The H.F. Bues was a wooden propeller tug that was built in 1873 by Wolf & Davidson in Milwaukee. It had an official number of 95346 and measured 47 feet in length, 13 feet in beam, and 8 feet in depth. The tug had a gross tonnage of 25 and a net tonnage of 16.
On July 27, 1910, the H.F. Bues met its demise on the Middle Ground in Pelee Passage, Lake Erie. The vessel was caught in a storm and struck by a cyclone, causing it to sink in deep water approximately 8 miles from the shore. The crew of four reported the incident, stating that the tug had been towing a dredge at the time of the accident. Fortunately, the dredge made it safely to shore. There were no fatalities.
Over its history, the ownership of the H.F. Bues changed hands several times. It was initially owned by Starke Bros. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1876, followed by C. Starke & Co. in 1879 and Smith & Starke in 1884. In 1892, it came under the ownership of C.E. Mitchell of Ludington, Michigan, and in 1900, it was owned by William S. Edwards and the Edward Bros. Dredge Co. based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. By 1904, the dimensions of the tug had changed to 51.3 feet in length, 13.3 feet in beam, and 8.4 feet in depth, with a gross tonnage of 25 and a net tonnage of 12.
