SS Hippocampus

Summary

SS Hippocampus was a small wooden passenger and package freighter built for the fruit trade on Lake Michigan in 1867. In 1868, she began operating on the route between St. Joseph and Chicago, Illinois. She left Benton Harbor, Michigan, on the night of 7 September 1868, with her decks piled high with several thousand boxes of peaches, and fifty-five passengers and crew aboard. After being towed to St. Joseph, she departed for Chicago. Early the following morning, a squall swept Lake Michigan, sinking Hippocampus, and killing all but 15 people. Contemporary newspapers speculated overloading to be a contributing factor to her loss.