SS Lambton
SS Lambton was a lighthouse tender that operated for the Canadian government on the Great Lakes in the early 20th century.
History | |
---|---|
Name: | SS Lambton |
Operator: | Department of Marine and Fisheries |
Completed: | 1909 |
Fate: | foundered on 19 April 1922 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage: | 323 (gross) |
Length: | 108 ft (33 m) |
Beam: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
Draught: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
Lambton was constructed in 1909 in Sorel, Quebec, and served for the Department of Marine and Fisheries.[1] She was 108 feet (33 m) long, with a beam of 25 feet (7.6 m) and a draft of 13 feet (4.0 m), and measured 323 gross tons.[1]
On April 18, 1922, she departed Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario with keepers for the lighthouses at Ile Parisienne, Caribou Island, and Michipicoten Harbour.[1][2] She traveled through Whitefish Bay in the company of two other vessels, Glennfinnan and Glenlivet, and sometime during the day Lambton and Glennfinnan collided.[2] Lambton also broke her steering gear, and was forced to proceed with improvised repairs.[2] On the following day, after Lambton had turned north away from the other two ships, a storm blew into the area, with winds as high as 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).[1] Following the storm, it was reported that the lighthouses Lambton had been scheduled to visit were not lit, and a tugboat was dispatched to follow her route to attempt to determine her fate.[1] After almost a week of searching passed with no sign of the ship, Lambton was declared lost.[1][3]
References
- Hancock, Paul (2001). Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Holt, MI: Thunder Bay Press. pp. 96–97. ISBN 1-882376--84-6.
- "The Lights are Out and No One Is There". Lighthouse Digest. 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- Gendisasters website of 1922 account of the Lambton, wreckage and Crew and passenger list