Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Witch
• Type: Wooden screw tug
• Year Built: 1904
• Builder: J. Urie, Bay City, Michigan
• Dimensions: 60 ft × 18 ft × 7 ft
• Registered Tonnage: 44 gross / 17 net tons
• Location: Off the outer range light at the mouth of the Saginaw River, Lake Huron
• Official Number: 200646

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

A small wooden screw tugboat, used primarily for harbor and river towing operations around the Saginaw River and Bay.

Description

Powered by a compact steam engine, the Witch featured a robust wooden hull suited for towing barges and working in shallow-draft areas. Its design was directly based on the earlier tug Witch of the West, including reusing that vessel’s machinery.

History

• 1904: Constructed in Bay City, MI, using the Witch of the West as a model and inheriting its engine.
• 12 September 1929: While near the mouth of the Saginaw River, the Witch caught fire and burned completely to the waterline. She was declared a total loss.

Significant Incidents

• 12 September 1929: The Witch suffered a catastrophic fire, resulting in total loss.

Final Disposition

The Witch suffered a catastrophic fire and was destroyed, with no further service. The wreck was recorded as a total loss and not salvaged.

Current Condition & Accessibility

No recorded recovery or wreck rediscovery. The remains likely lie where she burned close to the river entrance, but no survey has charted the wreck.

Resources & Links

References are being reviewed for this wreck.

The Witch represents an evolution from its 1856 predecessor, Witch of the West, continuing a lineage of Bay City–built wooden tugs. Her destruction by fire in 1929 concluded a 25-year service in Great Lakes and river towing. Today, she is remembered only in shipwreck registers and historical ship logs.