 Ira H. Owen before she was sold to the National Steamship Company
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| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | Ira H. Owen |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Builder | Globe Iron Works Company of Cleveland, Ohio |
| Yard number | 14 |
| Launched | July 7, 1887 |
| In service | 1887 |
| Out of service | November 28, 1905 |
| Identification | US official number 100410 |
| Fate | Sank in the Mataafa Storm on Lake Superior |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Lake freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 39 feet (12 m) |
| Depth | 19 feet (5.8 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × fixed pitch propeller |
| Crew | 19 |
SS Ira H. Owen was a steel-hulled American lake freighter in service between 1887 and 1905. One of the first steel lake freighters, she was built in 1887 in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Globe Iron Works Company, and was built for the Owen Line of Chicago, Illinois. Early in her career, Ira H. Owen carried iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan. In April 1898, Ira H. Owen was chartered by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. She was sold to the National Steamship Company of Chicago, on December 30, 1899, for whom she frequently carried coal and grain. Throughout her career, Ira H. Owen was involved in multiple accidents and incidents.
On the morning of November 28, 1905, Ira H. Owen left Duluth, Minnesota, with a "light load" of 116,000 bushels of barley bound for Buffalo, New York. As she passed the Apostle Islands, the weather conditions were deteriorating, but her captain opted not to seek shelter. As Ira H. Owen was passing Outer Island, she was hit by the full force of what would become the Mataafa Storm. She was spotted by Captain Alva Keller of the freighter Harold B. Nye, and appeared to be in trouble; Harold B. Nye, however, was unable to assist Ira H. Owen. The snow eventually blocked Ira H. Owen from Captain Keller's view. After the storm had passed, he looked for Ira H. Owen with his binoculars, but was unable to locate her.
On December 1, the freighter Sir William Siemens located wreckage from Ira H. Owen, 12 miles (19.3 km) east of Michigan Island. None of Ira H. Owen's 19 crewmen survived, and her wreck has not been located.