History #
The Ashtabula was a car ferry (rail ferry) that was built on May 12, 1906, at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in St. Clair, Michigan. It had an official number of 203071 and was constructed using steel. The vessel had the dimensions of 338 feet in length, 56 feet in beam, and 21.5 feet in depth. It had a gross tonnage of 2670 and a net tonnage of 1525.
On September 18, 1958, the Ashtabula suffered a tragic loss when it collided with the steel steamer Ben Moreell approximately 350 feet from the entrance of the harbor in Ashtabula, Ohio, on Lake Erie. As a result of the collision, the Ashtabula sank, with only its upperworks remaining above water. The vessel was later refloated but was deemed irreparable.
The Pennsylvania-Ontario Transportation Co., based in Cleveland, owned the Ashtabula. After being raised, the vessel was taken to the train ferry slip. It was subsequently scrapped in 1959.
The information provided is sourced from the Great Lakes Engineering Works’ Master Shipbuilding list, the Institute for Great Lakes Research, and additional records from Perrysburg, Ohio.
