Homer Warren (Propeller), U298, 1900

Steam screw HOMER WARREN.* U. S. No. 298. Of 448 tons gross; 281 tons net. Built at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1863. Home port, Detroit, Mich. 176.5 x 29.5 x 11.8 Of 100 nominal horse power. Inland freight service.
* Formerly steam screw ATLANTIC.
      Merchant Vessel List, U. S., 1901
     
     
     
      Steam screw ATLANTIC.* U. S. No. 298. Of 656.26 tons gross; 556.79 tons net. Built at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1863. Home port, Detroit, Mich. 176.5 x 28.4 x 10.7
      Merchant Vessel List, U. S., 1895



      Detroit, April 6. - What is left of the ATLANTIC has been lying in a slip at the foot of 21'st. Street for three years. Twice in that time attempts have been made to burn her and the hull has settled down in the water, protecting her machinery from theives. She is to be raised, rebuilt and put into service once more. The ATLANTIC is remembered by the older Detroiters as the handsomest coastwise boat which was put on the Mackinac line by Capt. S.B. Grummond. For many years she was the finest boat in the Grummond fleet, but later was sold to Capt. H.L. Brown and went into general service. Three years ago she was tied up and has been subject to a mortgage held by J.M. Kent of London, Ont. The sale today was under order to satisfy a dockage claim.
      The bidding was led by Capt. George C. McCullough, Isaac Applebaum and Frederick W. Whiting, the latter representing Mr. Curry, and agent of Mr. Kent, and the estate of Capt. Brown. The bids jumped slowly from $100 in bunches of $5 and $10 to $825, the boat being knocked down to Mr. Whiting.
      The ATLANTIC was 656 gross tonnage, 176 ft. long and 28 ft. beam. She drew 11 ft. of water.
      Buffalo Morning Express
      April 7, 1900 2-5


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      When the 37-year-old steamer ATLANTIC leaves the Bay City drydock she will sail under the name of HOMER WARREN, after one of her owners, the well-known real estate dealer, of this city. When time job is finished she will he worth between $4O.000 and $50,000. according to Capt. Joseph Waitman, who is superintending, and he comments thus about her:
"I remember well when she was built in Cleveland in 1863 by Capt. E. M. Peck. She was one of the finest boats the old titan ever sent out of his yards, and he was very proud of her. Look at some of those timbers we are taking out. They are as sound as the day they were put in. They were salted - that's what makes them look blue. Every stick in the ATLANTIC came from the swamps south of Toledo - all Ohio white oak, the finest shipbuilding material that ever man put an ax to. It seems a pity to take out some of those sticks, but we had to do it in order to get at stuff that had to go in the process of rebuliding." Her stern is to be lengthened, steel arches 3/4 by 24 inches will be inlaid from bow to stern, she will have four foot solid bulwarks, two new boilers, engine compounded, and will be 185 feet over all, with lumber capacity for 550,000 feet and power to tow 2,000,000 feet more, says Waitman.
      Milwaukee Library Scrapbook
      July 20, 1900
     
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Tracking the historical record of ships on the Great Lakes before the turn of the century is sometimes difficult. That's because vessels had a habit of sinking, burning, or in other ways appearing to get destroyed, only to be raised and rebuilt later under a new name.
The steamer ATLANTIC is an example of a ship that wouldn't die, even though her time was long overdue. The ATLANTIC was once part of a crack fleet of ships built for the Union Transportation Company in the 1860's that carried passengers and freight between Chicago and Buffalo. It later became the property of the Grummond Line and was placed on a route between Detroit and Mackinaw City. Those were the years when the ship was a regular visitor at ports along the Lake Huron shoreline.
After 33 faithful years of service, the ATLANTIC's days seemed to be numbered. While the ship was left moored and neglected for two years at Detroit, from 1897 to 1899. it was racked by two fires that left it in ruins.
The ship had fallen into such disgrace, the final fire on Aug. 26, 1899 brought only a brief notice on the inside pages of the Detroit Free Press. The newspaper said the fire started from unknown causes at 9:15 p.m. and before it was out. the ATLANTIC was, "but the mere skeleton of her former self." The writer noted. that "the damage could not have been great for the boat left the arena of her usefulness years ago."
The nation was growing fast in 1899 and lumber from the forests along the Great Lakes was in demand. Consequently, there was a shortage of boats to haul the lumber. Anything that floated was put into service. It should not be surprising, then, that the hull of the old ATLANTIC was repaired. and the ship rebuilt as a lumber hooker. The vessel was back in service by 1901 under the name HOMER WARREN. The WARREN served American lumber interests until 1914, when the ship was sold to Canadian owners. It was carrying coal from Oswego, N.Y. to Toronto. Ontario. when the 56-year-old hull opened up and the boat foundered with all hands on Lake Ontario on Oct. 28. 1919.
Killed in the sinking were Capt. William Stocker, his brother. George. first mate: brothers George and Joseph Kerr. and sailors Patrick Howe. Stanley Foste. William Talbot, and two other unknown men who signed on at Oswego for the trip.
Wreckage and four bodies from the Warren floated ashore at Sodus Point, N.Y. (Article by James Donahue, weekly series run in paper.)
      Port Huron Daily Tribune
      October 27, 1997