View source for SS Senator

{{Short description|Steel-hulled Great Lakes freighter that sank on Lake Michigan}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Senator ship LoC.jpg
|Ship caption=''Senator'' prior to her sinking
}} 
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=''Senator''
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|merchant}}
|Ship operator=*[[Nicholson Universal Steamship Company]] 
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship registry={{flag|United States|civil}}, [[Detroit, Michigan]]
|Ship builder=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=June 20, 1896
|Ship completed=1896
|Ship identification=U.S. Registry #116725
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=July 25, 1896
|Ship out of service=October 31, 1929
|Ship fate=Rammed by the freighter ''Marquette'' in heavy fog on [[Lake Michigan]]
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= Bulk freighter
|Ship tonnage=* {{GRT|4048.75}}
* {{NRT|3178.66}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{cvt|410|ft}} 
|Ship beam={{cvt|45.6|ft}} 
|Ship height={{cvt|28|ft}} 
|Ship draught= 
|Ship draft=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship power=2 × [[Scotch marine boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion={{convert|1,450|hp|lk=in|abbr=on}} [[triple expansion steam engine]] 
|Ship speed=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox NRHP
|embed=yes
|name=''SENATOR'' (steam screw) Shipwreck
|image=
|caption=
|built=1896
|architect=[[Dry Dock Complex (Detroit, Michigan)|Detroit Dry Dock Company]]
|architecture=Freighter 
|location=[[Ozaukee County, Wisconsin]]
|coordinates={{coord|43.335644|-87.569846|display=inline,title}}
|locmapin=Wisconsin#USA
|refnum=15000738<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
|nearest_city=[[Port Washington, Wisconsin]]
|added=April 12, 2016
|mpsub=Great Lakes Shipwreck Sites of Wisconsin MPS
}}
|}

'''SS ''Senator''''' was a steel-hulled [[Lake freighter|Great Lakes freighter]] that sank on [[Lake Michigan]] with the loss of nine lives and 268 [[Nash Motors|Nash automobiles]],<ref name="Senator3">{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/564?region=Index |title=Senator (1896) |work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |accessdate=27 March 2018}}</ref> on [[Halloween]] of 1929 after she was rammed in heavy fog by the [[bulk carrier]] ''Marquette''.<ref name="Senator1">{{cite web |url=https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/s/senator/ |title=Senator |work=Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry |accessdate=27 March 2018}}</ref> She lies in {{convert|450|ft|m}} of water 16 miles northeast of [[Port Washington, Wisconsin]]. On April 12, 2016 her wreck was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="Senator2">{{cite web |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2512 |title=Senator Shipwreck |work=Wisconsin Historical Society |accessdate=27 March 2018}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Senator.png|thumb|left|''Senator'' loading coal]]
''Senator'' (Official number 116725) was built in 1896 by the [[Detroit Dry Dock Company]] of [[Wyandotte, Michigan]]. Her hull had an [[Length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|420|ft|m}}, and she was {{convert|410|ft|m}} [[Length between perpendiculars|between her perpendiculars]], her [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] was {{convert|45.6|ft|m}} wide and her cargo hold was {{convert|28|ft|m}} deep. She had a [[gross register tonnage]] of 4048.75 tons and a [[net tonnage]] of 3178.66 tons.<ref name="Senator1"/> She was powered by a {{convert|1,450|hp|adj=on|0}} [[triple expansion steam engine]] which was fueled by two coal-burning [[Scotch marine boiler]]s.

