Great Lakes Patrol assigned to operate against criminals who were ravaging the logging industry. These so called timber pirates conducted illegal cutting of timber on federal land and then smuggled the valuable commodity out of the area in order to sell it. The areas most affected were in the western Great Lakes region, along the coasts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Much of these forested areas controlled by the government were reserved for the building of new warships. The illegal timber trade centered on Chicago and Milwaukee. It was nearly as violent as the alcohol trade, which was carried out over the
Largest shipwrecks on the Great Lakes known. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum estimates that about 6,000 shipwrecks lie beneath the surface of the lakes, while maritime historian Mark Thompson reckons that more than 25,000 shipwrecks are located in the waters of the Great Lakes. ! scope="col"|Ship ! scope="col"|In service ! scope="col"|Out of service ! scope="col"|Length (ft) ! scope="col"|Vessel type ! scope="col"|Launched ! scope="col"|Final disposition ! scope="col"|Notes ! scope="col"|Coordinates !scope="row"|"SS Leecliffe Hall !scope="row"|"SS Edmund Fitzgerald !scope="row"|"SS Carl D. Bradley !scope="row"|"SS Daniel J. Morrell !scope="row"|"SS William C Moreland !scope="row"|"SS Cedarville !scope="row"|"SS Chester A. Congdon !scope="row"|"SS D.R. Hanna !scope="row"|"SS James C. Carruthers !scope="row"|"SS Henry B. Smith !scope="row"|"SS Emperor !scope="row"|"SS