By Suzette Lopez
On May 7, 1914, the WILLIAM H. DONNER was launched at Ashtabula, Ohio, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Mahoning Steamship Co. Named in honor of the president of the Cambria Steel Co., the DONNER was christened by Miss Margery Russel, the daughter of John R. Russel who was Great Lakes Engineering Works vice president.
The DONNER was a steel bulk cargo steamer that measured 524 feet in overall length and 54 feet in beam and was built to take the place of the CHARLES S. PRICE which was lost on Lake Huron in the great storm of November 1913. M. A. Hanna & Co. was her manager until 1929 when Bethlehem Steel took over until 1969. She became a crane ship in 1956.
In 1970, the DONNER was sold to Miller Compressing of Milwaukee and used as a crane barge to unload scrap. She was a familiar site in Milwaukee for over two decades.
In November 1992, the DONNER was towed out of Milwaukee to Menominee, Mich., and then later to Marinette, Wis., by her new owner K & K Warehousing who used her as a crane barge to unload scrap metal and pig iron. Her pilothouse was removed about ten years later for easier unloading by the cranes and was placed on the deck and periodically opened for tourists.
After 102 years of service, in March 2016, the DONNER was towed to the Menominee River and waited to be scrapped. In December 2020, she was finally sold for scrap, minus her cranes, and towed from Marinette, Wis., to the Purvis Scrap Yard in Canada. Dismantling began in 2021.
Photo at top of page: WILLIAM H. DONNER in Milwaukee sailing for Bethlehem Transportation Co.
Other Photos:
Photo credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
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Suzette Lopez is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
