Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Nahant OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 18766 DATE OF LOSS: 19 November 1897 REASON: Fire LOCATION: Lake Michigan, Escanaba RIG TYPE: Propeller HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: F. Jones, Detroit - 1873 OWNER(S): Benham MASTER: Capt. Wm. P. Benham TONNAGE: 1,274 gt DIMENSIONS: 213 x 35 x 16 CASUALTIES: 2 SURVIVORS: ? Caught fire at the dock when two sailors, returning from a night on the town, got into a fight and tipped over a lantern. Firefighters were severely hampered by freezing temperatures and the fire spread to the No. 4 ore dock of the Chicago & North Western Railroad, one of the largest docks in the world, destroying it as well. Also burned were 28 ore cars and 5000 tons of ore. Loss was estimated at $300,000. ======================================================================== Sources: Annual Report of the Steamboat Inspection Service, 1898 Iron Age, Vol. 60 - p. 11 Engineering News Record, Vol. 38 - p. 384 Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. 64 - p. 676 Railroad Gazette, Vol. 29 - p. 856 Mansfield "History of the Great Lakes" Vol. I - pp. 778, 864 Merchant Vessel List, 1897 The Milwaukee Sentinel, 4 April 1963 The Milwaukee Sentinel, 30 November 1972 Michigan History Magazine, Vol 91 - p. 52 email from David D. Swayze, 2014 Last updated 28 August 2015