Maitland

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The Maitland was a sturdy 3-masted wooden schooner that met its untimely demise in 1871 after colliding with not one but two other vessels. It was a dark and foreboding night when the Maitland was navigating through Lake Michigan, carrying a cargo of corn from Chicago, when another ship, the Golden Harvest, appeared head-on out of the darkness. In a desperate bid to avoid the impending collision, the Maitland's crew turned her rudder hard to port, but it was too late - the two ships grazed each other, sending their rigging crashing down around them. Right behind the Golden Harvest was another ship, the Mears, which slammed into the Maitland with devastating force, sending her plummeting to the bottom of Lake Michigan in a matter of minutes. The V-shaped scar from the collision can still be seen today, a poignant reminder of the tragedy that unfolded. The Maitland now rests upright in the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve, submerged in 85 feet of water for an astonishing 149 years.