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SS Andaste
The SS Andaste was a Monitor-class vessel, built in 1892 by the Cleveland Ship Building Company for the Lake Superior Iron Company. The vessel is best known for sinking on Lake Michigan on the night of September 9–10, 1929, with all hands; 25 men were lost. As of 2025, the wreck of Andaste has not yet been located.
Andaste was built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company and launched on March 31, 1892. She was 266.9 feet (81.4 m) long with a 38.1-foot (11.6 m) beam and 17.9 feet (5.5 m) depth (hold and water bottom). She had a cutaway stern, seven deck hatches, and no interior bulkheads between the forward collision bulkhead and the engine bulkhead in the rear. She could carry 2,800 short tons (2,500 t) fully loaded, at which time she would draw 16 feet (4.9 m). She was originally built for the Lake Superior Iron Company in 1892, but the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company became her owner after the original owner went into bankruptcy in 1898.
Andaste, and her sister ship Choctaw, had an unusual design. They were straight-back steel freighters, similar to whalebacks, but they had straight sides and a conventional bow. This combination meant that from the waterline upward, their sides sloped inboard in a "tumble-home" configuration. They were a hybrid called "semi-whalebacks" and like the true whalebacks, they were vulnerable to getting a wet deck in storm or gale conditions. In 1898 Andaste and Choctaw were transferred from Lake Superior Iron to the Cleveland Cliffs Co. The vessels carried coal, iron ore, and grain to and from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes. Choctaw sank in 1915 as the result of a marine collision in Lake Huron, leaving Andaste as a unique vessel without any sister ships.
The vessel received new boilers in 1906.
In the winter of 1920–1921, Andaste (then owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.) was delivered to the Great Lakes Engineering Works for a major refit. She was shortened from 266 feet in length to 246 feet. Her new "canaller" dimensions made it possible for her to operate in the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence River. Despite this refit, the vessel was rapidly becoming superannuated. Her age and unique dimensions made her superfluous within the Great Lakes bulk-carriage shipping industry.
In 1925 Andaste was steered to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for a second refit. This second refit was carried out under the supervision of her new owners, Cliffs-L.D. Smith Steamship Company. This rebuild was meant to help the aging vessel transport crushed stone and stone aggregate, and a self-unloading crane and related apparatus were refitted onto the ship's hull and frame. The Smith-patented tunnel scrapers were intended to enable the ship to unload more quickly, and to partially offload at ports that could not previously be serviced by a bulk carrier. Although the Leatham Smith self-unloading apparatus made economic sense, the topside gear appears to have had negative effects upon the metacentric stability of the vessels that took on the new machinery. Four of the refitted ships were lost in relatively quick progression.
During the 1920s, there was a dramatic upsurge in demand by local governments and road districts for gravel, sand, and cement. Outdoor construction materials were in high demand to build concrete-paved roads and highways for motor cars. This demand created a new lease on life for the old Andaste. Starting in 1928, the aging "canaller" was chartered to the Construction Materials Company of Chicago as a shuttle boat for aggregate construction materials. The Company's dock and concrete plant, on the Calumet River in South Chicago, always needed more aggregate. In addition, the Company had been hired as a contractor to the City of Chicago, which was building a broad parkway along its shoreline that required hundreds of thousands of tons of landfill sand. The parkway that Andaste was helping to build would become Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. Although Andaste was itself owned by Cleveland interests, the vessel rarely left the sand-and-gravel-rich basin of Lake Michigan.
As a shuttle boat, Andaste was commanded by Captain Albert L. Anderson of Sturgeon Bay. A glacier-deposited mound of sand and gravel on the banks of the Grand River, at what is now the Bass River State Recreation Area twelve miles southeast of Grand Haven, yielded a steady stream of aggregate loads bound for Chicago. On September 9, 1929, Andaste lay alongside a Grand River dock, taking on another 2,000-ton load of Grand River aggregate. Few noticed the workaday vessel, as she was a constant presence at working port quays like this one. Late that evening she cast off and headed for Chicago. The boat was logged by the Coast Guard as passing through the Grand Haven harbor piers at 9:03 p.m. This brief notation in an official log book is the last verified sighting of Andaste.
