THOMAS FRIANT shipwreck (gill net tug)

About this property

Thomas Friant was a wooden-hulled ferry (later fish tug) that served on the Great Lakes from her construction in 1884 to her sinking in 1924. In January 1924, while gillnetting out of Two Harbors, Minnesota in Lake Superior, she was holed by ice, and sank with no fatalities. In 2004 her wreck was discovered in over 300 feet (91 m) of water in pristine condition. The wreck of Thomas Friant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. Thomas Friant was built as a ferry in 1884 by Duncan Robertson in Grand Haven, Michigan for Reuben & Ralph Vanderhoef, also of Grand Haven. Her wooden hull was 96 feet (29 m) long, her beam was 18.25 feet (5.56 m) wide (some sources state the width as 18.30 feet (5.58 m)), and her hull was 7.66 feet (2.33 m) deep (some sources state her hull's depth as 7.80 feet (2.38 m)). She had a gross register tonnage of 81.42 tons, and a net register tonnage of 46.20 tons. She was powered by a 315 horsepower (235 kW), 18 x 20 high pressure compound steam engine built by the Grand Haven Engine Works of Grand Haven, that was fired by a single firebox boiler that was built by the Johnson Brothers of Ferrysburg, Michigan. On July 21, 1884 Thomas Friant was enrolled at Grand Haven, and was given the official number #145380. She originally ran as a ferry on the Grand River in Grand Haven. She later started to run between the ports of Charlevoix, Michigan, Harbor Springs, Michigan and Waukegan, Illinois in Lake Michigan, transporting passengers and freight. In 1890 Thomas Friant's homeport was changed to Harbor Springs, Michigan. In 1899 her homeport was changed to Marquette, Michigan. In 1899 Thomas Friant was sold to William H. Rowe & James McRae of Dollar Bay, Michigan. In 1900 she started traveling the Keweenaw Waterway. In 1901 Thomas Friant had her lower decks closed-in in Calumet, Michigan. In 1903 she was bought by Charles A. Ripley, and was moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. In 1907 she was sold to Charles A. Ripley of Sault Ste. Marie. On December 22, 1908 while in winter layup in Sault Ste. Marie, Thomas Friant burned to the water's edge, and was removed from documentation on December 29, 1908. In 1911 she was rebuilt as a fish tug, and was sold to John, Henry & Thomas Hickler of Sault Ste. Marie. She was re-documented on May 15, 1911. In 1917 Thomas Friant was sold to Emil G. Endress of Sault Ste. Marie. in 1918 she was sold to Ora O. & Obline Endress of Sault Ste. Marie. In 1923 she was sold to Einer Miller & Halvor Reiten of Bayfield, Wisconsin, and was re-registered to Duluth, Minnesota. During this time, Thomas Friant had her decks enclosed, and her pilothouse raised. Miller and Reiten originally intended to use her as a packet steamer, but ended up using her as just a fish tug.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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