Hesper (shipwreck)

Infobox_nrhp | name ="Hesper" Shipwreck Site
nrhp_type =


caption =A section of several long bolts on the ceiling, presumably used to mount the engine.
nearest_city= Silver Bay, Minnesota, USA
area =
built =1890
architect= Radcliffe, William H.; Shipowners Drydock Company
architecture=
lat_degrees = 47
lat_minutes = 16
lat_seconds = 17
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 91
long_minutes = 16
long_seconds = 18
long_direction = W
locmapin = Minnesota
added = April 14, 1994
governing_body = State
mpsub=Minnesota's Lake Superior Shipwrecks MPS
refnum=94000343 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The "Hesper" was a bulk-freighter steamship that was used to tow schooner-barges on the Great Lakes. The "Hesper" sank off the coast of Lake Superior at Silver Bay, Minnesota, USA, in a late spring snowstorm in 1905. The remains of the ship are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The ship was a wooden-hulled, single propeller, triple-masted, freight-carrying steamship built by the Bradley Transportation Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The ship was used to haul both iron ore and grain, two products important to Minnesota's economy at the time.cite web|url=http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks/hesper/hesper.html|title=Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Hesper|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=1996|accessdate=2007-09-12]

The ship was caught in a late spring snowstorm in 1905, with a strong convert|60|mi/h|km/h|-1 Nor'easter wind driving the ship off its intended course and smashing it into a reef that now marks the southwest end of the harbor in Silver Bay. The ship foundered and sank in about convert|42|ft|m|0 of water. The crew was able to escape via lifeboats, but the ship was a total loss.cite web|url=http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks/hesper/hesdwe.html|title=Hesper Shipwreck - Description of the Wreck Event|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=1996|accessdate=2007-09-12]

The wreck is well-preserved and lies in 30 to 48 feet (9–15 m) of water about halfway down the west breakwall of the Silver Bay harbor. The hull is split apart at the turn of the bilge, and the port and starboard sides of the ship lie alongside and roughly parallel to the ceiling of the hull. The sides both contain timbers that were used to mount the decks, which are no longer present. The decks are presumed to have washed ashore after the ship sank. The aft end of the hull contains a number of long bolts that were presumably used to mount the engine.cite web|url=http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks/hesper/hespd.html|title=Hesper Shipwreck - Present Description|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=1996|accessdate=2007-09-12]

References