Baltic (Schooner), C116760, 1904

THE SURVEYING STEAMER "JEFFERSON DAVIS." - This steamer, which left Philadelphia on the 27th. May last, was towed down yesterday from Gravelly Bay by the tug GEO. O. VAIL, and arrived in port on the afternoon. This steamer was built by Merrick & Sons, of Philadelphia, for the Government, and is intended for the use of the Topographical Corps of Engineers on these lakes. She is 138 feet over all, 21 feet 6 inches breadth of beam, 8 feet 9 inches depth of hold, and of about 250 tons. Her hull is of iron, of five sixteenth plate, and has three water-tight bulkheads. Her keel, stern and stern posts are of wrought iron, 6 by 1 1/2 inches thick, and her upper works are of wood. She has two cabins, one 42 feet by 8 feet, that will accommodate eight officers, with state rooms, pantry, &c., and a forecastle that will accommodate 24 men. Her engine is what is termed a verticle steeple engine, condensing. The cylinder is 50 inches in diameter, with 4 foot stroke. The wheels are 19 feet 4 inches in diameter by 5 feet 3 inches wide, are entirely iron, and are of a kind known as overhung, in which the shaft is supported on the gunwale of the vessel, and the guards are made high, so as to cover the wheels.
The vessel was built under contract with the Dept. of War, and has not yet been delivered over to, or accepted by the Government. The contract requires her to be delivered by the builder to the government officers, who shall be sent to this port to receive.
      Lieut. R.M. McArann, U.S.N., obtained permission from the Secretary of War to bring her around. J.G. Young, Chief Engineer, and B. Dauby, machinist, and four hands composed her crew. Lieut. McA., informs us that he left the Capes of the Delaware at 9 A.M., and experienced a succession of gales, and had not the vessel been one of the strongest, she could never have stood it out. She made in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence about 11 3/4 to 12 miles an hour. She left with 9 tons of coal---has been 17 days on the passage; and has considerable fuel left. She will not burn to exceed six tons per day. With her coal and stores aboard, her draft is but five feet eleven inches.
      Lieut. McA., says, our neighbors, the Canadians, were much exercised at her being permitted to pass up thro' their canals, in the present aspect of affairs for fear of her making surveys as she came along. At several points it was contemplated to call a meeting of the citizens to protest against her being allowed to proceed. This was especially the case along the line of the Welland Canal.
      She is now lying in the Coit Slip, Erie Basin,, fitting out.
      Buffalo Daily Courier
      June 21, 1856
     
     

      The steamer SEARCH has been re-christened the GRACE GRUMMOND, for the daughter of the owner, Captain Grummond.
      Cleveland Herald
      June 18, 1878



Steamer GRACE GRUMMOND. Of 195 tons. Built Philadelphia by Raney & N. Owned by Grummond. Home port, Detroit. Value $12,000. Class A 2. REMARKS. -- Iron. Formerly Government survey boat, SEARCH.
      Association of lake Underwriters
      Lake Hull Register, 1879
     
     

Steam Paddle GRACE GRUMMOND. U.S. No. 85552. Of 195.11 tons gross; 98.35 tons net. Bought of U.S. Home port, Chicago.
      Merchant Vessel List of U.S., 1884
     
     
     
Schooner GRACE GRUMMOND. U.S. No. 85552. Of 205.50 tons gross; 195.22 tons net Built 1869 at N.Y. , N. Y. Home port, Milwaukee. 136.6 x 21.8 x 0.0
      Merchant Vessel List of U.S., 1889.
     
NOTE. -- The steamer GRACE GRUMMOND was still listed as a steamer in 1886.
     
      . . . . .
     
Barge SEARCH.* U. S. No. 85552. Built Philadelphia, Pa., 1856. 136.0 x 22.0 x 9.0.
      * Renamed GRACE U. S. - 1879 [ burned 1884, sold Canadian 1904. C 116760. ]
      [Abandoned at Port Maitland, Ont]
      Herman Runge List
     
      . . . . .
     

