45°43′14.34″N 85°11′24.06″W / 45.7206500°N 85.1900167°W
 Cayuga on the ways, prior to her launching
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | Cayuga |
| Namesake | Cayuga Creek |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Builder | Globe Iron Works Company, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Yard number | 24 |
| Launched | April 2, 1889 |
| In service | 1889 |
| Out of service | May 10, 1895 |
| Identification | US official number 126556 |
| Fate | Sank in a collision on Lake Michigan |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Package freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 40.66 feet (12.39 m) |
| Draught | 16.5 feet (5.0 m) |
| Depth | 23.5 feet (7.2 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × 4–bladed fixed pitch propeller |
| Speed | c. 14 miles per hour (12 kn) |
| Capacity | c. 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) |
| Crew | 30 |
SS Cayuga was a steel-hulled American package freighter in service between 1889 and 1895. She was built in 1889 in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Globe Iron Works Company for the Lehigh Valley Transit Company of Buffalo, New York. One of five identical sister ships, Cayuga entered service in 1889, carrying package freight between Buffalo and Chicago, Illinois, also making stops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Gladstone, Michigan. Prior to her sinking, Cayuga was involved in two accidents. In the first in 1890, when she went aground in a gale just outside of Buffalo harbour; six tugboats managed to pull her free that same day. The second accident occurred in 1891, when Cayuga was involved in a collision with the package freighter Delaware near Cheboygan, Michigan.
On the morning of May 10, 1895, Cayuga while bound for Buffalo with a cargo of oats, flour and general merchandise. A thick fog hung over Lake Michigan. As Cayuga neared Ile Aux Galets, her crew spotted the lights of the downbound wooden freighter Joseph L. Hurd. At 4:00 or 4:30 a.m., Joseph L. Hurd struck Cayuga on her starboard side, tearing a hole in her hull; Joseph L. Hurd lost her bow, but was kept afloat by her cargo, while Cayuga sank 25 minutes later. The passing freighter Manola rescued the crews of the two vessels. The steward/cook of Joseph L. Hurd was the only casualty.
The wreck of Cayuga was located later in 1895. Due to her value, multiple attempts to raise her were made between 1896 and 1900 by Captain James Reid of Bay City, Michigan. His efforts were plagued by problems such as decompression sickness, the loss of several steel pontoons, a derrick barge and the alleged death of a hard-hat diver. Cayuga's wreck was re-discovered in the spring of 1969 by John Steele and Gene Turner.