Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2019 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/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Fontana OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 120713 DATE OF LOSS: 4 August 1900 CAUSE OF LOSS: Collision LOCATION: Opposite Fort Gratiot lighthouse RIG TYPE: Schooner, schooner-barge HULL TYPE: Wooden BUILDER: Simon Langell Shipyard, St. Clair, MI - 1888 OWNER(S): St. Clair Steamship Co. MASTER: Capt. George McCoy TONNAGE: 1,163.65 gt DIMENSIONS: 240' x 39' x 20' CASUALTIES: 1 (?) FONTANA was downbound in tow of the steamer KALIYUGA when the pair met the upbound steamer APPOMATTOX with the barge SANTIAGO in tow. The SANTIAGO suddenly took a sheer (it was said she was a hard steerer) and struck the FONTANA a severe blow, holing her bow, and sending her to the bottom. A goodly portion of her aft section remained jutting up from the river, making her a serious threat to navigation. A few days after the collision the schooner KINGFISHER, in tow of the steamer SAMUEL MARSHALL, collided with the wreckage even though it was well marked. The wreckage slowly settled into the mud but, still being a danger, was blown up to eliminate further catastrophe. ======================================================================== Sources: Marine Record, 5 July 1888 The Daily Herald, Port Huron, MI - 4 August 1900 Saginaw Courier-Herald, 5 August 1900 Detroit Free Press - 6 August 1900 Marine Review - 23 August 1900 Greenwood, John Orville - "Namesakes, 1900 - 1909"