 Postcard image of the steamerSankaty off ofOak Bluffs, Massachusetts. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Fore River Works,Quincy |
| Yard number | 192 |
| Launched | February 2, 1911 |
| Completed | April 1911 |
| Out of service | 1964 |
| Fate | Sunk in 1964 |
 Canada | |
| Name | Sankaty |
| Acquired | 1940 |
| Commissioned | September 24, 1940 |
| Decommissioned | August 18, 1945 |
| Fate | Returned to commercial service 1945 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Tonnage | 677 GRT |
| Length | 195 ft (59 m) |
| Beam |
|
| Draught | 9.6 ft (2.9 m) |
| Depth | 13 ft (4 m) |
| Installed power | Triple expansion engine |
| Propulsion | 2 propellers |
| Speed | 14 knots (16 mph) |
Sankaty (a.k.a.HMCSSankaty, a.k.a.Charles A. Dunning) was apropeller-drivensteamer that served as aferry toMartha's Vineyard andNantucket inMassachusetts; inRockland, Maine;Stamford, Connecticut andOyster Bay,Long Island in the United States from 1911 to 1940. DuringWorld War II, the ship was requisitioned by theRoyal Canadian Navy for service as aminelayer and maintenance vessel along theCanadian Atlantic coast. Following the war the ship returned to a ferry, working theWood Islands, Prince Edward Island andCaribou, Nova Scotia route in Canada from 1947 until 1964. While being towed to thebreaker's yard, the ship sank off the coast ofNova Scotia on October 27, 1964.
Sankaty was designed by Chauncey G. Whiton.[1] The ship was 195 feet (59 m) long,[1] a slim vessel with twinpropellers and twinsmokestacks.[2] She had a 36-foot (11 m)beam,[3] and 32 feet (10 m) at thewaterline and drew 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m) of water. The ship had a depth ofhold of 13 feet (4.0 m).[1] The ship had agross register tonnage (GRT) of 657 tons.Sankaty rolled much more than the sidewheelers that preceded it. Because of this, the ladies' parlor and toilet was situated on the upper deck in a location to reduce the motion and vibration while on the rough waters ofVineyard Sound.[4][5]
The ship was powered by atriple expansion engine fed by steam from four Almywater-tube boilers turning the two propellers. The ship had a maximum speed of 14knots (16 mph).[1] In Canadian naval service, the ship hadstandard displacement of 459 long tons (466 t), acomplement of 3 officers and 39ratings and the vessel was armed with one.303 machine gun.[6]
Sankaty built by theFore River Works inQuincy, Massachusetts[7] with theyard number 192.[5] The ship waslaunched on 2 February 1911 and completed in April.[5][4] From her construction in 1911 until 1924,Sankaty operated as aferry for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket Steamboat Company, serving the islands ofMartha's Vineyard andNantucket. While not the first propeller-driven steamer to serve these islands (which wasHelen Augusta which substituted forMonohansett during theAmerican Civil War) it marked the end of thepaddlewheel steamer era for the Cape and Islands.[2][5]
On February 20, 1917, she went ashore onWilburs Point atSconticut Neck nearNew Bedford, Massachusetts. The vessel was refloated, repaired and returned to service.[8]
On the night of June 30, 1924,Sankaty caught fire and burned down to her steel hull while tied up overnight inNew Bedford harbor.[4] She drifted across theAcushnet River in flames and crashed into the whaling shipCharles W. Morgan, setting her on fire as well.[9][10]
Sankaty was raised, sold and rebuilt with an open deck for use as a car ferry inRockland, Maine.[4] Owned by the New England Steamship Company, the vessel was sold to Snow Marine Company in 1925.[5] In 1931, the vessel was sold again, this time to the Stamford-Oyster Bay Ferries Corporation to serve as a ferry betweenStamford, Connecticut, andOyster Bay, Long Island.[5][11][12]
In 1940Sankaty was purchased byNorthumberland Ferries ofPrince Edward Island, Canada, but before she began service she was requisitioned by theRoyal Canadian Navy that year to serve inWorld War II as aminelayer, HMCSSankaty. The ship wascommissioned on 24 September 1940 atHalifax, Nova Scotia and was also used as a maintenance vessel. With the end of the war, the ship waspaid off on 18 August 1945.[6] Never entirely suitable for job as a minelayer, the ship was replaced in Canadian service byHMCS Whitethroat.[13]
After the war she was renamedCharles A. Dunning, and served from 1946 until 1964 in the waters between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia. During this period her capacity was twenty-three cars and four trucks.[14] She was sold forscrap in 1964, but sank en route toSydney, Nova Scotia on October 27, 1964.[5]
In 1994,The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority began service of a new freight vesselSankaty, named after this steamer.[15]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1964 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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