SS Toledo (1854)

History
Name	Toledo
Owner	American Transportation Corporation
Port of registry	Buffalo, New York, United States
Builder	Benjamin Buhl Jones
Completed	1854
Acquired	1854
In service	1854
Out of service	24 October 1856
Fate	Sank in a storm on 24 October 1856.
General characteristics
Type	Passenger/Cargo ship
Tonnage	585 GRT
Length	54.3 metres (178 ft 2 in)
Beam	8.8 metres (28 ft 10 in)
Depth	3.4 metres (11 ft 2 in)
Decks	1
Installed power	A single high pressure (including HPNC) engine, 1 boiler
Propulsion	One screw propeller
Capacity	17 to 56 passengers
Crew	25
Notes	1 Mast and smokestack

SS Toledo was an American Passenger/Cargo ship that sank during a storm in Lake Michigan near Port Washington, Wisconsin, United States on 24 October 1856 with the loss of 39 to 79 lives.

Construction

Toledo was built at the Benjamin Buhl Jones shipyard in Buffalo, New York, United States and completed in 1854. The ship was 54.3 metres (178 ft 2 in) long, had a beam of 8.8 metres (28 ft 10 in) and had a depth of 3.4 metres (11 ft 2 in). She was assessed at 585 GRT and had a single high pressure (including HPNC) engine driving a screw propeller as well as a single boiler. The ship was also equipped with a single mast and smokestack. She was constructed with a wooden hull.

1855 Incidents

In August 1855, Toledo collided with the schooner White Cloud in Lake Huron with both ships suffering damage. That same year, she struck a pier in Cleveland Harbor, Ohio, United States and partially sank. She was raised and repaired, but her cargo of corn was ruined.

Sinking

Toledo departed Port Washington, Wisconsin, United States harbor on 24 October 1856 for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States with either 41 or 81 passengers and crew and package freight onboard, when a violent storm began to form. The ship's crew decided to lower the anchor, but its chain got caught. Before her crew could free the anchor chain with axes, she ran aground near Port Washington. The storm rapidly broke up the ship, leading to the loss of all but two of its passengers and crew.

Wreck

The wreck of Toledo lies in 20 feet (6 m) of water at 43°23′N 87°51′W. Immediately following the sinking, most of the ship's superstructure had been broken up into fragments and strewn across two miles (3.2 km) of the lake shore near Port Washington, sometimes the debris reached several feet high. The ship's hull had mostly sunk to the lakebed with some large pieces washing up on shore. The ship's boilers and engine were raised on 27 September 1857 and sent to Chicago, Illinois, United States. The anchor was recovered in 1900 along with some of the ship's rigging. Her salvaged anchor lies at the Port Washington Union Cemetery. On 2 August 1963, two scuba divers explored the wrecksite and recovered several artifacts. The condition of Toledo's wreck is described as extremely broken up and scattered over a large area while it rests on the lakebed of Lake Michigan on top of sand, rocks and hard packed clay in 20 feet (6 m) of water. The wreck's debris field begins just two yards (1.8 m) of shore, and the ship's decking, left behind machinery, and smokestack are still intact.