1887                                     Roumania                                      1929

Wooden Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at West Bay City MI by James Davidson, Hull 15
Launched

290’ LOA, 273’ LBP, 39’ beam, 22’6” depth
1 deck, hold beams, coal-fired boilers, triple expansion engine, 1000 IHP
With strs. William H. Gratwick and Cambria the first Great Lakes vessels with triple expansion engines.  (Roumania was the first to enter service.)

Enrolled at Port Huron MI May 20, 1887 (Temp #152)
273.5 x 39.5 x 21.1, 1837.02 GT, 1441.64 NT     US 110733     to:
James Corrigan and John Huntington ½ each, Cleveland HO (home port Cleveland OH)

Entered service 1887

Permanent enrollment at Cleveland OH July 13, 1887 (#3)

Sold 1889 to W. C. Richardson 2/16 et al., Cleveland OH

Transferred 1892 to Richardson Transportation Co. (home port to Rockport OH)

Home port to Fairport OH 1906

Sold March 6, 1916 to Cuyahoga Transit Co., Cleveland OH, W. C. Richardson, Mgr.

Sold Dec 24, 1916 to Reiss Steamship Co.,  (home port to Duluth MN)

Sold July 8, 1917 to Lake & Ocean Navigation Co., Chicago IL, D. Sullivan & Co., Mgr.

Did not operate for this fleet

Sold Aug 1918 to Nicholson Transit Co., Ecorse MI
Triple expansion engine removed and installed in U.S.S. Sturgeon Bay being built at Sturgeon Bay WI.  (This was the only wooden vessel built for the government under its World War I shipbuilding program.)  Repowered with the steeple compound engine from str. George H. Van Vleck, which was wrecked Dec 4, 1918 in the Detroit River.

Management of fleet aasumed 1924 by Nicholson-Universal Steamship Co., Fred L. Hewitt, Mgr.

Fleet transferred 1927 to Nicholson-Universal Steamship Co., Detroit MI
(William Nicholson sold his fleet to Nicholson-Universal and agreed not to engage in the transportation of automobiles on the Great Lakes for a period of 20 years)

Sold for use as a dock at Cleveland OH.  Vessel dismantled and towed out, along with str. Fleetwood, which had been similarly dismantled for use as a dock at Buffalo NY, by str. Fellowcraft.  Before either vessel could be delivered, both foundered without warning and sank.

W372