Thomas Friant was a wooden-hulled ferry (later fish tug) that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1884 to her sinking in 1924.

[1][7] She was powered by a 315 horsepower (235 kW), 18 x 20[clarification needed] high pressure compound steam engine built by the Grand Haven Engine Works of Grand Haven, that was fired by a single firebox boiler that was built by the Johnson Brothers of Ferrysburg, Michigan.

In 1899 Thomas Friant was sold to William H. Rowe & James McRae of Dollar Bay, Michigan.

[4] In 1911 she was rebuilt as a fish tug, and was sold to John, Henry & Thomas Hickler of Sault Ste.

[2][4] On January 6, 1924, Thomas Friant left Port Wing, Wisconsin with Captain Einer Miller, Engineer Halvor Reiten and six commercial fishermen from Cornucopia, Wisconsin who hired Miller to take them to the south shore of Lake Superior to do some deep water fishing.

[7] The day was very cold, and the temperature eventually dropped below zero degrees, and a sheet of ice started forming over the lake.

Around 12 miles (19 km) south of Knife River, Minnesota, the water that was leaking into her hull extinguished her boiler, and she began to sink.

[4][7][5] In July 2004, while searching for the wreck of the bulk carrier Robert Wallace, shipwreck hunters Jerry Eliason, Ken Merryman, Kraig Smith and Randy Beebe found what they thought to be Robert Wallace 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Two Harbors, Minnesota, in about 300 feet (91 m) of water.

Originally, the group thought Thomas Friant to be Robert Wallace because the camera they dropped over the wreck picked up images of the second and the third letters of the worn nameplate that looked like an R and an O.