Great Lakes Maritime History

History of the Great Lakes

Vol. 1 by J.B. Mansfield
Published Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co. 1899

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Vol. 1 of History of the Great Lakes

LAKE VESSELS.

CHAPTER XLII.

LIST OF LAKE VESSELS.

Past and Present.

The compilation of a complete list of all vessels that have sailed the Great Lakes is, perhaps, impossible, for many early records have been destroyed, and those remaining are sometimes incomplete. The following directory has been prepared with great care, and no available source of information that might add to the accuracy or to the number has been neglected. Few if any prominent vessels on the lakes, it is believed, have been omitted, and the list is by far the most complete that has ever been compiled. It contains with comparatively few exceptions the names of all lake craft from the earliest historical times to the present.

The abreviations used are usually self explanatory. Those most commonly employed are as follows:

b., for built.
bge., barge.
c., composite.
Can., Canadian.
col., collision.
com., commission.
cfy., car ferry.
g. t., gross tons.
Hur., Huron.
l., lake.
Mich., Michigan.
n.t., net tonnage; or sometimes, when applied to 

    Canadian vessels, new tonnage.
prop., propellor.
r., river
rev. cut., revenue cutter.
straits, Straits of Mackinac.
Sup., Superior.
stmr., steamer.
sty., steamyacht.
stcb., steam canal boat.
stpd., steam pile driver.
stl., steam lighter.
std., steam dredge.
schr., sail vessels or barges.
slp., sail sloop.
sly., sloop yacht.
U. S. Gov., United States Government.
v., vessel.
'98, 1898, etc.

By steamer is usually meant side-wheel steamer, but it includes also 
many propellers among the Canadian vessels and sometimes American 
propellers, old vessel lists not always maintaining the distinction
between side-wheel steamers and propellers:

U. C. Me, sty., 11 g. t., b. '93, in com.
Uarda, sty., 89 g. t., b. '81, Buffalo, in com.
Uganda, prop., 2, 054 g. t., b. '92, West Bay City, in com.
Umbria, Can. tug, 48 n. t., b. '89, Port Dalhousie, in com.
Una, Can. schr., 37 g. t., b. '86, Burlington, in com.
Una, schr., 44 g. t., b. '77, Grand Haven, in com.
Unadilla, schr., 396 g. t., b. '62, Cleveland, in com.
Uncle Ben, tug, b. Buffalo, '56, chartered by U. S. Gov. '61 for coast 

   service.
Uncle Jim, Can. prop., 11 g. t., b. '87, Wallaceburg, in com.
Uncle John, Can. prop., 7 g. t., b. '81, Wallaceburg, in com.
Uncle Sam, schr., 174 t., b. Black Rock, '33.
Uncle Sam, stmr., 280 t., b. Grosse Isle, Mich., '32, made into sail 

   vessel, '44.
Uncle Sam, tug, destroyed by ice in Straits, '82.
Uncle Sam, tug, 24 g. t., b. '63, Chicago, formerly Little Giant, 

   in com.
Uncle Ton, schr., 116 t., b. St. Clair, '42, wrecked Long Point, '48.
Uncle Tom, schr., 40 t., added L. Sup. Fleet, '45.
Uncle Tom, Can. tug, 11 n. t., b. '93, Port Bruce, in com.
Underwriter, prop., 107 t., b. Buffalo, '53.
Undine, schr., ashore Muskegon, '56.
Undine, formerly Alliance, Det. ferry boat.
Undine, schr., 222 t., b. Hamilton, '68, stranded L. Ont., '90.
Undine, Can. prop., 17 g. t., b. '89, Toronto, in com.
Union, brig, 93 tons, first merchant brig on lakes, b. Huron, '14.
Union, brig, 104 t., b. Buffalo, passed out.
Union, Can. sail v., b. Toronto about '25, made into stmr. Niagara.
Union, Can. stmr., 150 g. t., b. '34, Oakville, changed into bark.
Union, schr., wrecked '37.
Union, stmr., 64 t., b. Black Rock, '43, broken up, '50.
Union, stmr., 1,000 t., b. Windsor, '66, ferry for railroads at Detroit.
Union, schr., wrecked near Milwaukee, '64.
Union, schr., 52 t., b. Sheboygan, '67, sunk Milwaukee, '71.
Union, tug, boiler exploded off Chicago, '62, 3 lives lost.
Union, tug, burned Saginaw bay, '70.
Union, tug, 37 g. t., b. '53, Chicago, passed out, '93.
Union, scow, wrecked St. Joseph, '70.
Union, Can. stmr., now Can. stmr. Saguenay.
Union, Can. stmr., 182 n. t., b. '64, Kingston, in com., formerly 

   Watertown.
Union, Can. prop., 267 g. t., b. '66, Kingston, in com.
Union, Can. prop., 75 g. t., b. '90, Pembroke, in com.
Union Jack, schr., 317 t., b. Mill Point, '67.
Unique, prop., 381 g. t., b. '94, Marine City, in com.
United, stmr., 71 t., b. Detroit, '34, ferry boat, Alliance, '36 to '53, 

   then wood barge Undine, sunk by col. St. Clair flats, '79.
United Empire, Can. prop., 1,336 n. t., b. '83, Sarnia, in com.
United Express, b. '56, Detroit, passed out.
United Lumberman, Can. prop., 462 n. t., b. '84, Dresden, in com.
United States, schr., 194 t., b. before '32.
United States, stmr., b. Oswego, '32, broken up, Oswego, '43.
United States, stmr., 366 t., b. Huron, O., '35, broken up at Buffalo.
Uno, slp., 16 g. t., b. '82, Clayton, in com.
Uno, Can. bge., 75 g. t., b. '93, Wallaceburg, in com.
Upas, Can. sty., 17 g. t., b. '92, Kingston, in com.
Upham, J. H., Jr., tug, 17 g. t., formerly M. R. Swan, b. '80, Buffalo, 

   in com.
Upper, M. C., schr., sunk Toledo, '88.
Upper Traverse, Can. schr., 97 g. t., in com.
Upright, A. R., schr., 24 g. t., b. '83 Charlevoix, passed out, '97.
Uranus, schr., 524 g. t., b. '73, New Jerusalem, O., in com.
Uretta, schr., 20 t., passed out.
Utica, schr., capsized L. Erie, '33.
Utica, schr., b. Clayton, L. Ont., before '52.
Utica, bark, 334 t., b. Chicago, '46, wrecked Buffalo, '54.
Utica, Can. prop., 52 g. t., b. '73, Ogdensburg, in com.