Northern Wave
{{Short description|1800s steamship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| infobox caption = | display title = ital }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:Northern Wave.jpg | Ship image size = | Ship caption = Northern Wave (right) | image alt = Photograph of Northern Wave docked, with another ship in view }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = Northern Wave | Ship owner = * Northern Steamship Co. 1889–1903
| Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Globe Iron Works | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 1889 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = * Hull number: 00022
| Ship fate = Scrapped, 1926 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Steamer | Ship tonnage = * {{GRT|2476}}
| Ship displacement = | Ship length = 299.42 | Ship beam = | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship depth = 24.5 | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = Steam generator: 2 × Scotch boilers | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
Northern Wave was an American large steel steamer built by Globe Iron Works{{Cite web |title=Globe Iron Works, AmShip Cleveland |url=https://navalmarinearchive.com/sbh/shipyards/large/globe.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=navalmarinearchive.com}} and used on the Great Lakes. Northern Wave was launched in 1889 and scrapped in 1926.{{Cite web |title=Northern Wave - Great Lakes Vessel HistoryGreat Lakes Vessel History |url=https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/n/northern-wave |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com}} It was one of eight steamships owned by the Northern Steamship Company of Buffalo.{{Cite web |last=Croil |first=James |title=Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/58849/pg58849-images.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |publisher=gutenberg.org |language=en}} The Northern Steamship Company was created in 1888 by Jerome Hill, who was also in the railroad business.{{Cite web |title=Great Northern Railway: Map, Logo, Rosters, History |url=https://www.american-rails.com/great.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=American-Rails.com |language=en}} During World War I the ship was moved to the Atlantic as a part of the war effort.
In 1891 the ship had a gross earnings of $106,000.{{Cite book |url=http://www.marshcollection.org/wp-content/uploads/Soundings-Vol3-No4.pdf |title=Echo Soundings, Marine News of 1892 |date=2000 |publisher=Marsh Collection Society}}
From 1891 to 1896 the chief engineer was a Canadian named Frederick Potts.{{Cite web |title=Marine Biographies Letter P History of the Great Lakes, Vol. 2 by J.B. Mansfield, Captains, Shipping, Lighthouse Keepers |url=https://www.linkstothepast.com/marine/captainsPh.php |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.linkstothepast.com}}
In 1919 the radio stations onboard were controlled by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co.{{Cite web |date=1919 |title=Radio Service Bulletin |url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-338034A1.pdf}}
The ship was also involved in a 1924 lawsuit, where the court decided that a lack of investigation is not prejudicial if such investigation would have been useless.{{Cite journal |last=M. |first=L. A. |date=1925 |title=Admiralty: The Effect of the Supreme Court's Interpretation of the Lien Act of 1910 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1279160 |journal=Michigan Law Review |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=512–516 |doi=10.2307/1279160 |jstor=1279160 |issn=0026-2234}}
The ship was finally sold to Italian shipbreakers in 1925 and scrapped the next year in Genoa, Italy.
Ownership
The Northern Wave was owned by the Mutual Transit Co. as of 1907 under the Captain D. L. Cartwright.{{Cite web |title=Marine Vessels Navigating the Great Lakes in 1905 |url=https://www.linkstothepast.com/marine/vessels-1905-M-R.php |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.linkstothepast.com}} After the Mutual Transit Co., the Northern Wave was owned by the Great Lakes Transit Corporation in 1916.{{Cite web |title=Albert Gieseler -- Schiffsdampfmaschine |url=http://www.albert-gieseler.de/dampf_de/maschinen10/dampfdet101728.shtml |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=www.albert-gieseler.de}} The U.S. Shipping Board is listed as the owner from 1917 to 1920.{{Cite web |title=Search Results - Historical Collections of the Great Lakes - BGSU University Libraries |url=https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/owners?display=gallery&sort=name%20asc&limit%5Bcountry%5D%5B0%5D=United%20States&limit%5BbeginDate%5D%5B0%5D=1917-00-00&limit%5Bcity%5D%5B0%5D=Washington&limit%5BofficialNumber%5D%5B0%5D=130437 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=greatlakes.bgsu.edu}}
Design
The Northern Wave was similarly made to five of the other ships owned by the company. It was a steel freight ship weighing 2,500 tons. James Croil of Montreal in 1989 described these ships as "perhaps the finest fleet of steamers on the Great Lakes." The Northern Wave had two Scotch boilers.{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Fred W. |title=Green's Marine Directory of the Great Lakes, 1916, p. 261 |url=https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/65687/page/263?n= |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca |language=en}}
Rescue of the ''M. M. Drake''
In 1901 the Northern Wave, along with another steamer, the Crescent City, rescued crews from the M. M. Drake and the schooner-barge Michigan, which M. M. Drake was towing. There was only one casualty.{{Cite web |last=Jodie |date=2021-10-25 |title=Shipwreck Society Discovers Three Shipwrecks Near Grand Marais, MI |url=https://shipwreckmuseum.com/shipwreck-society-discovers-three-shipwrecks-near-grand-marais-mi/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society |language=en-US}} While rescuing the crews the Northern Wave did collide with the M. M. Drake, but suffered no damage.{{Cite web |title=M. M. Drake (Propeller), U91485, sunk, 2 Oct 1901 |url=https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/details.asp?ID=60578 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca |language=en}}
Portage Bridge collision
In 1905 the Northern Wave collided with the Portage Bridge, requiring the center swinging section of the bridge to be replaced.{{Cite book |last=Hyde |first=Charles K. |url=https://archive.org/details/historichighwayb0000hyde |title=Historic highway bridges of Michigan |date=1993 |publisher=Detroit : Wayne State University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8143-2448-6}}
Rebuild
In 1917 the ship was moved to the Atlantic Coast and rebuilt, to a new tonnage of {{GRT|2599|disp=long}} and {{NRT|1526|disp=long}}. This was due to World War I, when the U.S. Shipping Company moved ships from the Great Lakes for use in the war effort.{{Cite web |title=NORTHERN WAVE - Historical Collections of the Great Lakes - BGSU University Libraries |url=https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/item/438448 |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=greatlakes.bgsu.edu}}