Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2016 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: A. T. Bliss OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 29925 DATE OF LOSS: 5 November 1903 CAUSE OF LOSS: Storm LOCATION: Lake Michigan, 10-12 niles off Ludington RIG TYPE: Barge, lumber and stone HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Thomas Arnold, E. Saginaw, MI. - 1881 OWNER(S): Sturgeon Bay Stone Co. MASTER: - TONNAGE: 437 gt DIMENSIONS: 168 x 30 x 10 CASUALTIES: none Left Sturgon Bay, WI., in the early afternoon of November 5th in tow of the tug SYDNEY T. SMITH. The pair were overtaken by a storm and the tow line parted. The SMITH ran to Ludington for aid while the BLISS went to anchor. P.M careferry no. 18 towed the Ludington life- saving crew to the scene and illuminated the barge with her searchlights while the lifesavers effected the rescue of the 2 men aboard the sinking BLISS. Built a two-masted schooner-barge. Lost both masts and her deckload in an 1895 storm on Lake Michigan. Later photographs show only one mast. Damage to rigging and bulwarks at Chicago when the mechanism on the 12th street bridge malfunctioned, allowing the bridge to continue turning and crashing into the BLISS as she was being towed through the draw. Cut by ice on Lake Michigan in December, 1901, and towed into Chicago in a waterlogged condition. Found bottom in the Chicago river near the Wells and Clark street bridges, blocking the channel until lightered and released. ======================================================================== Sources: Buffalo Courier, 3 August 1899 Chicago Tribune, 24 December 1901 Ludington Record-Appeal, 5 November 1903 Chicago Tribune - 6 November 1903 Cleveland Herald, 24 May 1881 Buffalo Evening News - 1 October 1895 Merchant Vessel List - 1902