The C.B. Benson was built in 1873 at Port clinton, OH with a particular purpose in mind; to prove that bulk trade between the Great Lakes and Europe. She was built was built with heavier timbers, a greater sheer and barquentine rigging designed for ocean passage. So confident was her builder/owner that her maiden voyage was to be from Toledo, OH to Cork Ireland. Her success lead to many years of Atlantic voyages until returning permanently to the Great Lakes in 1880. On October 14th, 1893 she was bound Erie for Detroit when she encounter a huge storm. After taking all that the mighty Atlantic Ocean dealt her, it was Lake erie that took her under.

Today the C.B. Benson sits upright in 85 feet of water. This is a well preserved wreck, 136′ in length. The ships wheel is intact, just forward of her lifeboat davits, dead eyes, fife rails and belaying pins, booms and bilge pumps. Visibility varies from 15-50 feet, and much of the wreck is encrusted in Zebra mussels.