1893                                  Merida                                  1916

Steel Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at West Bay City MI by F. W. Wheeler & Co., Hull 95
Launched May 11, 1893
With S. S. Curry and Centurion longest vessel on the Great Lakes (until Victory and Zenith City of 1895 – superseded Mariposa, W. H. Gilbert and Maritana of 1892)
Built with engine and boilers located amidships

376’ LOA, 360’ LBP, 45’ beam, 26’ depth
2 decks, coal-fired boilers, triple expansion engine, 1700 IHP

Enrolled at Detroit MI June 17, 1893 (#117)
360.0 x 45.0 x 20.8, 3261.44 GT, 2609.83 NT     US 92514     to:
D. C. Whitney et al, Detroit MI (home port Detroit MI)

Entered service 1893

Transferred early 1901 to Whitney’s Merida Transportation Co., Detroit MI, David C. Whitney, Mgr.  (home port to Hamtramck MI)

Sold 1901 to Merida Steamship Co., Cleveland OH, J. C. Gilchrist, Mgr. (home port to Fairport OH)

Sold 1903 to Gilchrist Transportation Co., Cleveland OH, J. C. Gilchrist, Mgr.

Rebuilt at Cleveland OH 1904 to 1 deck.  Machinery moved aft.
Remeasured to 360.0 x 45.0 x 25.8, 3329 GT, 2389 NT

Sold 1913 to Edgewater Steamship Co., Chicago IL, D. Sullivan & Co., Mgr.

Sold Sept 30, 1915 to Valley Camp Steamship Co., Cleveland OH, James Playfair, Midland ON, Mgr.

Foundered Oct 20, 1916  40 miles southeast of Long Point, Lake Erie in the “Black Friday” storm.  Upbound light.  Last seen by steamer James B. Colgate, which later foundered in the same storm.

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