Site Description #
- Steam Barge
- 110ffw 35m
- 154ft Length
- North Channel, Lake Huron
- N45 59.644 W081 58.759
The Edward Buckley was a steambarge built in 1891 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It had a wooden hull, a single deck, and was constructed by H.B. & G.B. Burger. The original owners of the vessel were Edward Buckley and others from Manistee, Michigan.
The steambarge was equipped with two masts and was propelled by a screw. It featured a for-and-aft compound engine with two cylinders, measuring 18″ and 36″ in diameter, with a 30″ stroke. The engine, which had a power of 600 horsepower and operated at 120 revolutions per minute, was built by Wilson and Hendrie in Montague, Michigan. The vessel was also equipped with a 9′ x 14′ firebox steel marine boiler, manufactured by Manitowoc Boiler Works in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, with a pressure of 140 pounds.
Measuring 154.3 feet in length, 31.7 feet in beam, and 10.6 feet in depth, the Edward Buckley had a gross tonnage of 414 and a net tonnage of 313. It had a capacity to carry 450,000 feet of lumber.
Over the years, the ownership of the Edward Buckley changed hands several times. On November 7, 1891, it was enrolled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the ownership of Edward Buckley and others from Manistee, Wisconsin. The vessel ran ashore on Ballard’s Reef in Lake Erie in 1897.
On October 10, 1910, ownership transferred to the Nessen Transportation Company of Grand Haven, Michigan. By April 8, 1911, the A.B. Klise Lumber Company and others became the owners. On May 4, 1917, the vessel came under the ownership of the National Transit Company from Gary, Indiana.
On May 31, 1922, the Edward Buckley was sold to Canadian owners and registered under the number C138377. It was measured at 154.3 feet in length, 31 feet in beam, and 10.6 feet in depth, with a gross tonnage of 399 and a net tonnage of 134. The National Transit Company from Sarnia, Ontario, became the new owner. Subsequently, ownership transferred to the Peninsula Tug and Towing Company from Wiarton, Ontario, in 1925.
On September 1, 1929, the Edward Buckley met its final fate when it burned and sank in the North Channel of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron. The incident occurred southeast of Mink Island near Manitoulin Island.
