The WILLIAM S. BULL was a wooden propeller steam tug built in Buffalo in 1861. It had an official number of none and had a tonnage of 16. Unfortunately, there is no information available regarding any other names the tug may have had.
On August 22, 1863, the William S. Bull encountered a tragic fate in Lake Erie. It was in the company of the tug G.W. Gardner and the canal boat M.E. Paine when it waterlogged and sank during a storm. The tug was bound from Erie to Buffalo at the time of the incident. Although there were no reported casualties, the crew of the William S. Bull was saved by the G.W. Gardner and M.E. Paine.
The exact location of the loss was approximately 40 miles east of Erie, Pennsylvania. The tug foundered in the storm and was unable to be recovered.
