SS Comet (1857)

Comet underway
History
United States
Name	Comet
Owner	Dean Richmond (New York Central Railroad Company)1875; W. M. Hanna and George W. Chapin, Cleveland, Ohio 1875
Port of registry	Cleveland, Ohio  United States
Builder	Peck & Masters, Cleveland, Ohio
Completed	1857
Fate	Sank in Whitefish Bay 26 August 1875 after colliding with the Manitoba
Notes	United States Registry # 5683
General characteristics
Class and type	Propeller
Tonnage	744 Gross Register Tonnage
Length	181 ft (55 m)
Beam	29 ft (8.8 m)
Depth	12.33 ft (3.76 m)
Propulsion	Propeller, direct acting vertical engine
Crew	19

SS Comet was a steamship that operated on the Great Lakes. Comet was built in 1857 as a wooden-hulled propeller-driven cargo vessel that was soon adapted to carry passengers. It suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to its final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives. It became known as the only treasure ship of Lake Superior because she carried 70 tons of Montana silver ore when it sank. The first attempts to salvage its cargo in 1876 and 1938 were unsuccessful. Comet was finally salvaged in the 1980s when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society illegally removed artifacts from the wreck. The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The fate of her silver ore cargo is unknown. Comet's wreck is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.