Largest shipwrecks on the Great Lakes Isaac M. Scott !scope="row"|"SS Charles S. Price Largest shipwrecks on the Great Lakes The Great Lakes are the largest bodies of freshwater in the world. They are five giant freshwater lakes, named Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Thousands of vessels have sailed on the lakes from the late 15th century to the present day. Thousands of ships sank on the lakes from 1679 when "LaSalle"'s wooden barque the "Le Griffon" was lost, to the 1975 sinking of the giant freighter "Edmund Fitzgerald" on Lake Superior. Many of these shipwrecks were never found, so the
Great Lakes Waterway Great Lakes Waterway The Great Lakes Waterway is a system of natural channels and canals which enable navigation between the North American Great Lakes. Though all of the lakes are naturally connected as a chain, water travel between the lakes was impeded for centuries by obstacles such as Niagara Falls and the rapids of the St. Marys River. Its principal civil engineering works are the Welland Canal between Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the huge Soo Locks between Huron and Superior. Dredged channels were constructed in the St. Marys River, the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair