[4] Late on the afternoon of October 26, 1898, St. Peter was sailing in southeastern Lake Ontario off the coast of New York westbound for Toledo, Ohio,[2] with a cargo of 607 short tons (542 long tons; 551 tonnes) of "chestnut coal"[4] when she encountered a blizzard with gale-force winds.

[2] Early on the morning of October 27, 1898, after a 12-hour overnight battle in darkness against the storm, St. Peter rolled on her side and sank off Bear Creek on the coast of New York, just west of Sodus Bay and 16 miles (14 nmi; 26 km) east of the Charlotte Life Saving Station in Charlotte, New York, just as a United States Life-Saving Service rescue boat approached her.

[2][5] The Life-Saving Service surfmen rescued her captain, who they found unconscious and clinging to a spar.

[2] It sits upright on the bottom of Lake Ontario in 117 feet (36 m) of water northeast of Pultneyville, New York.

[2][3] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has captured photographs of the wreck which it has used to create a three-dimensional photogrammetric model of it.