SS Etruria

SS "Etruria" was a steel hulled lake freighter that served on the Great Lakes of North America from her construction in 1902 to her sinking in 1905. On June 18, 1905, while sailing upbound on Lake Huron with a cargo of coal, she was rammed and sunk by the freighter "Amasa Stone" off Presque Isle Light. For nearly 106 years the location of "Etruria" wreck remained unknown, until the spring of 2011 when her wreck was found upside down in of water.
History.
Design and construction.
"Etruria" was named after the famous Cunard Line ocean liner, RMS "Etruria". "Etruria" was built by the West Bay City Shipbuilding Company in West Bay City, Michigan for the Hawgood Transit Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She had an overall length of , and a between perpendiculars length of . Her beam was wide, and in her original enrollment, her depth was listed as ; also, in her original enrollment, her gross tonnage was listed at 4744 tons and her net tonnage was listed at 4439 tons. She was powered by a 1500-horsepower triple expansion steam engine, which was fueled by two Scotch marine boilers. She had a cargo capacity of 7000 tons. She was also built with a single deck, and twelve cargo hatches.
"Etruria" was the first of four identical sister ships built for the Hawgood Transit Company. Her sisters were (in order of construction), "Bransford", "J.M. Jenks" and "H.B. Hawgood".
Service history.
"Etruria" was launched on February 8, 1902 as hull number #604. She was enrolled for the first time on April 12, 1905 in Port Huron, Michigan, and was given the official number #136977. On April 15, 1902 "Etruria" was re-enrolled in Cleveland, Ohio. On March 25, 1903 an error in "Etruria" enrollment was corrected; her depth was corrected from to ; and her gross tonnage was corrected from 4744 tons to 4653 tons, and her net tonnage was corrected from 4439 tons to 3415 tons.
Final voyage.
On June 18, 1905 while upbound with a cargo of coal from Toledo, Ohio, heading to Superior, Wisconsin, "Etruria" was rammed by the larger steel freighter "Amasa Stone" on her starboard side, abreast of her No.9 hatch. After just five minutes, "Etruria" rolled over and sank about off Presque Isle Light; her entire crew was rescued by the steamer "Maritana".
At the time of her sinking, "Etruria" was the largest freighter ever to have sunk on the Great Lakes.
"Etruria" enrollment surrendered on June 30, 1905.
Aftermath.
Shortly after "Etruria" sinking, the Hawgood Transit Company and the Mesaba Steamship Company (owners of "Amasa Stone") filed several lawsuits against each other for the damage done to their respective vessels. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rendered a final judgement on June 15, 1908. A brief by the Hawgood Transit Compay stated that:
The steamer "Etruria" was laden with 7,000 net tons of coal loaded on Lake Erie and destined for Lake Michigan ports. At all times the "Etruria" was properly crewed and fully manned. About 01:00 hours on June 18, 1905, the hazy night turned to rain and fog set in, and the "Etruria" proceeded at a moderate pace, sounding her fog signal regularly. About 03:35 hours that morning on a proper course headed for the Straits of Mackinac, the "Etruria" heard the fog signals of a steamer, which proved to be the "Amasa Stone". It sounded a long distance from the "Etruria" and was distinctly to her starboard. At this point, the "Etruria" blew a two-blast signal but the "Stone" didn’t reply with the same passing signal, and the "Etruria" slowed to bare steerage, stopped her engine completely and shortly thereafter, without warning or signal, the "Stone" came out of the fog at full speed. The "Stone" struck the "Etruria" a heavy blow on her starboard side abreast hatch No.9, breaking in her side. The "Etruria" began to list and sank at once, meanwhile blowing distress signals. The "Etruria" launched its lifeboats just in time to see the steamer roll over. As it turned upside down, the hatches gave way, and the coal cargo spilled out before the sinking ship. The "Amasa Stone" then departed the scene without rendering assistance. The steamer "Maritana" was upbound in the vicinity and picked up the crew, landing them at Detour and at the Sault.
The lawsuit stated that "Etruria" had a value of $265,000, her cargo had a value of $13,460.70 and the crew's effects had a value of $3,029.11; in total, "Etruria" was a $281,489.81 loss. The suit further stated that the collision was "due solely to the negligence and want of care on the part of "Amasa Stone" and those in charge of navigation". "Amasa Stone" was found to be guilty of the following actions:
Lawyers for the Mesaba Steamship Company concluded that "Etruria" was not travelling at a slows peed, but at a fast one and that her navigational officers were guilty of inattention. They also concluded that "Amasa Stone" did not leave the scene following the collision, but that she turned round, and tried to offer assistance, but "Etruria" crew took to the lifeboats, and rowed off in the opposite direction. When both sides made their argument, Judge Henry Harrison Swan ruled in Detroit, Michigan that both vessels were equally at fault, and that insurance proceeds were the only means of recouping each vessel's loss.
"Etruria" wreck.
Discovery.
In 2011 a group consisting of expert shipwreck hunters and high school students from Saginaw, Michigan tried to locate the long sought-after semi-whaleback steamer "Choctaw". Their search effort was made into a documentary named "Project Shiphunt", which was sponsored by Sony and Intel. On May 17, 2011 they discovered two shipwrecks, "Etruria" and the schooner "M.F. Merrick" which sank in 1889 after a collision with the steamer "R.P. Ranney".
"Etruria" today.
The remains of "Etruria" rest in of cold fresh water. The wreck is upside down, with of her hull exposed, with a portion of her stern being buried. Her bow is raised above the sediment by several feet allowing access to her intact pilot house and forward deck house area and first cargo hatch. Her forward ladder is in place running to the port side bridge wing, which is buried in sediment. Her two stockless anchors are still intact at her bow. Discovery of the wrecks was made public on July 13, 2011. Her wreck is part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
National Register of Historic Places nomination.
On September 19, 2014 the wreck of "Etruria" was nominated for a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, for her state level significance. Her listing was denied; had she been listed, she would have been given the reference number #14001009.