SS D. M. Clemson (1903)

History
United States
Name	D. M. Clemson
Namesake	Daniel M. Clemson
Operator	Provident Steamship Company
Port of registry	Duluth, Minnesota, United States
Builder	Superior Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number	510
Launched	June 27, 1903
In service	1903
Out of service	December 1, 1908
Identification	US official number 157703
Fate	Sank in a storm on Lake Superior
General characteristics
Class & type	Lake freighter Sister ships: D. G. Kerr James H. Reed
Tonnage	5,531 GRT 3,991 NRT
Length	468 feet (143 m) LOA 448 feet (137 m) LBP
Beam	52 feet (16 m)
Depth	28 feet (8.5 m)
Installed power	Engine: 1 × 1,370 hp (1,020 kW) 90 RPM quadruple expansion steam engine Boilers: 2 × 250 pounds per square inch (1,700 kPa) water-tube boilers
Propulsion	1 × propeller
Crew	24

SS D. M. Clemson was a 468-foot (143 m) long steel-hulled Great Lakes freighter that went missing on 1 December 1908, on Lake Superior. The ship was last seen coming through the Soo Locks, onto Lake Superior. The ship was built in 1903 for the Provident Steamship Company. She is known for sinking on Lake Superior, with the entire crew of 24 men losing their lives. To date, the wreck of D. M. Clemson is still missing, and the cause of her sinking remains a mystery to this day.^[1]

Historian and author Frederick Stonehouse discussed the disappearance of the Clemson in his book "Went Missing". According to Stonehouse the Clemson suffered some structural damage when she struck a lighthouse pier at Ashtabula, Ohio, on October 20, 1908.^[2] The incident damaged 10 hull plates and a water tank on the starboard side. Temporary repairs were made before the Clemson could go into layup for the winter of 1908.^[3] Another theory suggests that the Clemson's wooden hatch covers failed causing water to leak into the cargo hold and sink the ship.

There were no survivors to tell what happened to the ship. However, for weeks debris and some bodies from the 24 crew members washed ashore from the ill-fated ship between Crisp Point and Grand Marais. One of the bodies found was the body of the Clemson's watchman, Simon Dunn of Dublin, Ireland, which washed ashore at Crisp Point. Dunn was wearing a life jacket with D.M. Clemson written on it. Later, pieces of the ship's cabin, 23 of the ship's wooden hatch covers and at least three more bodies were seen floating further west. Only one other body was recovered, and was identified as second mate Charles Woods of Marine City, Michigan.

A second vessel named D. M. Clemson was launched in 1917.^[4]

• Graveyard of the Great Lakes
• SS Cyprus