SS Hydrus was an American lake freighter in service between 1903 and 1913. She was built under the name R. E. Schuck by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1913, she was sold at auction to the Pickands Mather & Company's Interlake Steamship Company three years after the Gilchrist fleet went into receivership, and was renamed Hydrus. She was involved in multiple accidents.
In early November 1913, Hydrus was downbound from Duluth, Minnesota, with a cargo of iron ore. She passed through the Soo Locks on the night of 8 November, leaving the shelter of the St. Marys River. Once out on the open waters of Lake Huron, she sailed into the most destructive storm in the history of the Great Lakes, sinking, and killing her entire crew.
The wreck of Hydrus was located in July 2015, in over of water.
History Background
The gunship USS Michigan became the first iron-hulled vessel built on the Great Lakes, upon her launching in 1843, in Erie, Pennsylvania. By the mid-1840s, Canadian merchants were importing iron vessels prefabricated in the United Kingdom. The first iron–hulled merchant vessel built on the lakes, Merchant, was built in 1862, in Buffalo, New York. Despite Merchant clear success proving the potential of iron hulls, ships built from wood remained preferable until the 1880s, due to their lower cost, as well as the abundance of high quality timber and workers trained in carpentry.
Between the early–1870s and the mid-1880s, shipyards around the Great Lakes began to construct iron ships on a relatively large scale. In 1884, the first steel freighters were built on the Great Lakes. By the 1890s, metal had become a common hull material used on the lakes. The development of the pneumatic rivet gun and the advancement of gantry cranes enabled shipyard employees to work at an increased speed, with greater efficiency. This, combined with the rapidly decreasing steel prices, contributed to the rapid increase in the size of lake freighters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Throughout the 1880s, the iron ore trade on the Great Lakes grew significantly, primarily due to the increasing size of the lake freighters, and the rise in the number of trips they made to the ore docks of Lake Superior. As the railways were unable to keep up with the rapid production of iron ore, bulk freighters became integral to the region's iron ore industry. By 1890, 56.95% of the of the iron ore produced by mines in the United States was from the region surrounding Lake Superior.
Joseph C. Gilchrist was a major vessel operator on the Great Lakes in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, eventually amassing the second-largest American-owned fleet on them. He would regularly order numerous "classes" of identical vessels in bulk, from multiple shipyards. In October 1902, the Detroit Free Press reported on Gilchrist's order of six identical freighters, two from the American Ship Building Company. One of R. E. Schuck sister ships included Lewis Woodruff, later named Argus.
Design and construction R. E. Schuck was built by the American Ship Building Company at their yard in Lorain, Ohio, at a cost of $275,000 ($ in ), as yard number 327. She was built for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and was the third vessel built at the shipyard for that fleet in 1903. Her namesake was a prominent merchant from Sandusky, Ohio, who held a financial interest in the Gilchrist fleet, and was present at the launching ceremony. The launching was originally scheduled to take place on 10 September, but was delayed by the shipyard. A worker fell into R. E. Schuck hold a day before her launch, breaking two ribs.
Customary to launching traditions on the Great Lakes, R. E. Schuck was launched on a Saturday, at 12:00, on 12 September 1903. She was launched in front of a crowd of around 1,000 people, including a party of honoured guests from Cleveland and Sandusky. She was christened by Elsie Schmidt, the daughter of August Schmidt Jr, one of R. E. Schuck's guests from Sandusky.
She was built on the channel system, a longitudinal frame style introduced on the Great Lakes in the mid-1890s. It consisted of several rows of flanged steel plates running the entire length of a vessel's bottom, deriving its name from the "channels" between the frames. This method provided vessels with additional strength, as well as preventing damage sustained in groundings from spreading to other areas of the hull, and increasing cargo capacity. In spite of rapid advances in shipbuilding technology, the hold of R. E. Schuck remained reminiscent of those found on wooden lake freighters. Between 1882 and 1904, the cargo holds of all iron and steel freighters contained stanchions, vertical columns designed to support their decks; and steel angles which were the equivalent of the knees used on wooden freighters.
Her 12 hatches, which were longitudinally in depth, were positioned apart, when measured from their centres. Her hull contained three watertight bulkheads. The cargo hold was divided into four separate compartments; the first of which was in capacity, while the remaining three had a capacity of . Her overall capacity was listed as .
R. E. Schuck was a medium-sized freighter by the standards of the early-20th century. Her hull had an overall length of , a length between perpendiculars of . Additionally, the hull was in beam, and in depth. The measurements of her register tonnage were calculated as 4,713 gross and 3,384 net tons, respectively.
She was powered by a 90 rpm triple expansion steam engine; the cylinders of the engine were , , and in diameter, and had a stroke of . Steam was provided by two Scotch marine boilers in diameter, in length, with a working pressure of . The boilers were each fitted with four furnaces, accounting for a combined grate surface of , and a total heating surface of . The engine and boilers were supplied by the American Ship Building Company's yard in Cleveland.
