Chief Wawatam

1911                                  Chief Wawatam                                  2009

Steel railroad carferry

Built at Toledo OH by Toledo Shipbuilding Co., Hull 119
Launched Aug 26, 1911

351’ LOA, 332’ LBP, 62’ beam, 25’ depth
2 decks, coal-fired boilers, 3 triple expansion engines (2 aft, 1 forward for icebreaking), 4500 IHP

Enrolled at Toledo OH Sept 29, 1911 (#2)
338.8 x 62.0 x 20.7, 2990 GT, 1793 NT     US 209235     to:
Toledo Shipbuilding Co., Toledo OH (home port Toledo OH)

Reenrolled at Detroit MI to:
Mackinac Transportation Co., St. Ignace MI, L. R. Boynton, Mgr. (home port to Detroit MI)

Entered service Oct 1911

Spent entire career ccarrying railroad freight cars across the Straits of Mackinac between Mackinaw City MI and St. Ignace MI

Sold 1977 to State of Michigan, Lansing MI

Withdrawn from service Sept 1984 and laid up at Mackinaw City MI

Sold 1989 to Purvis Marine Ltd., Sault Ste. Marie ON.  Reduced to barge
Enrolled Canadian     Can 805396

Scrapped 2009 at Sault Ste. Marie ON

IMO 5070115

 

1116

One thought on “Chief Wawatam

  1. My great-uncle Benjamin Houle was Captain of the Chief sometime in the 1940’s but I don’t know the dates or about his history. Is that information available?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *