SS Appomattox

The Appomattox (Official number 116682) was built in 1896 in West Bay City, Michigan by the shipyard owned by master shipbuilder James Davidson who was known for his innovative wooden hulled ships.{{efn-ua|James While most companies started to build ships with steel hulls, Davidson continued building wooden ships and pushed the boundaries of wooden boat technology. Because of this he eventually manufactured some of the largest wooden ships in the world like: the Appomattox, the Frank O'Connor and the Pretoria{{cite web |url=http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/vessel/Details/218 |title=Frank O'Connor|work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date=17 March 2018}}|group=Note}} It was the largest wooden steam powered bulk carrier ever to sail on the Great Lakes.{{cite web |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2226 |title=Appomattox Shipwreck |work=Wisconsin Historical Society |access-date=21 April 2018|date=January 2012 }} It was built for the Davidson Steamship Company which was also owned by Captain Davidson; it was also one of the last ships he built.{{cite web |url=https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/a/appomattox/ |title=Appomattox |work=Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry |access-date=21 April 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS14759 |title=Appomattox Shipwreck Listed in National Register of Historic Places |work=Wisconsin Historical Society |access-date=21 April 2018|date=2015-12-03 }} At an overall length of {{convert|330|ft|m}} the Appomattox was one of the largest wooden ships ever built. Its hull was {{convert|319.80|ft|m}} between its perpendiculars.{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/31?region=Index |title=Appomattox (1896) |work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date=21 April 2018}} Its beam was {{convert|42|ft|m}} wide, and its hull was {{convert|23|ft|m}} deep.The "Door County Advocate" published an article on August 8, 1896 on page 5 in which it listed the beam as 43 feet, or about 13.1 meters. It had a gross register tonnage of 2643 tons, and a net register tonnage of 2082 tons.{{cite web |url=http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/000347 |title=Appomattox |work=Bowling Green State University |access-date=21 April 2018}} It was equipped with a 1,100 horsepower triple expansion steam engine which was built by the Frontier Iron Works Company of Detroit. Its engine was fueled by two Scotch marine boilers that were built by the Wickes Brothers of Saginaw, Michigan. They measured {{convert|12.3|ft|m}} by {{convert|12.160|ft|m}}{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?27530 |title=SS Appomattox (+1905) |work=Wrecksite |access-date=24 April 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://greatlakeships.org/2905143/data?n=2 |title=Appomattox (1896, Bulk Carrier) | work = Maritime History of the Great Lakes |access-date=24 April 2018}}

Due to the vessel's length, the Appomattox used metallic cross bracing, a metallic keelson, metallic plates, and multiple metallic arches. Several siphons, pumps were required to keep the Appomattox afloat.[http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_appomattox_serv.cfm Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks: Appomattox] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928131606/http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_appomattox_serv.cfm |date=2007-09-28 }} University of Wisconsin–Madison Sea Grant Institute and Wisconsin Historical Society, 2003

The Appomattox operated mainly on the Great Lakes, carrying iron ore on its eastward voyages, and then returning westward with coal. The ship usually towed the steamer barge Santiago, which had a length of 324 feet (98.8 m), to increase the amount of cargo carried each trip. The Appomattox alone could carry more than 3,000 tons of bulk cargo, and it and the Santiago had a combined capacity approaching 8,000 tons.{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/31?region=Index |title=Service History |website=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date=21 April 2018}}

On August 3, 1900 the Appomattox was towing the schooner-barge Santiago in the St. Clair River. Meanwhile, the schooner Fontana was under tow of the steamer Kaliyuga.{{cite web |url=http://www.midwestconnection.org/diving/diving_martin_fontana.htm |title=Fontana |work=Scuba Diving |access-date=24 April 2018}} Then as the four ships approached each other, the Santiago veered off course and collided with the Fontana, which sank almost immediately with one fatality.

On the day of November 2, 1905 the coal-laden Appomattox was bound southward with the Santiago which was also full of coal. They were sailing on the west shore of Lake Michigan.{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/31?region=Index |title=Final Voyage |work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date=24 April 2018}} The pair came upon a thick bank of fog which severely impaired their visibility. The two vessels came too close to the shoreline and ran aground. Another vessel named Iowa was nearby, and she also ran aground. With the use of wrecking tugs, a Revenue Service cutter and the crew of the United States Life-Saving Service Station were able to free the Santiago and the Iowa in no time at all. Unfortunately the Appomattox had run aground so hard that it sustained severe bottom damage, the crews worked but were unable to refloat the hull.

As the weather deteriorated, and the waves continued to pound the hulk of the Appomattox, the crew of the wrecking tugs and the U.S. Lifesaving Service continued in their effort to salvage her. But the bottom of the Appomattox had cracked in several places, and even though multiple pumps were used, they could not keep the water from entering her hull. The wrecking crews abandoned her on November 15, 1905. In 1907, or 1919, the Reid (or Reed) Wrecking Company of Sarnia removed all of her machinery.{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.103308628&view=1up&seq=457 |title=American Marine Engineer September, 1919 |publisher=National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association of the United States |via=Haithi Trust |access-date=28 August 2020}}

The remains of the Appomattox rest in {{convert|15|to|20|ft|m}} of water {{convert|150|yd|m}} off Atwater Beach.{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/31?region=Index |title=Today |work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date=24 April 2018}} The remains consist of the Appomattox{{'s}} intact lower bilge which measures {{convert|250|ft|m}}, her port side which measures {{convert|260|ft|m}} in length, her starboard side, the remains of her engine beds are also located within the wreck. The wreck is popular with divers due to its close proximity to shore and shallow depth.

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{{commons category|Appomattox (ship, 1896)}}

{{Registered Historic Places}}

{{NRHP Lake Michigan shipwrecks of Wisconsin|state=collapsed}}

{{World's largest wooden ships}}

{{1905 shipwrecks}}

{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

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Category:1896 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1905

Category:Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin

Category:Steamships of the United States

Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin

Category:Ships built by James Davidson

Category:Great Lakes freighters

Category:Wreck diving sites