42°16′24.89″N 80°3′21.6″W / 42.2735806°N 80.056000°W / 42.2735806; -80.056000

History
United States
Name	Rosamond Billett (1910–1919) T.P. Phelan (1919–1925) Howard S. Gerken (1925–1926)
Port of registry	Hamilton, Ontario
Ordered	1910
Builder	Doty Engine Works of Toronto, Ontario
In service	1910
Out of service	September 15, 1928
Identification	US official number 225429
Fate	Sank in a storm on Lake Erie
General characteristics
Type	Dredge
Tonnage	679.46 GRT (1910–1920) 1,322 GRT (1920–1926) 462.04 NRT (1910–1920) 803 NRT (1920–1926)
Length	155 feet (47.2 m) (1888–1905) 178.4 feet (54.4 m) (1905–1928)
Beam	24.1 feet (7.3 m)
Depth	16.3 feet (5.0 m)
Installed power	Engines: 2 × 366 hp (273 kW) condensing compound steam engines Boilers: 1 × 150 pounds per square inch (1,000 kPa) Scotch marine boiler
Propulsion	2 × fixed pitch propellers

SS Howard S. Gerken (also known as Rosamond Billett and T.P. Phelan) was a steel-hulled American dredge in service between 1910 and 1926. She was assembled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1910, by components manufactured by the Doty Engine Works of Toronto, Ontario. She was built for the Canadian Northern Railway, and served as a sand dredge on Lake Winnipeg, and the nearby Red River. She was rebuilt in 1920, and was sold several times, before ending up under the ownership of the Gravel Products Corporation, of Buffalo, New York.^[1]

On August 21, 1926, after removing sand from the harbour entrance in Erie, Pennsylvania, Howard S. Gerken set sail for Buffalo. While seven miles off Erie, she became caught in a storm, killing three crewmen.^[2][3]

References