SS William C. Moreland

SS William C. Moreland was an American lake freighter that was in service for less than two months in late 1910. At the time of her launching on 27 July 1910, she was among the largest vessels on the Great Lakes and then became the largest to be destroyed there following her grounding on a dangerous reef on Lake Superior's Keweenaw Peninsula a few months later.

She was built between May and July 1910 by the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio for the Interstate Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Less than a decade earlier, compelled by the ever growing demand for iron ore, Jones and Laughlin expanded into the Great Lakes trade to facilitate the transport of raw materials by commissioning several large freighters over a number of years, among them the William C. Moreland. She entered service early in September 1910. She usually carried coal on upbound voyages, and iron ore when downbound.

Early on 18 October 1910, William C. Moreland departed Superior, Wisconsin, on a day of calm weather, laden with 10,700 long tons (10,872 t) of iron ore destined for Ashtabula, Ohio. As a result of smoke from several forest fires on the Keweenaw Peninsula restricting their visibility, the crew misjudged their position, leading to William C. Moreland striking the Sawtooth Reef around 21:00 (EST). As a result of travelling at full speed and the momentum generated by the immense mass of her cargo, she ran far onto the reef. Efforts by the crew to back her off the reef proved unsuccessful.

Within a few days, her hull had broken into three sections. As a result of frequent turbulent weather, attempts by several salvage crews were unsuccessful in raising her wreck, which was eventually abandoned to the underwriters as a total loss. Her stern was subsequently recovered in early September 1911 and was used in the construction of the freighter Sir Trevor Dawson five years later. William C. Moreland's bow section eventually slipped off the reef into 25–40 feet (7.6–12.2 m) of water. It has since been flattened by ice and waves, eventually becoming a prominent feature of the Keweenaw Underwater Preserve.