargo hatches and originally one, later two mast(s).

[3] On December (one source states November) 6/7, 1872, at around 9:00 A.M., while bound for Buffalo with a cargo of grain, Russia struck a rock and sank at Bar Point, Lake Erie, near Amherstburg, Ontario.

In August of that same year, Russia struck a boulder at Lime Kiln crossing in the Detroit River, near Amherstburg.

On September 12, 1873, while bound from Chicago for Buffalo with a cargo of wheat, Russia collided with the steamer John A. Dix in the Detroit River, receiving $3,000 worth of damage.

[3] In 1884, following the death of Charles Ensign, Russia was sold to James Ash of Buffalo (one source also gives several co-owners: P. P. Pratt, F. L. Danforth and G. B.

[1][3][4] On May 1/3, 1892, at around 6:00 P.M., while bound from Buffalo for Chicago with a cargo of coal, Russia collided with the steamer Celtic in a dense fog about 15 miles (24 km) off Rondeau, Ontario.

[3][4] On July 11, 1893, Russia was in Buffalo, loading a cargo of baled jute, rags, French clay and wood pulp.

Her bow made contact with Thomas W. Palmer's hull, damaging her aft upper works and breaking several stanchions.

Britannic sank with the loss of one life into 30 feet (9.1 m) of water off Wyandotte, Michigan; Russia had a hole punched in her bow and was eventually repaired in Buffalo.

[38]In the summer of 1900, Russia was sold to the Lake Transit Company of Duluth, Minnesota (one source states Buffalo), managed by John J. McWilliams.

She was already loaded with two train cars filled with wire fencing, 1000 pairs of galoshes, barrels of various dry goods and rumoured 1909 motorcycles destined for Duluth, Minnesota.

[23][39] In the evening of April 29, Russia left Alpena for Duluth under the command of Captain John McLean of Port Huron, Michigan, for what was to be her first trip of the shipping season.

[23] An eventual lull in the storm convinced Captain John to continue towards Point DeTour, instead of turning back.

[23] After the fruitless efforts to counteract the list, Captain McLean ordered the crew to begin throwing the bags of cement into Lake Huron.

When this effort to save Russia also failed, Captain McLean gave the order to abandon her early in the morning of April 30.

Paul Ehorn of Waukegan, Illinois, spent twenty summers on Lake Huron trying to find her wreck.

[23][39] Tom Farnquist, founding member and Director Emeritus of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) had had aspirations of locating Russia for several years, saying that she had "been on his bucket list since his late teens".

Ehorn shared the GPS coordinates for the wreck of Celtic with Farnquist, helping significantly reduce the search area for Russia.

On July 23, the second day of their search operations, they managed to locate the wreck of Russia in 220 feet (67 m) of water, just outside the boundary of the 1,440 square mile (3,700 km2) Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

[23][39] Archaeologists from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources conducted sonar imaging of the wreck.

[23][39] As the wreck of Russia rests in Michigan waters, all artefacts on board are the property of the state and as such cannot be brought to the surface without its permission.