Click on the photos below to see an enlarged version, with detailed description.

John Mitchell
1907—1911

The John Mitchell is a 420 foot steel lake freighter sunk on July 10, 1911 when the ship was stuck by the William Henry Mack in blinding fog off Vermillion Point in Lake Superior. The Mitchell, loaded with coal, went down within minutes of the collision, taking three crew members with the ship. Built in St. Clair, Michigan in 1907, the Mitchell was one of the new steel ships built to handle expanding trade in bulk goods shipped over the Great Lakes at the turn of the last century. This was a time that would see the last of the old schooners, and wooden package steamers, retired, rotting in harbors along the five lakes, displaced by steel bulk freighters that would grow to 600 feet in length by the 1920’s.

The Mitchell landed upside down in about 140 feet of water. All topside cabins are now below the lake bottom. The prop and rudder rise above the overturned hull to about 110 feet. The tip of the aft mast pokes through the lake bottom on the starboard side of the hull just forward of an opening in the side of the ship allowing the only access inside; one way in, one way out. This open hatch, about 3 feet by 4 feet, leads to the crew’s quarters in the stern, and through another hatch, the engine room. The wreck is extremely silty inside; one false fin kick will reduce the visibility to zero, so exploration inside is best done with as few divers as possible.

Once inside the crew’s quarters: a toilet seat hangs from the the upside-down head, broken light fixtures rise from the silt below, and a large burbot stands guard in the hallway between the rear living area and engine room. The engine room is quite large, relatively open, with openings that once held portholes spilling in a small amount of light. Overhead wood work benches are bolted to the deck. On the forward bulkhead is a small sink and metal mirror.

It is possible to explore the cargo hold, and see a lot of coal, through the hole left by the collision.

Story and photos ©2005 J.R. Underhill Communications

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