SS ''Amasa Stone'' was a

Great Lakes freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

that was sunk as a breakwater in 1965,

Charlevoix, Michigan Charlevoix ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Charlevoix County. The population was 2,348 at the 2020 census. Charlevoix is mostly surrounded by Charlevoix Township, but the two are administered autonomously ...

. She was built for the Mesaba Steamship Company by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company of

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...

. She was launched on March 25, 1905, as hull #158. She was powered by an

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

and two

scotch marine boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

History

On June 18, 1905 ''Amasa Stone'' was downbound with a cargo of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

bound from

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

when she rammed and sank the steamer in heavy fog. ''Etruria'' was upbound with

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

from

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

for

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

. The collision occurred about off Presque Isle Light on

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. ''Amasa Stone'' punched a hole in starboard side abreast of the ninth cargo hatch; crew members of ''Etruria'' were rescued from

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

by the steamer ''Maritana''. ''Amasa Stone'' was traveling at full speed at the time of the collision. In 1913 ''Amasa Stone'' was merged in the fleet owned by Interlake Steamship Company. On July 24, 1924 ''Amasa Stone'' collided with steamer ''Merton E. Farr'' in fog off

Ile Parisienne Ile Parisienne is an uninhabited island in the province of Ontario in Canada. It is located in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior. Its name is derived from French and means "Parisian island." The Ile Parisienne Light located on the southern tip of the ...

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

; the amount of money it cost to repair the damage was $7,000. On October 22, 1929, the ''Stone'' made it through the same storm that sank the train ferry

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, the ''Stone'' was downbound with 10,000 tons of coal for

Ludington, Michigan Ludington ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,076. Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette Rive ...

at the time of the sinking. On July 29, 1930 ''Amasa Stone'' rescued 6 of the 21 crew members from the sandsucker which capsized in heavy seas on

, about north of

Dunkirk, New York Dunkirk is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It was settled around 1805 and incorporated in 1880. The population was 12,743 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Dunkirk i ...

. In 1938 she had new boilers installed. In 1952 she was re-powered with a 1,800 horsepower, 5-cylinder Skinner uniflow engine.

Breakwater in Charlevoix

''Amasa Stone'' made her last trip in 1959 and in 1960 was decommissioned and laid up. in 1964 she was sold to the Marine Salvage Ltd. of

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after S ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and in 1965 sold on to the Medusa Portland Cement Company of

where, joined by the steamer , she would function as a dock and breakwater. Both ships were stripped down to their hulls and sunk at the port entrance in Charlevoix, where they remain to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amasa Stone Great Lakes freighters 1905 ships Steamships of the United States Ships built in Wyandotte, Michigan Ships sunk as breakwaters Merchant ships of the United States Ships powered by a triple expansion steam engine Shipwrecks of the Michigan coast