''Senator'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on June 20, 1896 as hull number #122.<ref name="BGSU">{{cite web |url=http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/006504 |title=Senator |work=[[Bowling Green State University]] |accessdate=21 May 2018}}</ref> She entered service on July 25, 1896.<ref name="Senator1"/> ''Senator'' was used to carry [[bulk cargo]]es such as [[iron ore]], [[coal]] and later [[automobile]]s. She was also built using two unique early [[Great Lakes]] [[bulk carrier]] building techniques which were steel arches and a moveable water ballast system.<ref name="Ozaukee1">{{cite web |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2512|title=Senator Shipwreck Listed in National Register of Historic Places |work=[[Wisconsin Historical Society]] |accessdate=21 May 2018}}</ref> She was originally owned by the Wolverine Steamship Company of [[Detroit, Michigan]]<ref name="Senator1"/> and named for George W. Roby (1823-1900), a retired Michigan lumberman whose son, John B. Roby, was president of the company. George W. Roby had been a state senator in Ohio before moving to [[Ludington, Michigan]] in 1871 and already had a wooden steamer of 1889 named for him.<ref>James L. Cabot, ''Ludington 1830-1930'', p. 36. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7385-3951-1.</ref>

At the time of ''Senator''{{'s}} launching, the newspaper ''Marine Review'' wrote two articles speaking of the steamer's characteristics. The first article published on June 11, 1896, reads:
<blockquote>Matters in the ship yard of the Detroit Dry Dock Co. at Wyandotte are being arranged for the launching of the big steel steamer ''Senator'' on Saturday, the 13th. The ''Senator'' is one of the steamers of the 400-foot type and will be owned by the Wolverine Steamship Co., of which John B. Roby is president and in which Senator McMillan and other stockholders of the dry dock company are interested. The steamer will be managed by Capt. M.W. Humphries. She is 420 feet long over all, 400 feet keel, 45 feet beam and 28 feet deep, and will be propelled by a triple expansion engine with cylinders 22, 35 and 60 inches in diameter by 44 inches stroke. It is expected that on 16 feet draft she will carry about 4,800 gross tons of ore and that with this load her engines, which are of 1,400 horse power, will drive her at the rate of 13 miles an hour. A feature in this boat is a patent anchor in the extreme stern. This is to be used in case of emergency in the "Soo" river and other narrow channels when through current or the influence of a passing vessel control of the big steamer is lost and she begins to swing so as to bring her into dangerous proximity to another boat or to a rock or dock. She will carry one smokestack, two short spars forward of this, will be fitted with Howden hot draft, and will have a complete electric lighting plant, search light, full handling equipment, telephones to connect the master or pilot with distant parts of the ship, etc. Alike to other big coarse freight carriers of her kind, she will have no deck house or in fact anything between the boiler house and texas excepting the deck engines. The ''Senator'' will be sailed by Capt. H.B. McQueen, who has been in the ''Marina'', ''S.S. Curry'', ''Geo. F. McWilliams'', ''John F. Eddy'' and other steamers.<ref name="Marine Review">{{cite web |url=http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/33029/data?n=15 |title=Senator (Propeller), U116752, 13 Jun 1896 |work= [[Maritime History of the Great Lakes]] |accessdate=21 May 2018}}</ref> </blockquote>

The second article which was published on June 25, 1896, reads:
<blockquote>The big freight steamer ''Senator'', which was launched Saturday at the Wyandotte yard of the Detroit Dry Dock Co., was quite fully described in our issue of June 11 on page 11. She is 420 feet long over all, 400 feet keel 45 feet beam and 28 feet deep, with twelve hatches and a water bottom 5 ½ feet deep. Two of the hatches are forward of the pilot house, but the after house is placed far in the stern, giving a clear deck as in other steamers of her kind. Cylinders of engines are 22, 36 and 58 inches diameter by 44 inches stroke, and there are two boilers, each 13 feet 6 inches by 12 feet, allowed 165 pounds working pressure. The two Rockefeller steamers building at Wyandotte will be in nearly all respects similar to this boat. The ''Senator'' is owned by the Wolverine Steamship Co. of Detroit, composed of John B. Roby, president and general manager; James McMillan, C.L. Freer, F.J. Hecker, M.W. Humphrey, the estate of the late Capt. Peck, A. McVittie and others. She will be sailed by Capt. E.B. McQueen with Andrew Carter as chief engineer.<ref name="Marine Review"/></blockquote>
[[File:Senator near Pipe Island.png|thumb|left|''Senator'' sunk at Pipe Island]]
In 1898 ''Senator'' loaded 224,000 bushels of [[corn]] at [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] which was one of the largest cargoes loaded at that port, at that time.<ref name="SENATOR">{{cite web |url=http://greatlakeships.org/2894997/data?n=16 |title=Senator (1896, Bulk Freighter) |work=Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library-Great Lakes Maritime Collections |accessdate=21 May 2018}}</ref>

