Malakoff (Samuel Ingham)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Samuel Ingham, later renamed Malakoff
• Type: Schooner
• Year Built: 1848
• Builder: Carrichal
• Dimensions: Not fully recorded
• Registered Tonnage: Not recorded
• Depth at Wreck Site: 9 m / 30 ft
• Location: 4 miles off Goderich, Ontario
• Number of Masts: 2 (after rebuild in 1856 as schooner)

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

Originally a revenue cutter under the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the SAMUEL INGAM served in a paramilitary and customs enforcement role before being sold into merchant service. After leaving government service, she was rebuilt as a two-masted schooner at Milan, Ohio, and renamed MALAKOFF, entering the commercial coal trade on the Great Lakes.

Description

Launched in 1848 at Erie, Pennsylvania, as a cutter for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, the vessel was active in enforcement operations on the upper Great Lakes. Notably, in May 1851, she assisted the steamer MICHIGAN in the arrest of Mormon settlers on Beaver Island — part of the campaign to remove James Strang’s followers.

History

She had several incidents:

• 1853, Sep 22: stranded on Peach Island, released on Sep 28 by tug RUBY.
• 1854, Oct: collision with an unidentified brig in the Buffalo River.
• 1856, Oct 27: ashore at Fairport, Ohio.

After being sold out of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1856, she was renamed MALAKOFF and worked as a coal schooner. In October 1857, while carrying coal from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois, she grounded near Nine Mile Point in the Straits of Mackinac and was abandoned. Salvage operations pulled her free with the tug RESCUE, but she later foundered in rough weather while under tow toward Detroit, finally sinking off Goderich, Ontario.

Significant Incidents

• 1853, Sep 22: stranded on Peach Island, released on Sep 28 by tug RUBY.
• 1854, Oct: collision with an unidentified brig in the Buffalo River.
• 1856, Oct 27: ashore at Fairport, Ohio.

Final Disposition

Sank 31 October 1857, off Goderich, Ontario, while under tow after earlier grounding.

Current Condition & Accessibility

No surveys have confirmed the present status of the wreck; its state remains unknown.

Resources & Links

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The SAMUEL INGAM / MALAKOFF is an example of how revenue cutters were adapted for commercial trade after retirement, a common 19th-century practice. Her final loss during a tow on Lake Huron underscores the hazards facing repurposed vessels operating beyond their original design.