1898 Orinoco 1924
Wooden Great Lakes bulk freighter
Built at West Bay City MI by James Davidson, Hull 87
Launched
312’ LOA, 295’ LBP, 44’ beam, 23’ depth
1 deck, hold beams, coal-fired boiler, triple expansion engine, 800 IHP
Enrolled at Port Huron MI May 10, 1898 (#72)
295.0 x 44.0 x 21.0, 2226.03 GT, 1928.33 NT US 155317 to:
James Davidson, West Bay City MI
Entered service 1898
Transferred 1899 to Davidson Steamship Co., Duluth MN, G. A. Tomlinson, Mgr. (home port to Duluth MN)
Foundered May 18, 1924 off Point Aux Mines, Lake Superior. Upbound with cargo of coal towing barge Chieftain (which survived), seams opened and vessel sank. Five lives lost, including Captain, Chief Engineer and wheelsman, who stayed aboard, of 19.
W619
My grandfather was a survivor age 17. Have news paper articles on how he killed a porcupine and cooked it for life boat survives.
The Orinoco’s name plate from the pilot house washed up at Beaver Rock lodge on the Ontario side of Lake Superior and was hanging in their boathouse when I was a kid.
My great great grandfather was a survivor I’d love to see a picture of name plate.
By chance any pictures of it?