1874                                  Sparta                                         1919

Wooden Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at Cleveland OH by Thomas Quayle & Sons
Launched April 11, 1874

220’ LOA, 202504’ LBP, 34’ beam, 20’ depth
2 decks, coal-fired boiler, high pressure noncondensing engine, 485 IHP

Enrolled at Cleveland OH May 8, 1874 (#89)
202.3 x 34.0 x 18.5, 1017.19 tons (741.33 NT 1882)     US 115242     to:
Cleveland Transportation Co., Cleveland OH, M. A. Hanna, Mgr. (home port Cleveland OH)

Remeasured 1886 to 17.5 depth and 819.77 NT

Sold 1889 to Orient Transportation Co., Cleveland OH

Sold 1893 to N. Mills et al., Port Huron MI (home port to Port Huron MI)

Transferred 1901 to Port Huron Navigation Co., Port Huron MI

Rebuilt 1907 and renamed David W. Mills.
Remeasured to 925 GT, 654 NT

Sank Sept 17, 1918 in Port Maitland ON harbor.  Enroute from Ashtabula OH to Montreal QC with cargo of coal, took shelter from storm in Port Maitland harbor and sank.  Raised Nov 1918 and taken to Buffalo NY for repairs.

Transferred 1918 to Border Steamship Co., Buffalo NY (owned by Mills Transportation Co, Cleveland OH)

Sold 1919 to Capt. Frank J. Peterson, Buffalo NY

Stranded Aug 11, 1919 in gale on Ford Shoal near Oswego NY, Lake Ontario.  One life lost.  Broken up in later storms.

W183