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T.W. Lake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
T.W. Lake at Pier 3, Seattle, 1915 or earlier.
History
NameT.W. Lake
OwnerLa Conner Trading & Trans. Co., others later
BuilderT.W. Lake
Completed1896
Out of service1923
IdentificationUS registry #145700
FateLost with all hands in Rosario Strait.
General characteristics
TypeInland steamboat
Tonnage191 gross tons
Length96.5 ft (29.41 m)
Beam24.9 ft (7.59 m)
Installed powerTwin compound steam engines, developing about 100 hp (75 kW); later 45 hp (34 kW) twin diesel engines.
PropulsionTwin propellers
NotesReconstructed from hulk of steamer Annie M. Pence

T.W. Lake was a steamboat that ran on Puget Sound in the early 1900s. This vessel was lost with all hands on December 5, 1923 in one of the worst disasters of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet.

Career

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T.W. Lake was built in 1896 by the T.W Lake shipyard for the firm of Joshua Green and associates, who had incorporated as the La Conner Trading and Transportation Company (LCT&T). The vessel had a wooden hull and works, and was intended to operate as a freighter. The hull was salvaged from the sternwheeler Annie M. Pence, which had burned in 1895. In 1903, the vessel passed into the control of the Puget Sound Navigation Co. ("PSN") after that company purchased LCT&T. In 1905 PSN sold the freighter to the Merchants Transportation Company. In 1916 T.W. Lake was fitted with Barlow freight elevator. In 1918 the vessel was completely reconstructed from the boiler room forward. The steam engines were removed and were replaced by two Fairbanks-Morse 45 horsepower (34 kW) diesel engines.[1]

Lost with all hands

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On December 5, 1923, operating in the San Juan Islands, T.W. Lake was en route from Roche Harbor to Anacortes, Washington with a cargo of 700 barrels of lime, under Capt. Elmore Ellsworth Mason and chief engineer Joseph Larsen. Crossing Rosario Strait, at 7:15 p.m., the freighter encountered wind speeds of 72 miles per hour, and foundered off Lopez Island. All fourteen (14) men aboard were lost.[1] News clippings state 15 Men, after some research one crew member did not board the vessel.(T.Hughes)

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History, at 343.

References

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