''North American'' was a Great Lakes

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

built by the

Great Lakes Engineering Works The Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW) was a leading shipbuilding company with a shipyard in Ecorse, Michigan, that operated between 1902 and 1960. Within three years of its formation, it was building fifty percent of the tonnage of all ships ...

at Ecorse, Michigan, Ecorse, Michigan, in 1913 for the Georgian Bay Line, Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company. The vessel was launched on January 16, 1913, and was the older of two near-sister ships, the newer one being SS South American, SS ''South American''. ''North American'' was in length, had a beam, and drew She had a 2,200 indicated horsepower quadruple expansion steam engine and three coal-burning Scotch boilers. In 1923 the boilers were converted to burn oil. In 1963, ''North American'' was sold to the Canadian Holiday Company of Erie, Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania. The company used her in cross-lake service between Erie and Port Dover, Ontario, Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, for one year until she was retired in 1964. After being retired from service, ''North American'' was involved in purchasing deals of uncertain nature, and was finally sold at public auction to the Seafarers International Union of North America in 1967 for use as a training ship at Piney Point, Maryland, Piney Point, Maryland. While ''North American'' was in the North Atlantic Ocean under tow to Piney Point, she unexpectedly sank off Massachusetts on September 4, 1967, northeast of Nantucket Light. In July 2006, a research team aboard Quest Marine’s research vessel ''Quest'' located the ''North American'' close to the edge of the continental shelf, approximately off the New England coast in of water.

References

External links

Marine Historical Society of Detroit: SS North American
{{DEFAULTSORT:North American Great Lakes ships Shipwrecks of the Massachusetts coast Passenger ships of the United States 1913 ships Maritime incidents in 1967 Ships built in Ecorse, Michigan Passenger ships of the Great Lakes