The steam screw ARGONAUT, with the U.S. identification number 29755, was a vessel built in 1873 in Detroit, Michigan. Originally constructed as an unrigged barge, it was later converted into a steam-powered propeller in 1881. The ship had a gross tonnage of 1,118 tons and a net tonnage of 984 tons. Its dimensions were approximately 213 feet in length, 35 feet in beam, and 12.4 feet in depth.
On October 12, 1906, the ARGONAUT caught fire at its dock in Marysville, Michigan, on the St. Clair River. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incident. The vessel was owned by the D.W. Mills Estate in Cleveland at the time of the fire. It was being relieved of its engine when the fire occurred.
The ARGONAUT had a history of incidents prior to the fire. In 1900, it sank at the Escanaba ore dock due to a derangement of its machinery, but it was saved from total loss through an expensive salvage operation. It had also been involved in a collision with the CITY OF CONCORD in Port Huron on August 27, 1906, just weeks before the fire.
The ARGONAUT’s official number, 29755, was originally assigned to it as an unrigged barge. The vessel was built by the Detroit Dry Dock Co., specifically by the master carpenter G. Hardison, and it was owned by the Argo Steamship Co. of Detroit, Michigan, upon its original construction.
Please note that the information provided is based on historical records and may not be exhaustive.
