Last updated: September 24, 2020
Article
SS Glenlyon: Construction
Great Lakes Maritime Collection, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, 65339_65367_F
Construction
Glenlyon was built as William H. Gratwick in 1893 at West Bay City, Michigan by F.W. Wheeler & Company. The original U.S. registry number was 81427. Prior to 1893, Wheeler-built vessels carried engines built by one of two Detroit engine companies, S.F. Hodge & Company or the Frontier Iron Works. Wheeler later expanded its operations to include engine construction, and its own new engine works were put in operation in the latter part of 1892. The foreman of the new Wheeler facility was William Willis, formerly of the Hodge Company. Willis supervised the placement of the first Wheeler-built engine in hull 93. William H. Gratwick had the distinction of carrying their first engine (Wright, 1969:124). The triple-expansion engine had cylinder diameters of 20, 32 and 54 inches on a 42-inch stroke, with an indicated horsepower of 1200. The original cylindrical Scotch boilers, 12 feet x 13 feet, were built by the Wickes Brothers Boiler Works of Saginaw, Michigan.
Great Lakes Maritime Collection, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library, 65339_65380_F
Gratwick was built to serve as a package freighter for John Mitchell & Company of Cleveland. The hull was of steel with a length of 328 feet, a beam of 42.5 feet and a depth of 20.5 feet. Gross tonnage of the vessel was 2,818.27 and the net was 2,202.90. In the builder's certification of March 13, 1893, Gratwick was described as a screw steamer with two decks, three masts, plain head, and round stern. Gratwick was launched Saturday afternoon, February 4, 1893 (Port Huron Times, Feb. 6, 1893).
The first owner of William H. Gratwick was the Mitchell Steamship Company of Cleveland ("Doc, of Enrollment," April 15, 1893, Huron, Ohio). The president of the company was Capt. John Mitchell, a prominent businessman, who was born in Canada in 1850.