Thomas H. Smith
Steam Barge · Lost 1893 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
The steam barge Thomas H. Smith sank in fog off Racine in 1893 after colliding with the steel steamer Arthur Orr; all twelve crew escaped.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1881, the wooden steam barge Thomas H. Smith was bound from Chicago to Menominee on November 11, 1893, towing the schooner William Aldrich at half speed through thick fog, her whistle sounding. The steel steamer Arthur Orr answered, but neither could make out the other until they were 300 feet apart, and a collision followed. Her twelve crew had time to climb aboard the Orr before the Smith settled by the stern, her bow rising into the air, and went to the bottom.
Vessel
- 1881
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
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- Not established
- Steam (screw)
- Not established
Loss
- November 11, 1893
- Collision
- Lake Michigan off Racine, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Chicago, Illinois → Menominee, Michigan
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
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Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Racine, Wisconsin
No pin: Wisconsin Shipwrecks inventory positions are not used as wreck pins.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (75/100)
Original newspaper accounts are quoted by the source and were not independently inspected.
Wisconsin Shipwrecks (Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant) — Thomas H. Smith
Specification table and final-voyage text read; quoted newspapers not independently inspected.
