F.H. PRINCE U120797

History

The F. H. PRINCE, with an official number of 120797, was a wooden vessel built in 1890 by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Detroit, Michigan. It had a gross tonnage of 2,047 and a net tonnage of 1,547. The ship was initially constructed for the Rutland Transportation Company of Ogdensburg, New York, to be used in the package freight trade on the Great Lakes.

In 1911, the F. H. PRINCE was sold to Herbert K. Oakes of Cleveland, Ohio, and converted into a sand dredge. However, on August 8, 1911, a fire broke out on the vessel, and it was intentionally beached on the east side of Kelley’s Island in Lake Erie to prevent the spread of the fire. The fire was eventually brought under control by the sand dredges Albert Y. Gowan and MARY H., which were passing by on their way from the sand dredging grounds near Pelee Island to Sandusky, Ohio. The fire was contained to the forward end of the ship, and it was heading N.N.W. when it struck the bottom. The following day, the wind shifted the ship’s direction to the south.

Tragically, on August 14, 1911, a fire rekindled in the aft section of the F. H. PRINCE, resulting in the complete destruction of the vessel. The estimated loss from the incident was $50,000. Today, remnants of the ship, including the propeller shaft and other parts, can be found near the Kelley Island landing strip for small planes.

In terms of ownership history, the F. H. PRINCE was initially owned by the Ogdensburg Transit Co. of Ogdensburg, New York, starting from December 18, 1893. It later came under the ownership of the Great Lakes Freighting Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1910, before being purchased by Herbert K. Oakes in the same year.

This information is summarized from records provided by Doug Fetherling on January 25, 1966, as part of the Toledo Shipbuilding Master List from the Institute for Great Lakes Research in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Additional sources confirm that the F. H. PRINCE was a steam screw vessel with a crew of 18. It had 800 indicated horsepower and measured 240.0 feet in length, 42.0 feet in beam, and 23.4 feet in depth. These details are sourced from the Merchant Vessel List, U.S., in 1903 and 1912.