43°09′48″N 86°41′08″W / 43.163367°N 86.685653°W
 John V. Moran before she sank
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | John V. Moran |
| Operator | Crosby Transportation Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Port of registry | Buffalo, New York |
| Builder | F.W. Wheeler & Company of West Bay City, Michigan |
| Yard number | 44 |
| Launched | August 16, 1888 |
| In service | August 1888 |
| Out of service | February 12, 1899 |
| Identification | Registry number US 76748 |
| Fate | Holed by ice, and sank on Lake Michigan |
| Wreck discovered | July 8, 2015 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Package freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 214 feet (65 m) |
| Beam | 37 feet (11 m) |
| Depth | 22.16 feet (6.75 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × fixed pitch propeller |
| Crew | 24 |
SS John V. Moran was a wooden-hulled American package freighter in service between 1888 and 1899. She was built in 1888 in West Bay City, Michigan, by F.W. Wheeler & Company. She was built for Ward's Crescent Transportation Company of Detroit, Michigan, and was operated as part of his Detroit & Lake Superior Line. She was built to haul both bulk, and package freight. Throughout the 1893 shipping season, John V. Moran ran between Buffalo, New York, and Duluth, Minnesota. She was sold for the first time in 1895 to the Union Transit Line of Buffalo, and once again in 1898 to the Crosby Transportation Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On February 9, 1899, John V. Moran was bound from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan, with a cargo of barreled flour and various package goods, when a piece of ice cut a hole in her hull, causing water to leak in on Lake Michigan. Her crew alerted the nearby steamer Naomi using John V. Moran's whistle. Three of John V. Moran's crew walked across the ice to Naomi. Upon receiving the crew of John V. Moran, Naomi headed over to John V. Moran and removed the rest of her crew. On February 10, Naomi took John V. Moran in tow, but she was leaking too badly to make it to Muskegon. On the morning of February 11, John V. Moran's crew walked back to her across the ice in order to retrieve everything of value on board. Her crew arrived at Grand Haven, Michigan, the following night. The John V. Moran was still afloat on February 12, having been sighted by the ferry Muskegon who was on her way to Muskegon. She sank without loss of life the same day.
The wreck of John V. Moran was discovered on July 8, 2015, more than 116 years after her sinking, by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, who called her "the most intact steamship wreck on the bottom of Lake Michigan, if not all of the Great Lakes".