1. The Upper Canada – Lorain, Ohio

Due to its name, you may think at first that this ship sits in Canada. Well, it actually resides rusting away in Lorain, Ohio. Yes, Lorain, Ohio is home to its very own ghost ship. In the early 2000s, this 90-foot ship randomly appeared on the Black River. It has sat abandoned there ever since.

Not much is known about the ship, including anything about its previous owners. According to Ed Favre, a marine patrol officer of the Lorain Port Authority, the ship is not officially registered to anybody, and no one knows who owns it.

The boat was built in Owen Sound, Canada by Russel Brothers Limited as an automobile and passenger ferry for the company Restigouche Ferries. The ship was originally named the Romeo and Annette, entering service in 1949. During its early years, the ship was captained by Romeo Allard. Allard ran a ferry service between Bathurst, New Brunswick and Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula.

The ship, operated by a small crew of six, was able to carry up to 12 cars, hold 40 passengers. It was hailed as one of the most modern and completely equipped vessels operating in Canada.

In 1965, the Ministry of Highways took ownership of the ship, and renamed it the Upper Canada, continuing operation carrying passengers and automobiles between Wolfe Island and Kingston, Ontario.

The ship was replaced in the 1970s by another ferry – the Wolfe Islander III. It was then taken to Leamington, Ontario, where it would sit as a possible back up boat for the Pelee Islander.

The last known records of this ship show that a man named Al Johnson took ownership of the vessel sometime in 1999. From that point, the ship’s story remains a mystery even to the Coast Guard.

2. The 117-Year-Old Ghost Ship on the Ohio River

For over 30 years, the Circle Line V has sat rusting away at the mouth of the Ohio River. First departing in 1902, coming from Wilmington, Delaware, the ship was captained by railroad executive, J. Rogers Maxwell – a passionate yachter. Originally named the Celt, this 180-foot-long, steam-powered boat would experience many name changes throughout its life.

In 1917 the Navy took charge, and the boat was renamed the “USS Sachem.” This boat was smaller and faster than other boats, making it able to more easily maneuver around and escape attacks by the Germans. Equipped with depth charges to sink German U-boats, as well as machine guns to aid in the fight against incoming torpedoes, this boat now proved a worthy adversary of German units.

Read more about this ship HERE

3. Wreck of the Peter Iredale – Hammond, Oregon

The Peter Iredale ran ashore October 25, 1906. While headed towards the Columbia River, the ship hit land on the Oregon coast. The ship remains buried partially in the sand on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens in Warrenton, and is a publicly visit-able shipwreck. It’s one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the pacific for public viewing, and has become a popular tourist attraction over the years.

The ship was named after Peter Iredale (bet you would have never guessed that one.) Iredale was a well-known figure in Liverpool, England, where his business as headquartered. The ship was built in Maryport in June of 1890 by R. Ritson & Co Ltd. The ship measured 285 feet in length, fashioned from steel plates on an iron frame.

Sometime around September 26, 1906 the Peter Iredale set out from Salina Cruz, Mexico, bound for Portland, Oregon. Up until October 25th, the ship had sailed a fairly standard voyage. It was on this night that Captain H. Lawrence sighted the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse at 3:20 a.m. local time. After sighting the lighthouse, the crew then altered course first east-northeast and then northeast to enter the mouth of the Columbia River. The dark of night was filled by a thick mist during a rising tide. Strong winds pushed in from from the West, and an attempt was made to go against it, pulling the ship away from shore. Unfortunately, a heavy northwest squall grounded the Peter Iredale on Clatsop Sands (now known as Clatsop Spit)

When the ship crashed, it had been carrying a crew of 27, plus 2 stowaways. A lifeboat had been dispatched from Hammond, Oregon and assisted in rescuing the sailors. No casualties occurred in the wreck.

4. The USS Plainview – Washington

(AGEH–1) was, in its time, the world’s largest hydrofoil and the United States Navy’s first hydrofoil research ship. The ship was launched June 28, 1965, sponsored by Mrs. John T. Hayward, and finally placed in service on March 3, 1969. The ship cost $21 million to construct.

The ship was used to carry out long range experimental programs to evaluate the design principles of hydrofoils and to develop and evaluate tactics and doctrine for hydrofoils, mostly for anti-submarine warfare. These studies also helped to determine how likely it would be to easily operate hydrofoils on high seas.

Plainview traveled only 268 hours during its entire operating lifetime, until being decommissioned on September 22, 1978. Shortly after, the Plainview was sold for scrap, partially broken up and then abandoned on the Columbia river where it remains as of November 2019.

There have been concerns voiced by the Washington Department of Natural Resources about Plainview’s rusted, rotting hull leaking pollutants into the environment.

5. La Grande Hermine – Jordan Harbour – Ontario, Canada

Grande Hermine – the carrack that brought Jacques Cartier to Saint-Pierre on June 15, 1535. The ship is said to be represented in the local flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. It was the second ship used by Jacques Cartier when exploring the St. Lawrence river.

In 1914, a replica of the ship was built and used as a ferry on the St. Lawrence. It would later become a cargo ship, and then a floating restaurant years later. In 1991, it was abandoned, and would not be used again until plans would arise in 1997. The ship was brought to Jordan Harbour, with ideas of turning it into another restaurant or some sort of gambling venue. Unfortunately, the businessman who had envisioned these plans has passed away before he could see his ideas through. The plans had involved eventually moving the ship to Niagara Falls, which is why the ship was docked in Jordan Harbour.

In January of 2003, the ship was victim to arson. Luckily the fire did not burn up the entire ship, but only revealed its metal skeleton beneath the wood.

The ship remains a famous Niagara landmark, and is frequented by visitors. We stumbled into this one randomly on a trip to Toronto.

An added bonus, while not a shipwreck, is the ship that remains at this abandoned Renaissance Faire in Virginia.

If you want to see more forgotten shipwrecks, check out these 21 incredible abandoned shipwrecks around the world.