1898                                  Samuel F. B. Morse                                  1955 (1981)

Steel Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at West Bay City MI by F. W. Wheeler & Co., Hull 124
Launched July 31, 1898
Longest vessel on the Great Lakes (until Gates class of 1900 – superseded Sir William Fairbairn of 1896)

476’ LOA, 455’ LBP, 50’ beam, 29’ depth
2 decks, hold beams, hatches @ 24’, coal-fired boilers, quadruple expansion engine, 2200 IHP
Originally built with two stacks situated fore and aft.  One stack removed when the vessel was reboilered in 1903.

Enrolled at Duluth MN Aug 1, 1898 (#5)
456.0 x 50.0 x 24, 4936 GT, 4301 NT     US 116841     to:
Bessemer Steamship Co., Cleveland OH (home port Duluth MN)

Entered service 1898

Fleet merged March 1901 into Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Duluth MN, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, A. B. Wolvin, Mgr.

Cargo hold rebuilt 1922 to arch construction at Fairport OH
Remeasured to 23.85 [sic] depth and 4477 GT, 3376 NT

Fleet reincorporated 1949 in Delaware (home port to Wilmington DE)

Fleet merged July 1951 into parent United States Steel Corporation (home port to New York NY)

Sold 1954 to Wyandotte Transportation Co., Wyandotte MI, converted to barge and renamed WyChem 105
Remeasured to 4557 GT, 4557 NT
(Purchased by Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation to carry sodium chloride from Wyandotte MI to South Chicago IL.  The operation was not successful but it did cause the railroads to lower their freight rates for this material between these cities.)

Sold 1955 to Merritt, Chapman & Scott Corporation to store sand and gravel during construction of the Mackinac Bridge and retired from active service.

Sold 1958 to Roen Steamship Co., Sturgeon Bay WI.  Used as a temporary breakwater in 1959 at Harrisville MI, then laid up at Sturgeon Bay until scrapped 1981-1982.

See history in Scanner April 2007 (#306)

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