The SS ''Hydrus'' was an American steel-hulled

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

bulk freighter A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econ ...

, constructed in 1903 and launched as the ''R.E. Schuck''. She was following the SS ''James Carruthers'' heading south on Lake Huron while carrying a load of iron ore when she and the ''Carruthers'' were caught in the

Great Lakes Storm of 1913 The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (historically referred to as the "Big Blow", the "Freshwater Fury", and the "White Hurricane") was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and ...

. The ''Hydrus'' foundered and sank with a crew of twenty-four aboard on or around 8 November 1913 while heading for the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

. During the storm, waves were said to be 35 feet high along with wind gusts of 90 miles per hour. Five of the crew were found frozen to death in a lifeboat that washed ashore in Canada. The ''James Carruthers'' was also lost in the storm as well as the SS ''Argus'', which was the sister ship of the ''Hydrus''. The wreck of the ''Hydrus'' was located in the summer of 2015 by a team of shipwreck hunters led by David Trotter. The wreck is in over 160 feet of water, and is heavily encrusted with zebra mussels. It is upright and intact, though the hull has been damaged and the bow is twisted at a 45-degree angle from the rest of the ship. The holds still contain iron ore, and the pilothouse is intact, complete with the ship's wheel and engine-room telegraph.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydrus, SS Great Lakes freighters Shipwrecks of Lake Huron Maritime incidents in 1913 1903 ships Ships built in Lorain, Ohio Ships lost with all hands Ships powered by a triple expansion steam engine Wreck diving sites