In June 1898 ''Senator'' got [[Ship grounding|stuck]] on Ballard's Reef near Detroit.<ref name="SENATOR"/>

On August 21, 1909 ''Senator'' suffered what was possibly the most significant incident in her career prior to her sinking, and that was when the steamer {{SS|Norman B. Ream||2}} struck and sank her off [[Pipe Island Light|Pipe Island]] in the [[St. Marys River (Michigan–Ontario)|St Marys River]].<ref name="SENATOR"/> ''Norman B. Ream'' tore a large hole in her starboard side, her crew had hardly any time to run her on the middle ground before her hull filled with water.<ref name="MHGL1">{{cite web |url=http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/59666/data?n=10 |title=Senator (Propeller), sunk by collision, 21 Aug 1909 |work= [[Maritime History of the Great Lakes]] |accessdate=22 May 2018}}</ref> On September 12, 1909 ''Senator'' was raised and taken to a dock. On October 6, 1909 ''Senator'' was towed into the port of [[Cleveland, Ohio]]. On the following day she was placed in Dry Dock No.2 for repairs which cost $90,000. She was out of commission for the rest of the shipping season.<ref name="MHGL1"/>

==Final voyage and sinking==
On October 31. 1929 ''Senator'', under the command of Captain George Kinch<ref name="MHGL2">{{cite web |url=http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/59286/data?n=25 |title=Senator (Propeller), U116725, sunk by collision, 31 Oct 1929 |work= [[Maritime History of the Great Lakes]] |accessdate=26 July 2018}}</ref> was transporting a cargo of 268 [[Nash Motors|Nash]] automobiles (worth $251,000)<ref name="Senator4">{{cite web |url=http://thenewswheel.com/the-tragic-story-of-the-ss-senator-the-sunken-tanker-full-of-historic-nash-cars/ |title=450 feet under Lake Michigan, classic car cache rests in frigid silence |work=The Newswheel |accessdate=26 July 2018}}</ref> from [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] to [[Detroit, Michigan]].<ref name="Senator3"/> Meanwhile, the ore carrier ''Marquette'', under the command of Captain W.F. Amesbury was bound from [[Escanaba, Michigan]] for the [[steel mill]]s of [[Indiana]] with a load of iron ore.<ref name="Ozaukee1"/><ref name="MHGL2"/> The two ships collided, with ''Senator'' sinking in 8 minutes. Several of the crew jumped into the water while others made it onto the ''Marquette''. A tugboat rescued 15 men from the lake. Of the crew of 28, seven died.<ref name="Mlive">[https://www.mlive.com/news/2016/05/senator_shipwreck_nash_motors.html 450 feet under Lake Michigan, classic car cache rests in frigid silence], mlive, May 25, 2016</ref>

== Discovery of the wreck ==
The exact location of the Senator was discovered on June 10, 2005, using a Klein 531 side scan sonar. The depth at the wreck site is {{convert|430|ft|m}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}https://www.mlive.com/news/2016/05/senator_shipwreck_nash_motors.html Paul Ehorn Rob Polich

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}{{NRHP in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin}}{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{NRHP Lake Michigan shipwrecks of Wisconsin|state=collapsed}}
{{1909 shipwrecks}}
{{1929 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senator, SS}}
[[Category:Great Lakes freighters]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast]]
[[Category:Ships built in Wyandotte, Michigan]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:1896 ships]]
[[Category:Wreck diving sites in the United States]]