Davock, William B.

1907                                  William B. Davock                                  1940

Steel Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at St. Clair MI by Great Lakes Engineering Works, Hull 26
Launched Sept 25, 1907

440’ LOA, 420’ LBP, 52’ beam, 28’ depth
1 deck, arch cargo hold construction, hatches @ 24’, coal-fired boilers, triple expansion engine, 1400 IHP

Enrolled at Port Huron MI May 31, 1907 (#44)
420.0 x 52.0 x 23.0, 4468 GT, 3246 NT     US 204121     to:
Great Lakes Engineering Works

Reenrolled at Detroit MI June 12, 1907 (Temp #74) to:
Vulcan Steamship Co., Cleveland OH, W. B. Davock, Mgr. (home port Fairport OH)

Entered service June 15, 1907 clearing St. Clair for Cleveland to load a cargo of coal.

Permanent enrollment at Cleveland OH June 15, 1907 (#80)

Sold Oct 4, 1915 to Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland OH, Pickands Mather & Co., Mgr.

Rebuilt 1923 at Fairport OH
Remeasured to 4220 GT, 2671 NT

Home port to Wilmington DE 1932

Foundered Nov 11, 1940 off Pentwater MI, Lake Michigan in the “Armistice Day Storm” of 1940.  Enroute from Erie PA to Chicago IL with a cargo of coal.  All 32 aboard lost.

See history in Scanner March 1990 (#181)
Also in Great Lakes Ships We Remember p. 159

 

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4 thoughts on “Davock, William B.

  1. Interesting facts. My late husbands Uncle John Burns was chief engineer when this ship went down. It was built in St. Clair where I was born, grew up and now live.

  2. My great grandfather was William B. Davock. He was in the Great Lakes shipping business in Cleveland. I’ve always wondered how this freighter came to be named after him. It appears from this record that he was a manager at Vulcan Steamship Company when they acquired the vessel in 1907. He arranged at least one excursion out of Cleveland for my young, yet unmarried, grandmother and her girlfriends. Such a tragic ending for this vessel – so many lives lost.

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