Turret Chief – Lake Michigan Steamer Shipwreck (1930)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Turret Chief
• Type: Cargo Steamer / Barge
• Year Built: 1896
• Builder: William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, England
• Dimensions: Length 253 ft (77.1 m); Beam 44 ft (13.4 m); Depth of hold 19.7 ft (6.0 m)
• Registered Tonnage: 1,881 tons
• Location: North Muskegon, Michigan
• Official Number: 106605
• Original Owners: Various, including Thomas Donnelly, Canadian Lakes & Ocean Navigation, and International Waterways Navigation Company
• Number of Masts: None

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

Initially a “straightback” cargo steamer — a British Doxford-built turret-deck vessel — the Turret Chief was later reconfigured into a barge. This design featured the engine and boiler installations amidships, and a pronounced straight-deck silhouette with hull sides sloped inward from the deck.

Description

• Builder: William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, England (Yard No. 248)
• Material: Steel hull
• Propulsion (original configuration):
  • Screw-driven
  • Engine: Triple expansion (20″ + 34″ + 57″ cylinders, 39″ stroke)
  • Boilers: 2 watertube units (12’7″ × 10’11”), coal-fired by Babcock & Wilcox, London
• Dimensions:
  • Length: 253 ft (77.1 m)
  • Beam: 44 ft (13.4 m)
  • Depth: 19.7 ft (6.0 m)
  • Gross Tonnage: 1,881 tons
  • Net Tonnage: 1,197 tons

History

• 1900–1913: Operated by Thomas Donnelly (Kingston, Ontario), then Canadian Lakes & Ocean Navigation and Canadian Steamship Lines. Served coal and grain trades on the Atlantic and the Great Lakes.
• 1913 (Nov 8): Stranded on the Keweenaw Peninsula near Copper Harbor, Lake Superior.
• 1914–1915: Salvaged and repaired at Port Arthur; reboilered by American Shipbuilding Co. for wartime service.
• WWI (1915–1918): Requisitioned by the British government. Carried munitions to Archangel, Russia. Renamed Vickerstown.
• Post-War (1918): Renamed Jolly Inez. Returned to Great Lakes service by 1922 under International Waterways Navigation Company.
• 1927 (Nov 16): Heavily damaged after stranding near Saddlebag Island, Lake Huron.
• 1928–1930: Salvaged, stripped of machinery, converted to a stone barge (renamed Salvor, U.S. Registry No. 170538).
• 1930 (Sep 26): Foundered in a gale on Lake Michigan after breaking loose from the tug Fitzgerald while under tow.

Final Disposition

Salvor (formerly Turret Chief) was being used as a stone-laden barge during breakwater construction when she broke free from her tow in a Lake Michigan gale and sank near North Muskegon. The vessel was already decommissioned from steam service and was unmanned as a towed barge.

Current Condition & Accessibility

The exact resting location of Salvor remains undocumented in official surveys or dive registries. No confirmed archaeological site has been recorded.

Resources & Links

[shotline_reference_links slug=”turret-chief-us-106605vickerstown-jolly-inez-salvor” title=”References & Links”]

The Turret Chief exemplifies a vessel with multiple lives: from Atlantic collier to Lakes freighter, wartime munition carrier, and eventually a Great Lakes stone barge. Her final loss in 1930 marks the end of a uniquely durable hull design. Though likely fragmented and unrecovered, her story spans more than three decades of turbulent service on two continents.