USS Puritan (1918)

The USS "Puritan", a civilian transport built by Craig Shipbuilding Company in Toledo, Ohio, was launched in 1901, and lengthened by convert|26|ft|m|abbr=on in 1908. The ship sailed on the Great Lakes in passenger service, was purchased by the U.S. Navy at the end of the war, and returned to passenger service after the war. The ship sunk in 1933, and its wreck is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Civilian Service prior to World War I

She mainly operated on Lake Michigan in passenger service between Chicago, Holland, and Benton Harbor.cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-p/puritan.htm|title=S.S. Puritan |accessdate=2008-05-25|work=Online Library of Selected
]

USS "Puritan"

The "Puritan" was purchased by the U.S. Navy in April 1918 and commissioned 20 November 1918. Although she was suitable for coastal transport in the English Channel, she may have never left the Great Lakes in naval service. The "Puritan" was decommissioned in 1919 and sold to a firm in Chicago.

Civilian Service after World War I

She went back into passenger service from Chicago to other ports on the Great Lakes from 1920 to 1929. At the start of the Great Depression, she was laid up.

"George M. Cox"

The "Puritan" was purchased in the 1930s by George Cox, who was an entrepeneur from New Orleans, and refitted in an elegant manner. In 1933 the ship was renamed the "George M. Cox." On her first cruise with a contingent of special guests, she struck the shoals near the Rock of Ages Light in the fog on May 27 1933. The 127 passengers and crew were rescued and spent the night in the crowded lighthouse and on the surrounding rocks. The ship was unsalvageable and remained on the rocks until it was broken up in an October storm. It sunk near the wrecks of the "Cumberland" and the "Chisholm". The wreck is a popular dive site.cite web|url=http://uslhs.org/assets/resources/articles/rock_of_ages.pdf
title="Rock of Ages Light Station"|accessdate=2008-05-24|work=The Keeper's Log|publisher=U.S. Lighthouse Society]

National Register of Historic Places

The "George M. Cox" wreck was named to the National Register of Historic Places on June 14, 1984, No. 84001749.cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] It is discussed along with other nearby wrecks in "Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park", TR [ [http://www.nr.nps.gov/iwisapi/explorer.dll?IWS_SCHEMA=Cover&IWS_LOGIN=1&IWS_REPORT=100000008 "Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park", TR] ] Infobox_nrhp | name =GEORGE M. COX
nrhp_type =
nearest_city= Isle Royale National Park Michigan
added = June 14 1984
governing_body = National Park Service
mpsub=Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park TR
refnum=84001749

References

ee also

* List of United States Navy ships
* World War I