SS William E. Corey
{{Short description|20th-century bulk freighter}}
{{Coord|43|33|N|79|35|W|display=title}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = William E. Corey.jpg | Ship caption = The steamer William E. Corey after her launch }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship name = *William E. Corey (1905–1963) {{flagicon|United States|1905}}
| Ship namesake = William Ellis Corey | Ship operator = *Pittsburgh Steamship Company (1905-1952)
| Ship ordered = | Ship registry = {{flag|United States|civil}}, Fairport, Michigan | Ship builder = Chicago Shipbuilding Company | Ship yard number = 67 | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 24 June 1905 | Ship completed = 28 July 1905 | Ship identification = U.S. Registry #202296 | Ship acquired = | Ship in service = 12 August 1905 | Out of service = November 17, 1969 | Ship fate = Sunk as a breakwater outside Mississauga, Ontario | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Ship header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Bulk freighter | Ship tonnage = * {{GRT|6363}}
| Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|569|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|56|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height = {{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = 2× Scotch marine boilers | Ship propulsion = {{convert|1,800|hp|lk=in}} triple expansion steam engine attached to a single fixed pitch propeller | Ship speed = 10 knots | Ship crew = 29 | Ship notes = }} |
SS William E. Corey is a steel-hulled propeller-driven Great Lakes freighter that had a lengthy career on the Great Lakes. She served from her launching in 1905 to her conversion to a breakwater in 1970.
History
William E. Corey was a product of the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of Chicago, Illinois. William E. Corey was launched on June 24, 1905, as hull number #67. The laker was one of four almost identical vessels; {{SS|Elbert H. Gary||2}} and William E. Corey were both launched in Chicago, {{SS|Henry C. Frick||2}} launched in West Bay City, Michigan and {{SS|George W. Perkins||2}} launched in Superior, Wisconsin. All four vessels were the largest on the lakes at the time of their launch, hence the unofficial title "Queen of the Lakes".
''Mataafa'' Storm
File:The launching of the William E. Corey.jpg
Shortly after her launch the brand new William E. Corey encountered one of the worst storms in Great Lakes history, the Mataafa Storm of 1905. On November 28, William E. Corey was driven hard aground onto Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands. During a very short period of time the temperatures dropped to {{convert|-12|F}} and the winds reached hurricane force. After the storm William E. Corey was refloated on December 10, 1905.{{cite web
|url=http://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/c/corey-william-e/
|title=Corey, William E.
|website=Great Lakes Vessel History
|access-date=January 8, 2018
}}
SS ''Ridgetown''
Over the next fifty three years William E. Corey changed hands many times until in 1963 she was sold to the Upper Lakes Shipping Company and renamed Ridgetown.{{cite web
|url=http://www.mhsd.org/photogallery/rdgtown.htm
|title=RIDGETOWN
|website=mshd.org
}} The ship served for seven more years until in May 1970 when she was scuttled as a temporary breakwater at Nanticoke, Ontario in the summer. Later refloated in 1973. On June 21, 1974 she was scuttled as a breakwater at Mississauga, Ontario.{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?143632 |title=Ridgetown (+1970) |publisher=Wrecksite |access-date=20 August 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYaKGZq8Xxg|title=RIDGETOWN SHIP - PORT CREDIT|last=AuroraRon|date=September 3, 2016|access-date=April 16, 2019|via=YouTube}}
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:William E. Corey, SS}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1905
Category:Ships built in Chicago
Category:Ships sunk as breakwaters
Category:Merchant ships of the United States