Name R.E. Schuck Yard number 327 Length 127 m | Port of registry United States Launched 1903 Builder Ohio | |
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Owner Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio Identification United States registry number 200315 Fate Sold to the Interlake Steamship Company in 1913 | ||
The SS Hydrus was an American steel-hulled Great Lakes bulk freighter, constructed in 1903 and launched as the R.E. Schuck. She was following the SS James Carruthers heading south on Lake Huron while carrying a load of iron ore when she and the Carruthers were caught in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
The Hydrus foundered and sank with a crew of twenty-four aboard on or around 8 November 1913 while heading for the St. Clair River. During the storm, waves were said to be 35 feet high along with wind gusts of 90 miles per hour. Five of the crew were found frozen to death in a lifeboat that washed ashore in Canada. The James Carruthers was also lost in the storm as well as the SS Argus, which was the sister ship of the Hydrus. The wreck of the Hydrus was located in the summer of 2015 by a team of shipwreck hunters led by David Trotter.