      From Great Lakes Vessels Index, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University

Registry & Rig Information Item: 006487
Vessel Name: SEARCH Image Not available
Nationality U.S.
Official Number: U.S.T.S.
Rig: Steamer

Dimensions & Tonnage
Vessel Length: 0.00 Gross Tonnage: 0.00
Vessel Width: 0.00 Net Tonnage: 0.00
Vessel Height 0.00 Hull Material: Iron
Masts: Hull Number:

Builder Information
Place of Build: New York, NY
Builder: Merick & Sons
Date of Build 1856

Name Changes
Vessel Name: Date: Registry Official #
GRUMMOND, GRACE 1878 - 1904 U.S. 85552
BALTIC 1904 - 1940 CANADA 116760

Rebuild History
First enrolled at Detroit, MI, June 15, 1878 (136.42 x 22 x 8.5; 195.11 gross - 98.35 net). Rig changed to schooner, Milwaukee, WI, August 12, 1887 (136.5 x 21.66 x 9; 205.50 gross - 195.22 net). Canadian measures, 1904 (136 x 22 x 9; 194 gross - 194 registered).

Disposition
Laid in old feeder canal at Port Maitland, Ontario, for several years. Later towed to Clear Creek, ten miles east of Port Burwell, Ontario, and used by Kolby Fish Co. as a breakwater for fish tugs. Removed from Canadian List of Shipping in 1940; cut up for scrap in that year.

History
Final U.S. enrollment surrendered at Milwaukee, WI, on March 31, 1904, and endorsed "sold alien."

      . . . . .

      From Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, Kingston.
      First Canadian Registration
Name: [ BALTIC ] Location: [TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA ] Registriation: [ 13/1904 ] Date Registered: [ 1904/07/07 ] Official Number: [ 116760 ] First Registration: [ YES ]
      Original Building Information
Built By: [ NOT KNOWN ] Built At: [ PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A ] Date Built: [ 1856 ] Length: [ 136.00 ] Beam: [ 22.00 ] Gross: [ 204.82 ] Net: [ 194.43 ]
      Vessel Description
Deck: [ ONE ] Type: [ LAPPED IRON ] Stern: [ROUND ] Gallery: [NONE ] Stem: [ PLAIN ] Frame: [ IRON ] Propulsion: [ TOW BARGE ] Number of Masts: [ TWO ] Type of Rig: [ SAILS ]
      Closing Information
Date Registration Closed: [ 1940/12/20 ] Date of Reason Closed: [1939/08 ] Reason Closed: [BROKEN UP ] Place Closed: [ CLEAR CREEK, ONTARIO, CANADA ]
Source of Data; N.A.C., RG-42, C-7635, VOL. 484

      . . . . .

      ESCAPED WITH THEIR CLOTHES
      Special to the Detroit Post
SOUTH HAVEN, Nov. 5. - The steamer Grace Grummond burned at 2 o'clock this morning and is a total loss. With her burned fifty fine barrels of apples, nine barrels of pears and seventy sacks of potatoes. Her insurance ran out Nov. 1, and the understanding is it had not been replaced. Those on board lost everything but the clothes they had happened to grasp in leaving. The loss is estimated at $20,000.
      Detroit Post
      Nov. 6, 1884

NOTE:-- But the GRUMMOND (US#85552) was not so easy to kill. The iron-hulled sidewheel steamer was actually built in 1856 by Merrick & Sons, Philadelphia, as the survey steamer JEFFERSON DAVIS, specifically for the survey of the Great Lakes. She was 138 feet overall, 21 feet, 6 inches beam and 8 feet 9 inches depth of hold. She was approximately 250 tons, old measure. For obvious reasons, by the beginning of the American Civil War she was renamed SEARCH. By 1878 her usefulness as a survey boat was ended, and she was offered for sale to private parties. Famous wrecking master S. B. Grummond purchased her and named her after his daughter after fitting her out for excursions on the Detroit River.
As seen above, by 1884 she was in the fruit trade on Lake Michigan. After the fire she was towed to Chicago to lay up until it was decided what to do with her. It is not known if she ever operated as a steamer again, but in 1887 she was rebuilt as a schooner at Milwaukee. She was one of the only sizable iron-hulled schooners ever used on the lakes. In 1904, as a tow-barge, she was sold Canadian and renamed BALTIC (C#116760). She was later co-opted as a breakwater for fish tugs at Clear Creek, Ont. In August, 1939 she was finally scrapped at the ripe age of 84, and in 1940 was removed from the Canadian List of Shipping. By Dave Swayze