48°11′36″N 88°30′52″W / 48.19333°N 88.51444°W
 Chester A. Congdon in the Duluth Ship Canal
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.svg){kind=small} United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name |
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| Namesake |
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| Port of registry |
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| Builder | Chicago Shipbuilding Company, South Chicago, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yard number | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launched | August 29, 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maiden voyage | September 19, 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Out of service | November 6, 1918 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Identification | US official number 204526 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fate | Sank on Lake Superior | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Class and type | Lake freighter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Beam | 56.16 feet (17.1 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depth | 26.42 feet (8.1 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 1 × fixed pitch propeller | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 10,039 long tons (11,244 short tons; 10,200 t) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SS Chester A. Congdon (originally named Salt Lake City) was a steel-hulled American lake freighter in service between 1907 and 1918. She was built in 1907 by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of South Chicago, Illinois, for the Holmes Steamship Company, and was intended to be used in the grain trade on the Great Lakes. She entered service on September 19, 1907, when she made her maiden voyage. In 1911, Salt Lake City was sold to the Acme Transit Company. A year later, she was transferred to the Continental Steamship Company, and was renamed Chester A. Congdon, after lawyer and entrepreneur Chester Adgate Congdon. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.
At 2:28 a.m. (EST) on November 6, 1918, Chester A. Congdon left Fort William, Ontario, under the command of Captain Charles J. Autterson, loaded with 380,000 bushels of wheat bound for Port McNicoll, Ontario. At 4:00 a.m., shortly after leaving the shelter of Thunder Bay, Chester A. Congdon encountered a heavy storm. Captain Autterson decided to head back and anchor in Thunder Bay until 10:15 a.m. Although the wind had stopped, the waves were still present. A thick fog descended on Lake Superior, shortly after Chester A. Congdon passed Thunder Cape. At 10:40 a.m., Captain Autterson set a course to Passage Island, with the intention of running for 2.5 hours at 9 knots (10.4 mph), and stopping if the fog remained. Chester A. Congdon ran aground on the southern end of Canoe Rocks, on the northeast point of Isle Royale at 13:08 p.m. The first mate travelled to Fort William to deliver the news of the grounding. The Canadian Towing & Wrecking Company dispatched two tugs and two barges to the site. On November 8, a storm halted salvage operations, and broke Chester A. Congdon in two. Only 50,000 to 60,000 bushels of wheat were removed. Chester A. Congdon was the largest financial loss on the Great Lakes up to that point.
The wreck of Chester A. Congdon is the largest shipwreck of Isle Royale. It rests mostly intact in two pieces, with the bow on the south side of the reef now known as Congdon Shoal in 60–120 feet (18.3–36.6 m) of water, and the stern on the north side in between 20–210 feet (6.1–64.0 m) of water. The wreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 14, 1984, and has become a popular site for recreational divers.