View source for SS Cyprus

{{Short description|Lake freighter that sank in Lake Superior}}
{{other ships|Cyprus (ship)}}
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{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = Cyprus ship1.jpg
| Ship caption             = SS ''Cyprus''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship name                = ''Cyprus''
|Ship country=United States 
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|civil}}
| Ship owner               = [[Pickands Mather Group|Pickands-Mather]] of [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
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| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = [[American Ship Building Company]] of [[Lorain, Ohio]]
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship yard number         = 353
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| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 17 August 1907
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| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship identification      = United States Registry #204527
| Ship fate                = Foundered and sunk during a storm on October 11, 1907.
| Ship notes               = 
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| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = [[Lake freighter]]
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| Ship displacement        = 
| Ship length              = {{convert|420|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
| Ship beam                = {{convert|52|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
| Ship height              = {{convert|28|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
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'''SS ''Cyprus''''' was a [[lake freighter]] that sank during a [[gale]] storm on [[Lake Superior]] on 11 October 1907. The ship went down in 460 feet (140 m) of water at {{coord|46.79|N|85.60|W|display=inline,title}}, about 8 miles (7 [[nautical mile|nm]]; 13&nbsp;km) north of [[Deer Park, Michigan|Deer Park]] in [[Luce County, Michigan|Luce County]], Michigan. All but one of the 23 members of the crew perished.

==Construction==
''Cyprus'' was built in [[Lorain, Ohio]] and launched 17 August 1907. She was a 420-foot-long (128 m), 15,000 [[short ton|ton]] (13,608 [[tonne]]) steel-hulled steamer. She was owned by the Lackawanna Steamship Company,<ref>{{cite book|last=Stonehouse|first=Frederick|title=Lake Superior's "Shipwreck Coast": A Survey of Maritime Accidents From Whitefish Bay's Point Iroquois to Grand Marais, Michigan|location=Au Train, Mich.|publisher=Avery Color Studios|date=1985|isbn=9780932212436|page=131}}</ref> (a subsidiary of [[Pickands Mather and Company]])<ref>{{cite book|author=Moody's Investors Service|title=Moody's Manual of Investments|location=New York|publisher=Moody's Investors Service|date=1930|page=675}}</ref> and based out of [[Fairport Harbor, Ohio|Fairport, Ohio]], northeast of [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], on [[Lake Erie]]. A marine trade publication described ''Cyprus'' as a very seaworthy vessel in an article published after her sinking.

==Sinking==
On only her second voyage, ''Cyprus'' was hauling iron ore from [[Superior, Wisconsin]] to [[Buffalo, New York]] when a moderate gale arose off Deer Park. The gale, according to contemporary accounts, was reported as nothing that ''Cyprus'' couldn't have handled. According to Second Mate Charles G. Pitz — the sole survivor — ''Cyprus'' had been pounded by northwesterly waves all afternoon which caused an increasing list to port. At around 7:45&nbsp;p.m. the ship lurched to port and capsized. Pitz and three others, which included Captain F. B. Huyck (according to some accounts) secured themselves on a raft. By 2:00&nbsp;a.m. the raft and its occupants were within 300 feet (91 m) of shore when breaking waves flipped the raft, and all but Pitz drowned in the surf. Pitz unwittingly staggered ashore, just a half-mile east of the Deer Park Life-Saving Station. All but two bodies were eventually recovered.

It was never clear what caused the ship to list in the first place. Another steamer, ''George Stephenson'' out of Pittsburgh, had passed ''Cyprus'' that afternoon and had noted that ''Cyprus'' was trailing a red wake, indicating that water was mixing with iron ore dust in its cargo hold before being pumped out. Speculation on the source of the leak has centered on the type of Mulholland sliding hatch cover the nearly new ship had been outfitted with. With a steel on steel seal, this type of hatch was prone to allowing water past unless special [[tarpaulin]]s were fitted on the hatches. It was not clear if Huyck had ordered these tarpaulins deployed or not.

Some alternate theories propose that the engine or rudder failed, leaving ''Cyprus'' without the maneuverability needed to avoid wave troughs where ships are most vulnerable to rolling, or propose that labor unrest in Lorain during ''Cyprus’'' construction may have contributed to other, as yet undiscovered flaws. The vessel was a $280,000 loss.

==Rediscovery==

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In early August 2007 members of the [[Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum|Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society]] were using [[side-scan sonar]] to search for wrecks off Deer Park when they detected a large object on the bottom of Lake Superior. According to their best guess, it was the [[SS D.M. Clemson (1903)|SS ''D.M. Clemson'']], which sank in that area with all hands on 1 December 1908. A follow-up visit to the vessel with a [[submersible]] [[Remotely operated underwater vehicle|ROV]] was made on 18 August 2007. Attempts to identify the vessel as ''D.M. Clemson'' were frustrated when the ship’s name was not on the bow in the place where searchers expected to find it. They then sent the ROV to the stern where they made the startling discovery that it was, in fact, the ''Cyprus'' they had located. The Shipwreck Society had previously believed that ''Cyprus'' was some ten miles (16&nbsp;km) north of where it was found.
''Cyprus'' was discovered lying on her port side in about 460 feet of water. Her hull is totally intact, which is surprising considering the rather violent manner in which she foundered. Wreckage consisting of wall panelings, doors, railings, pipes, and her cargo of iron ore are scattered about the bottom up to 270 feet away from the wreck. Her name and port of call remains completely legible on her stern.

The Shipwreck Society has plans to return to the wreck in the future for forensic research in order to answer some of the lingering questions relating to the sinking of ''Cyprus''.

==See also==

* [[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/10/13/104710236.pdf | title = Steamer Founders - 25 are drowned | date = 1907-10-13 | format = pdf | work = [[The New York Times]] | accessdate = 2011-10-29 }}
* {{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/10/14/104997320.pdf | title = Nineteen bodies recovered | date = 1907-10-14 | format = pdf | work = [[The New York Times]] | accessdate = 2007-09-14 }}
* {{cite web | url = http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/cyprus | title = Cyprus | date = 2011 | publisher = Great Lake Shipwreck Museum | accessdate = 2011-10-29 }}

{{1907 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyprus}}
[[Category:Great Lakes freighters]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Superior]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1907]]
[[Category:Ships built in Lorain, Ohio]]
[[Category:1907 ships]]