City of Detroit III

City of Detroit III, often referred to as just D-III, was a sidewheel steamer on the Detroit River and Lake Erie. She was one of the largest sidewheelers on the Great Lakes.

Postcard from 1917 depicting City of Detroit III
History
United States
Name	City of Detroit III
Namesake	Detroit, Michigan
Owner	Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company
Builder	Detroit Shipbuilding Company, Wyandotte, Michigan
Cost	$1,500,000
Launched	October 7, 1911
Homeport	Detroit, Michigan
Identification	US 209571
Fate	Dismantled in 1956 and sold for scrap
General characteristics
Type	Sidewheel steamer
Tonnage	6,061 gross tons
Length	overall: 470 ft 10 in (143.51 m) on keel: 455 ft 10 in (138.94 m)
Beam	over guards 96 ft 6 in (29.41 m) hull, molded 55 ft 4 in (16.87 m) or 55 ft 6 in (16.92 m)
Depth	at stem 22 ft (6.7 m) at guards 21 ft 3 in (6.48 m) at stern 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Capacity	5,000 day passengers
Crew	200

History

City of Detroit III was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Wyandotte, Michigan and was designed by Frank E. Kirby. The interior decorations were designed by painter and architect Louis O. Keil, who collaborated with Kirby on many projects. It was owned by the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company (D&C) and was launched on October 7, 1911. When she was launched City of Detroit III was the largest sidewheeler in the world. The next year the slightly larger 500-foot (150 m) length overall Seeandbee, another Kirby designed ship, was launched for the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company (C&B). City of Detroit III traveled regularly between Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio and Buffalo, New York.

The "Gothic Room"

Gothic Room

City of Detroit III cost $1,500,000 to build ($49.1 million in 2023 dollars) and was ornately furnished. Forty percent of the steamer's width was situated over the wheels, allowing room for many amenities like salons, a palm court and a winery to be built into the vessel. One of the rooms was an opulent smoking room called the "Gothic Room", named for its Gothic design. It was built from English oak and included a stained glass window.

End of service

City of Detroit III was taken out service in 1950, when the D&C discontinued service. She was sold for scrap in 1956, and was dismantled. City of Detroit III's "Gothic Room" was disassembled and re-erected in a barn near Cleveland, Ohio, for ten years before it was once again taken down and then partially reassembled and refinished at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit.

Bibliography

• International Marine Engineering (1912). "City of Detroit III; World's Largest Side Wheel Steamer". International Marine Engineering. XVII (10). New York, New York: Aldrish Publishing Company: 389–396. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
• International Marine Engineering (1913). "Side Wheel Passenger Steamer See-and-Bee". International Marine Engineering. XVIII (6). New York, New York: Aldrish Publishing Company: 252–258. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1916). "Appenxix, Exhibit No. 1 (Rates Via Rail-and-Lake Routes)". Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission (December 1915 to January 1916). XXXVII. Washington: Government Printing Office. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

Further reading

• Bugbee, Gordon Pritchard (1976). The D-III: The story of the sidewheel steamer "City of Detroit III". Detroit: Great Lakes Maritime Institute. OCLC 11218015.