SS ''William E. Corey'' is a steel-hulled propeller-driven

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 had a lengthy career on the

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 ...

. She served from her launching in 1905 to her conversion to a breakwater in 1970.

History

''William E. Corey'' was a product of the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. ''William E. Corey'' was launched on March 24, 1905, as hull number #67. The laker was one of four almost identical vessels; and ''William E. Corey'' were both launched in Chicago, launched in West Bay City, Michigan and launched in Superior, Wisconsin. All four vessels were the largest on the lakes at the time of their launch, hence the unofficial title "

Queen of the Lakes ''Queen of the Lakes'' is the unofficial but widely recognized title given to the longest vessel active on the Great Lakes of the United States and Canada. A number of vessels, mostly lake freighters, have been known by the title. History of name ...

''Mataafa'' Storm

Shortly after her launch the brand new ''William E. Corey'' encountered one of the worst storms in Great Lakes history, the ''Mataafa'' Storm of 1905. On November 28, ''William E. Corey'' was driven hard aground onto Gull Island Reef in the

Apostle Islands The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior, off the Bayfield Peninsula in northern Wisconsin. The majority of the islands are located in Ashland County—only Sand, York, Eagle, and Raspberry Islands are located in Ba ...

. During a very short period of time the temperatures dropped to and the winds reached hurricane force. After the storm ''William E. Corey'' was removed and repaired.

SS ''Ridgetown''

Over the next fifty three years ''William E. Corey'' changed hands many times until in 1963 she was sold to the Upper Lakes Shipping Company and renamed ''Ridgetown''. The ship served for seven more years until in 1970 when she was scuttled as a temporary breakwater at

Nanticoke, Ontario Nanticoke is an unincorporated community and former city located on the western border of Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. Nanticoke is located directly across Lake Erie from the US city of Erie, Pennsylvania. Summary Unlike the majority of Hald ...

in the summer. Later refloated at an unknown date. In the summer of 1974 she was scuttled as a breakwater at Mississauga,

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 C ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:William E. Corey, SS 1905 ships Maritime incidents in 1905 Ships built in Chicago Ships sunk as breakwaters Merchant ships of the United States Queen of the Lakes Ships powered by a triple expansion steam engine Shipwrecks of the Ontario coast