SS ''Frank O'Connor'' was a
bulk carrier that sank in
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
off the coast of
North Bay, Door County, Wisconsin
North Bay is a small Unincorporated community located on Lake Michigan in the town of Liberty Grove in northern Door County, Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest stat ...
, United States. In 1994 the shipwreck site was added to the
National Register of Historic Places.
History
Originally called the ''City of Naples'', the ''Frank O'Connor'' was built in
West Bay City, Michigan
West Bay City was a city in Bay County the U.S. state of Michigan. The City was formed from the communities of Banks, Salzburg, and Wenona. The city existed from 1877 to 1905 when it was merged with Bay City, Michigan.
History
Bangor/Banks
Jose ...
in 1892. The vessel was renamed in 1916.
On September 29, 1919, ''Frank O'Connor'' left
Buffalo, New York en route to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin carrying 3,000 tons of coal. Three days later, she passed through the
Straits of Mackinac
The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...
and was expected to make port ahead of schedule. On October 3 at 4:00 p.m., a fire broke out in the
bow. Roughly an hour later, the ship's steering gear was destroyed by the fire, leaving it drifting in the water about two miles off the coast of
Cana Island. The keeper of the
Cana Island Light had noticed the burning vessel from land and, along with his assistant, was able to tow the ''O'Connor''s crew on their lifeboats to shore. A portion of the ''Frank O'Connor''s cargo was later recovered, but the ship itself remained lost.
Despite the fire, most of ''Frank O'Connor''s machinery remained intact and upright, making it a popular archaeological and recreational site. The ship is owned by the State of Wisconsin and the site is managed by the
Wisconsin Historical Society and the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She lies in of water about off Cana Island.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank O'Connor
1892 ships
Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan
Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast
Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin
Maritime incidents in 1919
Ships built by James Davidson
Great Lakes freighters
Wreck diving sites in the United States