44°12′08″N 87°24′44″W / 44.20222°N 87.41222°W
 Vernon before she sank
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | Vernon |
| Namesake | W. Vernon Booth |
| Owner | Alfred Booth[1] |
| Operator | Northern Michigan Line[1] |
| Port of registry | Chicago, Illinois, United States[2] |
| Builder | James P. Smith of Chicago, Illinois[1] |
| In service | September 1/2, 1886[1][4] |
| Identification | Registry number US 161557[3] |
| Fate | Sank October 29, 1887[1][2][4] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger and package freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 158.58 ft (48.34 m)[4] |
| Beam | 25.42 ft (7.75 m)[4] |
| Depth | 18.66 ft (5.69 m)[4] |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × fixed pitch propeller[5] |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)[5] |
| Crew | 23–25 |
SS Vernon was a wooden-hulled American passenger and package freighter that sank in a Lake Michigan storm on October 29, 1887, near Two Rivers, Wisconsin, with the loss of between 36 and 50 lives, making her one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever to have occurred in Wisconsin. Only one of the people on board survived.
Vernon was built in 1886 in Chicago, Illinois by the James P. Smith shipyard. She was built for Alfred Booth, also of Chicago. That same year, she replaced the package freighter A. Booth (which sank on August 29, 1886, near Duluth, Minnesota) in the Duluth, Minnesota-Port Arthur, Ontario run on Lake Superior. For a time in 1887, Vernon was engaged in the iron ore trade, towing schooner barges between Lake Superior ports and Cleveland, Ohio. In July 1887, Vernon briefly came into the ownership of John Pridgeon of Detroit, Michigan, to whom she was sold as compensation for the damage done to his scow barges while they were being towed by Vernon. In August of that same year, Vernon once again became owned by Booth and was operated as part of his Booth Packing Company. Around the same time, she was chartered by the Northern Michigan Line in order to replace their steamer Champlain which had burned down in Charlevoix, Michigan.
In October 1887, Vernon was bound from Cheboygan, Michigan, for Chicago, making stops at several ports along the way. On October 28, she left Frankfort, Michigan, for the lake's western shore, she began encountering rough seas. Eventually, she became overwhelmed by the waves, sinking near Two Rivers on the morning of October 29. Only one person, fireman Axel Stone, survived.
Discovered in 1969, the wreck of Vernon rests intact in 210 feet (64 m) of water.