EMMA THOMPSON U135168

Site Description

The Emma E. Thompson was a bulk freighter built in 1875 in Saginaw, Michigan. It had a wooden hull, a single deck, and was constructed by D.F. Edwards. The original owners of the vessel were A.W. and William Thompson from Saginaw, Michigan.

The bulk freighter was equipped with one mast and propelled by a screw. It featured a high-pressure engine with a single cylinder measuring 22 x 22 inches, delivering 380 horsepower at 100 revolutions per minute. The engine was manufactured by the W.B. Hatch Company in St. Joseph, Michigan in 1875.

The Emma E. Thompson had a length of 126.1 feet, a beam of 25 feet, and a depth of 9.8 feet. It had a gross tonnage of 260 and a net tonnage of 176. The vessel had a capacity to carry 450 tons or approximately 325,000 feet of lumber.

Throughout its history, the ownership of the Emma E. Thompson changed hands several times. It was launched on April 10, 1875, in East Saginaw, Michigan, at a cost of $20,000. On June 7, 1875, the vessel ran aground on Carrollton bar, and its boiler exploded.

On October 8, 1875, the Emma E. Thompson was enrolled in Port Huron, Michigan. The ownership transferred to William Callum from Saginaw, Michigan, on April 11, 1878. Stephen C. Hall from Muskegon, Michigan, became the new owner on April 4, 1879. Charles T. Brown from Port Sherman, Michigan, and Stephen C. Hall owned the vessel jointly starting from March 27, 1880. During that time, it towed the H.A. RICHMOND.

In August 1880, the Emma E. Thompson was damaged in a collision with the schooner KATE LYONS near Chicago during foggy conditions. On August 3, 1880, Simeon Cobb from Chicago became the owner, and the vessel’s machinery was removed, converting it into a two-masted schooner.

On April 29, 1881, the Emma E. Thompson underwent a rebuild to become a screw steamer, with a gross tonnage of 238.82 and a net tonnage of 159.44. It operated on the route from Chicago to Muskegon and was equipped with the engine from the prop AKRON (US394).

On July 8, 1881, Simeon Cobb from Chicago and H.L. Simonds from Boston, Massachusetts, became the owners of the vessel. The Emma E. Thompson was rebuilt and remeasured in Chicago on July 17, 1884, resulting in dimensions of 125.9 feet in length, 27.6 feet in beam, and 12.8 feet in depth. Its gross tonnage increased to 260.62, and its net tonnage increased to 176.23.

Over the years, the ownership of the Emma E. Thompson changed hands multiple times. It experienced incidents such as becoming waterlogged while bound for Muskegon, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, with hemlock lumber in August 1886. The vessel was involved in accidents and collisions, including capsizing in Charlevoix, Michigan, on June 8, 1901, in Lake Michigan.

On May 24, 1914, the Emma E. Thompson met its final fate when it was wrecked on Lake Huron. The vessel caught fire and burned to the waterline while sheltering behind Innes Island in Georgian Bay. The crew was rescued by the prop GERMANIC.