The SS Plymouth was an American schooner barge with a notable history rooted in the Great Lakes maritime industry. Originally constructed as a steamship in 1854 at the Stephenson & Lafrinier shipyard in Ohio City, Ohio, she was launched on March 7, 1854, and completed by May 8 of the same year. Measuring 64.8 meters (212 feet 7 inches) in length with a beam of 9.9 meters (32 feet 6 inches) and a draft of 3.7 meters (12 feet 2 inches), she was assessed at 846 gross register tons (GRT). Her propulsion system was a high-pressure (including HPNC) engine driving a single screw propeller until her conversion in 1884. Initially serving as a cargo steamer on the Great Lakes, Plymouth's early career was marred by numerous accidents. She ran aground near Racine, Wisconsin, in 1855, and collided with the barge Colonel E. Camp in 1856, which sank in minutes. She also experienced fatalities, including a gale off Point Aux Barques in 1859 that resulted in one death. During the Civil War, she ran ashore near Long Point, Ontario, in 1862 but was refloated and returned to service. After repairs, including a 1877 engine overhaul, she shifted to the lumber trade in 1880 and was converted into a three-masted schooner in 1884. Her later years included several groundings in Lake Superior and a collision with a railroad bridge over the Welland Canal in 1898. Despite her age, Plymouth gained minor fame in 1912 for carrying a massive load of cedar posts—100,000 in total—on the Menominee River. Her service ended tragically during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 when, while being towed by the tug James H. Martin in Lake Michigan, she encountered the storm’s deadly fury. The tug abandoned her near Gull Island at St. Martin's Passage, but Plymouth sank with all hands after enduring over 40 hours of storm conditions. A note from a crewman, Christopher Keenan, washed ashore 11 days later, confirming the sinking and loss of all onboard. Plymouth was the only vessel lost on Lake Michigan during the storm, which claimed about 235 lives across the Great Lakes, marking it as one of the most catastrophic weather events in the region’s maritime history. Her wreck has not been definitively located, although a shipwreck found in 1984 near Poverty Island, Michigan, was initially thought to be her but was later identified as the Erastus Corning.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.