PS Anthony Wayne

The PS Anthony Wayne (also known as Anthony B. Wayne or General Wayne) was an early wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship[upper-alpha 1] that sank on April 28, 1850, in Lake Erie off the coast of Vermilion, Ohio, after two of her starboard side boilers exploded.[4] There was an estimated 50 to 69 people on board, but the ship's passenger manifest was unclear about how many passengers boarded the Wayne at each location. Although the ship's clerk reported that there were 80 to 100 people on board, which included the crew, with about 30 of them surviving.[4]

The Anthony Wayne underway
History
United States
Name:	Anthony Wayne
Operator:	Perrysburgh & Miami Steam Boat Company 1837-1839 Charles B. Howard & Company 1839–1850
Builder:	Samuel L. Hubbell, Perrysburg, Ohio
In service:	August 8, 1837
Out of service:	April 27, 1850
Fate:	Sank after a boiler explosion.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Sidewheel steamer - passengers and package freight
Tonnage:	390.50 gross tonnage[1]
Length:	156.50 ft (47.70 m)[1]
Beam:	25.75 ft (7.85 m)[1]
Height:	10.25 ft (3.12 m)[1]
Anthony Wayne Shipwreck
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Lake Erie, near Vermilion, Ohio
Nearest city	Vermilion, Ohio
Coordinates	41°31.00′N 82°23.00′W
Built	1837
Architect	Samuel L. Hubbell
Architectural style	Steamboat
NRHP reference No.	15000479 [2]
Added to NRHP	January 2, 2018

The wreck of the Wayne was discovered in September 2006 lying in 50 feet (15 m) of water about 8 miles north of Vermilion, Ohio.[5] Although she was discovered in 2006, a public announcement was not made until June 21, 2007.[3] On January 2, 2018, the wreck of the Wayne was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[6]

History

The Anthony Wayne was built in 1837, in Perrysburg, Ohio, by Samuel L. Hubbell.[4][1] She was 156.50 feet (47.70 m) in length, her beam was 25.75 feet (7.85 m) wide and her hull was 10.25 feet (3.12 m) deep. She had a gross tonnage of 390.50 tons.[1] She was powered by a 120-horsepower high pressure steam engine with a 27 x 3 inch piston, power for the engine was provided by 4 Scotch marine boilers, and she was propelled two 25-inch paddle wheels.[3] The engine was built by Hathaway & Company in 1936.[7] She was named after United States Army officer Anthony Wayne.[8]

On May 24, 1843, she caught fire at a wharf in Sandusky, Ohio. On May 23, 1848, she lost her upper deck because of hurricane-force winds at Detroit, Michigan.[7] In 1849 the Wayne was extensively rebuilt in Trenton, Michigan, by D.W. Donahue. She was given a new engine from the steamer Columbus, which had wrecked on a sand bar at Dunkirk, New York, and her old engine was fitted to the steamer Baltimore.[9] Her new engine was a 150-horsepower horizontal crosshead engine built by Olds & Company of Sandusky, Ohio, and was rebuilt by James Menzes. She also received new boilers. On January 12, 1850, the Wayne was crushed by ice, and sank at the John Chester & Company dock in the Detroit River.[7]

Final voyage

On April 27, 1850, the Wayne left Toledo, Ohio carrying 27 passengers; she later steamed into Sandusky, Ohio. She left Sandusky at about midnight with about 40 more passengers on board.[10][11][8] She also picked up 300 barrels of high-quality wine and whiskey and some cattle and horses. She was bound for Buffalo, New York at the time. At the time of the disaster, Captain E. C. Gore was blown out of his bed and was unhurt; he survived in a lifeboat with the ship's clerk, a fireman and two passengers. The lifeboat eventually drifted ashore at Vermilion, Ohio.[4]

Passengers and crew

Passengers	Crew	Total
63[5]	30[5]	93[5]
25 saved[5]	15 saved[5]	40 saved[5]
11 wounded[5]	4 wounded[5]	19 wounded[5]
10 killed[5]	11 killed[5]	21 killed[5]
17 missing[5]	0 missing[5]	17 missing[5]

References

1. "Wayne, Anthony". Bowling Green State University. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
3. "Found! A.B. Wayne". Ohio Shipwrecks. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
4. "Explore Shipwrecks: Anthony Wayne". Ohio Shipwrecks. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
5. "177-year old shipwreck discovered in Lake Erie". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
6. "The Anthony Wayne Shipwreck is now the first Ohio shipwreck listed on the National Register of Historic Places!". Ohio History. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
7. "WAYNE, ANTHONY (1837, Steamer)". Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
8. "PSS Anthony Wayne (+1850)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
9. "COLUMBUS (1835, Steamer)". Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
10. Ratigan, William (1977). Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-7010-4.
11. Thompson, Mark L. (April 13, 2004). Graveyard of the Lakes. Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9780814332269.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Notes

1. The Anthony Wayne was an early Great Lakes steamboat. The Wayne was built only 19 years after the first steamboat, the Walk-In-The-Water saw service on the waters of the lakes.[3]