SATURN,
- Steam Barge
- 30ffw 9m
- 172ft Length
- Clapperton Island, Lake Huron
- N46 05.067 W082 13.208
The City of Owen Sound, also known as the Saturn, was a propeller ship built in 1875 in Owen Sound, Ontario. It was constructed by J. Simpson and originally owned by A.M. Smith and others in Owen Sound. The vessel was made of wood and had two decks.
The propeller ship was powered by a single low-pressure engine with one cylinder. The engine, producing 280 horsepower, was salvaged from the burned steamer City of London (1866) and was built by G.N. Oilles in St. Catharines, Ontario. It was accompanied by a 9 x 15.8-foot firebox boiler. The City of Owen Sound had a length of 172 feet, a beam of 31 feet, and a depth of 13 feet. Its gross tonnage was 1,093, and its net tonnage was 743.
Throughout its history, the City of Owen Sound experienced various incidents and changes in ownership. It was launched on June 15, 1875, and operated between Collingwood and Chicago. On October 9, 1875, it collided with the bark Emma C Hutchinson in Chicago. On March 8, 1878, ownership transferred to Smith & Keightley in Toronto.
On October 16, 1881, the ship ran aground on a rock located ten miles north of Gore Bay in the North Channel of Georgian Bay. In 1883, the City of Owen Sound was rebuilt in Collingwood, with wooden arches added. It encountered another stranding at Michipicoten River, Lake Superior, in 1884 but was repaired in Owen Sound.
In 1887, ownership transferred to the Collingwood Transportation Company, and the ship operated between Georgian Bay, Lake Superior ports, Port Arthur, and Duluth. Unfortunately, on October 24, 1887, the City of Owen Sound foundered near Clapperton Island in Georgian Bay in 100 feet of water.
The ship was raised and rebuilt in 1892 at Owen Sound, this time as a steambarge with one deck. It had dimensions of 172 x 31 x 13 feet and a tonnage of 731 gross and 497 net tons. The Collins Bay Rafting & Forwarding Company became the new owner. In November 1892, the ship stranded on Black Rock near Parry Sound, Ontario.
In 1895, the City of Owen Sound stranded two miles west of Devils Island in the North Channel of Georgian Bay. It was rebuilt again in Collingwood in 1896, this time with dimensions of 172 x 29 x 19 feet and a tonnage of 883 gross and 570 net tons. It was renamed Saturn and owned by the Collins Bay Rafting & Forwarding Company of Kingston. It towed the vessels Muskoka and Waubushene.
By 1901, the ship was under the ownership of William McKinnon in Toronto. On September 17, 1901, it met its final fate when it foundered in a gale 40 miles northwest of Owen Sound in Georgian Bay. At the time of the incident, it was carrying a cargo of coal.