Service history R. E. Schuck was assigned the US official number was 200315, while her port of registry was Fairport, Ohio. She departed Lorain on her maiden voyage, without cargo, on 5 October 1903. She headed for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore, locking through the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at 18:30 on 7 October. R. E. Schuck arrived in Duluth on 9 October, and departed with her ore cargo two days later, bound for a port on Lake Erie.
She assisted the tugs A. W. Colton and Sarnia in rescuing the steamer Jupiter, after she ran around in the St. Clair River near Sarnia, Ontario, on 16 October 1904. On 10 November 1905, R. E. Schuck ran aground at the harbour entrance at Erie due to a navigational error, having strayed south of the correct channel. She was freed quickly.
At the end of November 1905, while bound for Duluth to load grain, R. E. Schuck survived the Mataafa Storm on Lake Superior. On 29 November, a report by The Cleveland Leader included her among the vessels listed as missing in the aftermath of the storm. That same day, The Plain Dealer published an unconfirmed report claiming she had run aground near Duluth. On 2 December, The Cleveland Leader confirmed that R. E. Schuck had navigated the storm safely.
She was subject to a labour dispute on 3 May 1906, while docked in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The striking workers returned to work that same day, allowing her to depart with a full complement. In addition to previous larger libels, several Gilchrist vessels, including R. E. Schuck, had smaller ones placed on them in January 1910, while docked in Superior, Wisconsin.
While waiting to pass through the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie on 4 May 1910, the barge Tyrone was driven against R. E. Schuck by heavy winds. The barge suffered damage to hew bow and forward water tank. R. E. Schuck docked in Cleveland on 26 August 1910, to receive repairs to four damaged hull plates. The Plain Dealer projected the repairs to take five days.
Due to his rapid commissioning of several large vessels, Gilchrist accrued significant debts. The Panic of 1907 significantly affected business on the Great Lakes, ensuring a significant glut of vessels in comparison to the quantity of cargo available to them. The Gilchrist fleet went into receivership in 1910, with Shane and George A. Garretson of the Bank of Commerce, major financiers of the business, being appointed as receivers. Following further financial hardship, the sale of the fleet was ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in August 1912. A large portion of the fleet was sold at auction on 6 March 1913. R. E. Schuck, along with seven other vessels, was appraised at $205,000 ($ in ).
She was sold to the Pickands Mather & Company of Cleveland, becoming one of 17 freighters absorbed into their newly-formed Interlake Steamship Company, and received the new name Hydrus, alluding to a mythical creature of the same name.
Final voyage On 3 November 1913, Hydrus arrived in Duluth with a cargo of coal, and departed on 6 November. She headed downbound for Cleveland with a cargo of iron ore, under the command of Captain John H. Lowe. Hydrus became one of approximately 20 vessels which sought shelter in Whitefish Bay early on 8 November. After waiting for nearly 12 hours, Hydrus entered, and passed through the Soo Locks at 21:30 on 8 November, behind the freighters James Carruthers and J. H. Sheadle. Amid high winds, the three vessels navigated the St. Marys River. By 01:55 on November 9, all three had passed DeTour, Michigan, and headed out into Lake Huron. Two lanterns, white above red, warning of an oncoming storm were hoisted in DeTour at the time.
Hydrus had already begun to face heavy snowfall by the time she reached central Lake Huron, where she sailed into the most destructive storm in the history of the Great Lakes. Winds reached average speeds of , peaking at off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The shape of Lake Huron, combined with the decreased surface friction of water allowed northwesterly winds the unimpeded ability to intensify. Sailors reported waves reaching at least in height.
On the afternoon of 9 November, Hydrus passed, and exchanged signals with the freighter J. F. Durston. A further possible sighting of Hydrus was made that same day by the captain of the freighter Hurlbut W. Smith, near the mouth of Saginaw Bay. She eventually sank, killing her entire crew of 25.
Aftermath Twelve ships sank during the storm of 1913, eight of them on Lake Huron. Hydrus was a $200,000 ($ in ) loss to her owners, with financial losses due to vessel destruction or damage from the storm totaling $3,055,000 ($ in ). In the aftermath of the storm, wreckage and bodies from Hydrus began drifting ashore. The Lake Carriers Association offered a reward of $25 ($ in ) for the recovery of each individual body.
On 16 November 1913, Hydrus no. 1 lifeboat drifted ashore north of Kincardine, Ontario. The lifeboat showed no sign of use, with Captain E. O. Whitney, chairman of the Lake Carriers Association surmising it had been torn free from its davits. Another lifeboat, containing five crewmen, was discovered near Kincardine.
The first body from Hydrus was recovered on 23 November, north of Southampton, Ontario. The clothing and condition of the hands indicated the body belonged to a fireman. The third body to be found and the first to be identified belonged to steward Roy A. Sommerville, and was recovered near Southampton on 25 November. A fourth unidentified body was also recovered that day. By 29 November, three further bodies had been identified. Two of them, Kerno and Leslie Christy, an oiler and fireman from respectively, were claimed by their father. The third body belonged to handyman John Van Wynsberghe.