Kirby was a composite-hulled bulk carrier that served on the Great Lakes of North America from her construction in 1890 to her sinking in 1916.

On May 8, 1916, while heading across Lake Superior with a cargo of iron ore and the steel barge George E. Hartnell in tow, she ran into a storm and sank with the loss of all but two of her 22-man crew off Eagle Harbor, Michigan (on the Keweenaw Peninsula).

Kirby (Official number 116325) was built in 1890 by the Detroit Dry Dock Company in Wyandotte, Michigan.

She was a composite-hulled ship, meaning she had an iron frame and a wooden hull, constructed from white oak.

She was named after Stephen R. Kirby, father of well-known naval architect Frank E.

[2][3][4][5] She made her maiden voyage in June 1890, during which she carried the largest load of iron ore ever to pass through the Soo Locks.

Kirby was forced to return to port after about 7 miles (11 km), on account of heavy pack ice.

It was initially suggested that if not freed quickly, Lake Erie would smash her to pieces.

Kirby ran hard aground on the rocks roughly a 1 mile (1.6 km) off Windmill Point, Ontario on Lake Erie.

Gee,[12] after jettisoning about 500 tons of her cargo into the schooner West Side and the scow Buffalo.

Kirby left Ashland, Wisconsin under the command of Captain David Girardin, with the steel barge George E. Hartnell in tow.

Later during the day, a heavy northwest gale began, with the wind speed measured at 76 miles per hour (122 km/h) in Duluth, Minnesota.

[20][21][22] Two crewmen, Second Mate Joseph Mudra of Chicago, Illinois, and fireman Otto Lindquist of Pequaming, Michigan, survived.

As the ship went down, which took up so little time that I could scarcely believe my eyes, cabins broke loose and rafts floated.

It was speculated that she was heavily overloaded or improperly loaded and wouldn't have had much of a chance of survival in the storm.