SS Merchant

42°43′47.82″N 87°45′51.18″W / 42.7299500°N 87.7642167°W / 42.7299500; -87.7642167

Merchant, depicted in a stereoscopic photograph
History
United States
Name	Merchant
Owner	James C. & Edwin T. Evans (1862–1873) Erie & Western Transportation Company (also known as the "Anchor Line") (1873–1875)
Operator	Erie & Western Transportation Company
Port of registry	Buffalo, New York (1862–1873) Erie, Pennsylvania (1873–1875)
Builder	David Bell shipyard of Buffalo, New York Construction supervised by J. V. F. Wilson
Launched	July 12, 1862
In service	August 2, 1862
Out of service	October 6, 1875
Identification	US official number 16332
Fate	Wrecked on Lake Michigan
Notes	First iron hulled vessel constructed on the Great Lakes, also first to use coal as fuel
General characteristics
Type	Passenger and package freighter
Tonnage	720.66 GRT
Length	200 feet (61.0 m) LOA 189.25 feet (57.7 m) or 192 feet (58.5 m) LBP
Beam	29.16 feet (8.9 m)
Draft	12 feet (3.7 m) (average)
Depth	13.66 feet (4.2 m)
Installed power	Engine: 1 × 600 hp (450 kW) low pressure direct action condensing engine Boiler: 1 × 50 pounds per square inch (340 kPa) low pressure firebox boiler
Propulsion	1 × fixed pitch propeller (10 feet (3.0 m) diameter, 14 feet (4.3 m) pitch)
Speed	14 miles per hour (12 kn)
Capacity	c. 837 long tons (937 short tons; 850 t)

SS Merchant was an American iron–hulled passenger and package freighter in service between 1862 and 1875. The first iron–hulled merchant ship built on the Great Lakes, she was built in 1862 in Buffalo, New York, by the David Bell shipyard, out of components manufactured in Black Rock, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was built for James C. and Edwin T. Evans of Buffalo, under whom she carried passengers and freight. Merchant made her maiden voyage in August 1862, sailing from Buffalo to Chicago. Between late 1872 and early 1873, she was lengthened by 30 feet (9.1 m), and had her passenger cabins removed. Also in 1873, Merchant was sold to the Erie & Western Transportation Company (also known as the "Anchor Line") of Erie, Pennsylvania.

On October 6, 1875, while bound from Chicago for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a cargo of 20,000 bushels of corn, 200 barrels of flour and 2,000 bags of flax, she ran aground on Racine Reef off Racine, Wisconsin, due to a navigational error. Her hull punctured, she settled onto the reef. Although it was initially believed that she could be saved, she was abandoned by October 13 and had broken apart by November 1. By 1877, all of her machinery had been recovered.

Rediscovered sometime during the 1990s, her wreck lies fragmented and scattered over a large area in about 25 feet (7.6 m) of water.