Sankaty was designed by Chauncey G. Whiton.[1] The ship was 195 feet (59m) long,[1] a slim vessel with twin propellers and twin smokestacks.[2] She had a 36-foot (11m)beam,[3] and 32 feet (10m) at the waterline and drew 9feet 6inches (2.9m) of water. The ship had a depth of hold of 13 feet (4.0m).[1] The ship had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 657 tons. Sankaty rolled much more than the sidewheelers that preceded it. Because of this, the ladies' parlor and toilet was situated on the upper deck in a location to reduce the motion and vibration while on the rough waters of Vineyard Sound.[4][5]
Sankaty built by the Fore River Works in Quincy, Massachusetts[7] with the yard number 192.[5] The ship was launched on 2 February 1911 and completed in April.[5][4] From her construction in 1911 until 1924, Sankaty operated as a ferry for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket Steamboat Company, serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. While not the first propeller-driven steamer to serve these islands (which was Helen Augusta which substituted for Monohansett during the American Civil War) it marked the end of the paddlewheel steamer era for the Cape and Islands.[2][5]
On the night of June 30, 1924, Sankaty caught fire and burned down to her steel hull while tied up overnight in New Bedford harbor.[4] She drifted across the Acushnet River in flames and crashed into the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, setting her on fire as well.[9][10]
Sankaty was raised, sold and rebuilt with an open deck for use as a car ferry in Rockland, Maine.[4] Owned by the New England Steamship Company, the vessel was sold to Snow Marine Company in 1925.[5] In 1931, the vessel was sold again, this time to the Stamford-Oyster Bay Ferries Corporation to serve as a ferry between Stamford, Connecticut, and Oyster Bay, Long Island.[5][11][12]
Canadian service and fate
Sailors with a mine aboard HMCS Sankaty off Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 1941
After the war she was renamed Charles A. Dunning, and served from 1946 until 1964 in the waters between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia. During this period her capacity was twenty-three cars and four trucks.[14] She was sold for scrap in 1964, but sank en route to Sydney, Nova Scotia on October 27, 1964.[5]
12Macpherson, Ken & Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Thirded.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. p.229. ISBN1-55125-072-1.
Tucker, Gilbert Norman (1952). The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 2: Activities on Shore During the Second World War. Ottawa: King's Printer. p.109. OCLC4346983.