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SS Andaste
The SS Andaste was a Monitor-class vessel, built in 1892 by the Cleveland Ship Building Company for the Lake Superior Iron Company. The vessel is best known for sinking on Lake Michigan on the night of September 9–10, 1929, with all hands; 25 men were lost. As of 2025, the wreck of Andaste has not yet been located.
Andaste was built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company and launched on March 31, 1892. She was 266.9 feet (81.4 m) long with a 38.1-foot (11.6 m) beam and 17.9 feet (5.5 m) depth (hold and water bottom). She had a cutaway stern, seven deck hatches, and no interior bulkheads between the forward collision bulkhead and the engine bulkhead in the rear. She could carry 2,800 short tons (2,500 t) fully loaded, at which time she would draw 16 feet (4.9 m). She was originally built for the Lake Superior Iron Company in 1892, but the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company became her owner after the original owner went into bankruptcy in 1898.
Andaste, and her sister ship Choctaw, had an unusual design. They were straight-back steel freighters, similar to whalebacks, but they had straight sides and a conventional bow. This combination meant that from the waterline upward, their sides sloped inboard in a "tumble-home" configuration. They were a hybrid called "semi-whalebacks" and like the true whalebacks, they were vulnerable to getting a wet deck in storm or gale conditions. In 1898 Andaste and Choctaw were transferred from Lake Superior Iron to the Cleveland Cliffs Co. The vessels carried coal, iron ore, and grain to and from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes. Choctaw sank in 1915 as the result of a marine collision in Lake Huron, leaving Andaste as a unique vessel without any sister ships.
The vessel received new boilers in 1906.
In the winter of 1920–1921, Andaste (then owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.) was delivered to the Great Lakes Engineering Works for a major refit. She was shortened from 266 feet in length to 246 feet. Her new "canaller" dimensions made it possible for her to operate in the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence River. Despite this refit, the vessel was rapidly becoming superannuated. Her age and unique dimensions made her superfluous within the Great Lakes bulk-carriage shipping industry.
In 1925 Andaste was steered to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for a second refit. This second refit was carried out under the supervision of her new owners, Cliffs-L.D. Smith Steamship Company. This rebuild was meant to help the aging vessel transport crushed stone and stone aggregate, and a self-unloading crane and related apparatus were refitted onto the ship's hull and frame. The Smith-patented tunnel scrapers were intended to enable the ship to unload more quickly, and to partially offload at ports that could not previously be serviced by a bulk carrier. Although the Leatham Smith self-unloading apparatus made economic sense, the topside gear appears to have had negative effects upon the metacentric stability of the vessels that took on the new machinery. Four of the refitted ships were lost in relatively quick progression.
During the 1920s, there was a dramatic upsurge in demand by local governments and road districts for gravel, sand, and cement. Outdoor construction materials were in high demand to build concrete-paved roads and highways for motor cars. This demand created a new lease on life for the old Andaste. Starting in 1928, the aging "canaller" was chartered to the Construction Materials Company of Chicago as a shuttle boat for aggregate construction materials. The Company's dock and concrete plant, on the Calumet River in South Chicago, always needed more aggregate. In addition, the Company had been hired as a contractor to the City of Chicago, which was building a broad parkway along its shoreline that required hundreds of thousands of tons of landfill sand. The parkway that Andaste was helping to build would become Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. Although Andaste was itself owned by Cleveland interests, the vessel rarely left the sand-and-gravel-rich basin of Lake Michigan.
As a shuttle boat, Andaste was commanded by Captain Albert L. Anderson of Sturgeon Bay. A glacier-deposited mound of sand and gravel on the banks of the Grand River, at what is now the Bass River State Recreation Area twelve miles southeast of Grand Haven, yielded a steady stream of aggregate loads bound for Chicago. On September 9, 1929, Andaste lay alongside a Grand River dock, taking on another 2,000-ton load of Grand River aggregate. Few noticed the workaday vessel, as she was a constant presence at working port quays like this one. Late that evening she cast off and headed for Chicago. The boat was logged by the Coast Guard as passing through the Grand Haven harbor piers at 9:03 p.m. This brief notation in an official log book is the last verified sighting of Andaste.