 The Superior City, sometime prior to 1912.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Superior City |
| Owner | American Steamship Company 1898 – 1901; Pittsburg Steamship Company 1901 – 1920 |
| Port of registry | Cleveland, Ohio  United States |
| Builder | Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, Lorain, Ohio |
| Completed | 1898 |
| Identification | United States Registry # 116820 |
| Fate | Sank in Whitefish Bay 20 August 1920 after colliding with Willis L. King |
| Notes | First vessel launched from the Lorain shipyard of the Cleveland Ship Building Co. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Bulk freighter, propeller |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 450 ft (140 m) |
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Height | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion | Propeller, 1900 hp engine |
| Crew | 33 |
The SS Superior City was considered a pioneer vessel at her launching in 1898. She was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater at that time. She sailed the Great Lakes for twenty-two years until she sank after a collision in 1920 with the steamer Willis L. King in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior that resulted in the loss of 29 lives. Controversy was immediate over the collision. It was subsequently ruled that the captains of both ships failed to follow the “rules-of-the-road”. Controversy started again in 1988 when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society produced a video called "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" that included extensive footage of the skeletons of the Superior City crew. The controversy continued as late as 1996 over artifacts removed from her wreck. She is now a protected shipwreck in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.