1888 Chemung 1915 (1916)
Iron Great Lakes package freighter
Built at Buffalo NY by Union Dry Dock Co., Hull 344
Launched Feb 29, 1888
350’7” LOA, 326’ LBP, 41’ beam, 25’6”’ depth
3 decks, hatches @ 24’, coal-fired boilers, triple expansion engine, 1000 IHP
Enrolled at Buffalo NY June 21, 1888 (#79)
325.7 x 41.2 x 14.8, 2615.30 GT, 1943.34 NT US 126495 to:
Union Steamboat Co., Buffalo NY (home port Buffalo NY) (a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad Co.)
Entered service 1888
Fleet went into receivership 1894. John King and J. G. McCullough were appointed receivers.
Reorganized 1896 as Union Steamboat Line.
Rebuilt 1898 at Buffalo NY.
Remeasured to 14.6 depth.
Fleet reorganized 1913 as Erie Railroad Lake Line. Renamed George F. Brownell.
Sold late 1915 for off-Lakes service during World War I. Cut in two at Buffalo NY 1916, towed to New York NY, where she was rejoined by Staten Island Shipbuilding Co.
Renamed Chemung 1916.
Sunk Nov 26, 1916 by German submarine U-38 off Cabo de Gata, Spain, Atlantic Ocean. No lives lost. Enroute from New York NY to Genoa, Italy. Went down with her U. S. flag flying through the stubbornness of her master, Capt. Duffy, as the Germans tried to haul it down.
See history in Great Lakes Ships We Remember II p. 60
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