SS ''D. R. Hanna'' was a long

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Great Lakes freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the ...

that operated on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

from November 12, 1906 to her sinking on May 16, 1919 after a collision with ''Quincy A. Shaw''. ''D. R. Hanna'' was like many other freighters, and was used to haul

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

es such as

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

History

''D. R. Hanna'' (Official number 203676) was a product of the

American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio, in 1898. It changed its name t ...

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

and was built for the Pioneer Steamship Company (Hutchinson & Company, Mgr.) of Fairport, Ohio. She had a length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a height of . She was powered by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

and fueled by two

-fired

Scotch marine boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a short horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

s. She had a gross register tonnage of 7,023 tons and a

net register tonnage Net register tonnage (NRT, nrt, n.r.t.) is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by subtracting non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, ...

of 5,491 tons. She was launched on October 20, 1906 as hull number #346. On September 1, 1910 ''D. R. Hanna'' collided with the steamer ''Harvey H. Brown''. ''D. R. Hanna'' was sent to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

for temporary repairs. On September 29, 1910 ''D. R. Hanna'' sailed to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. ''Harvey H. Brown'' was badly damaged and it did not sail at all in that shipping season. On October 13, 1915 ''D. R. Hanna'' had of her

foremast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...

knocked off when she struck the Superior Avenue high level bridge in Cleveland. She had a new foremast installed in Detroit. On May 19, 1916 ''D. R. Hanna'' ran aground near the Little Rapids Cut after her steering gear failed. She was temporarily repaired and sailed to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for repairs. On September 6, 1918 ''D. R. Hanna'' ran aground on the Detour Shoal on Lake Huron. She was bound for

Indiana Harbor, Indiana The Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is an artificial waterway on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan, in East Chicago, Indiana, which connects the Grand Calumet River to Lake Michigan. It consists of two branch canals, the Lake George Branch and ...

with a cargo of iron ore. The steam

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

''F.T. Newman'' was sent to assist ''D. R. Hanna''. Meanwhile, the long freighter ''LaSalle'' ran aground and the steam barge ''Reliance'' was sent to her aid. As soon as ''Reliance'' freed ''LaSalle'' she went to free ''D. R. Hanna''. After she was freed, ''D. R. Hanna'' sailed to Indiana Harbor and unloaded her cargo; after unloading, ''D. R. Hanna'' was taken to the

Ecorse, Michigan Ecorse ( ') is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 9,305 at the 2020 census. Ecorse is part of the Downriver community within Metro Detroit. The city shares a northwestern border with the city of Detroi ...

yard of 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 ...

where she was placed in dry dock She damaged between 50 and 60 of her steel hull plates, her stern post and her rudder stock. She also cracked her tail shaft.

Final voyage

On May 16, 1919 ''D. R. Hanna'' was bound from

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

for

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

with 377,000 bushels of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

in her cargo hold when she was rammed by ''Quincy A. Shaw'' in heavy fog. ''Quincy A. Shaw'' was upbound with coal at the time the collision occurred. Soon after the collision ''D. R. Hanna'' rolled over and sank. Her crew were rescued by ''Quincy A. Shaw''. There were no deaths. The cargo of ''D. R. Hanna'' was valued at $840,000 (roughly $15,000,000 in 2025), the insurance loss was set at $421,000.

''D. R. Hanna'' today

The remains of ''D. R. Hanna'' rest in of water about off the Thunder Bay Island Light. Her wreck was located upside down in October 1919. The wreck of ''D. R. Hanna'' in part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve and is also the largest wreck in the underwater preserve. The closest wreck of a steam-powered freighter is the wreck of which was lost during the White Hurricane of 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D. R. Hanna, SS 1906 ships Maritime incidents in 1910 Maritime incidents in 1915 Maritime incidents in 1916 Maritime incidents in 1918 Maritime incidents in 1919 Shipwrecks of Lake Huron Great Lakes freighters Ships powered by a triple expansion steam engine Ships sunk in collisions Ships built in Lorain, Ohio Shipwrecks of the Michigan coast Wreck diving sites in the United States Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary May 1919 in the United States