SS South American

Steamer South American was a Great Lakes steamer built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan. It was built in 1913/14 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company. The vessel was launched on February 21, 1914 and was the newer of two near-sister ships, the older one being the North American.

Postcard of the South American on the Great Lakes
History
United States
Name: South American
Operator: Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company
Builder:
Laid down: 1913
Launched: 1914
Completed: 1914
Out of service: 1967
Fate: Failed Coast Guard Inspection 1968
Notes: Scrapped in 1992
General characteristics
Tonnage: 2662.00 gross[1]
Length: 290.50 ft (88.54 m)[1]
Beam: 47.00 ft (14.33 m)[1]
Draft: 18.25 ft (5.56 m) [1]
Propulsion: Propeller
Notes: Steel

The South American was 314 feet (96 m) in length, had a 47-foot (14 m) beam, and drew 18 feet (5.5 m). She was equipped with a 2,200 indicated horsepower quadruple-expansion steam engine and three coal-burning Scotch marine boilers.

She caught fire on September 9, 1924 in winter lay-up at Holland, Michigan. Her upper works were rebuilt that winter. Also at the time, a second smokestack was added and her coal-fired boilers were converted to oil-burning.

In 1967, the South American departed from her usual schedule to offer trips to the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal. At the end of the season, she was retired from regular passenger service and sold to Seafarers International Union in Piney Point, Maryland, as a replacement for the North American which sank a year prior while in tow there. Failing Coast Guard inspection, she was moved to Camden, New Jersey, where she rotted before being scrapped in 1992 in Baltimore.

References
  1. "South American". Historical Collection of the Great Lakes. Bowling Green State University. 2003. Retrieved 2009-09-15.

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