The Fiery End of the Largest Luxury Ship to Sail the Great Lakes

This week is the little known anniversary of what would have been quite a spectacle at the time.

This week is the little known anniversary of the burning of the Greater Detroit.  It was the largest luxury passenger ship to ever sail the Great Lakes: it’s length was equal to the height of the Guardian Building. Sixty years ago, the ship was pulled out to Lake St. Clair on set on fire.

Find out more about the Greater Detroit’s fiery end by listening to this interview with Dan Austin, founder of HistoricDetroit.org.

All photos courtesy of the Great Lakes Maritime Institute. See more here.

Author

  • Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning journalist and managing editor and lead reporter of WDET's new environmental series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project, as well as WDET's CuriosiD podcast. She was the host of WDET’s CultureShift and a founding producer of the station’s flagship news talk show *Detroit Today*. Amanda also served as a Morning Edition host at WDET and previously worked as a host, audio and video producer, and reporter for Arizona Public Media.