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Car Ferry No. 2
J.D. Marshall
Material Service
Muskegon
J.D. Marshall
- Type: Cannaler
- Builder: Leatham D. Smith for the Smith-Putnam Navigation Company
- Built: 1891, South Haven, MI
- Length: 154.5 feet
- Beam: 33.5 feet
- Draft: 12 feet
- Weight: 531 gross tons
- Date Sunk: June 11, 1911
- Depth of wreck: 29 feet
The J. D. Marshall and much of its machinery were constructed in 1891 at South Haven, Michigan, in the Martel Boatyard by boat builder J. C. Pereue. The J. D. Marshall was launched on July 4, 1891, and began service transporting lumber for the Williams Transport Company. Although the cabin was still not completed, the Marshall’s first voyage was in August, when the vessel headed out for Oscada, Michigan, towing the ship Una and reportedly carrying 602,000 feet of green lumber. After 1910, the J. D. Marshall was converted to a sand-sucker or sand barge. In 1911, it was purchased by the Independent Sand and Gravel Company out of Chicago, the company that had owned the Muskegon, with funds from an insurance settlement when the ship Muskegon was lost.
Four lives were lost when the J. D. Marshall capsized on June 11, 1911. Reportedly, the J. D. Marshall set out onto Lake Michigan the previous day and collected approximately 400 yards of sand but sprung a leak about 5 pm. The vessel lay at anchor already taking on water when a storm arose, causing the sand in the hull to shift, and the vessel rolled over. Three crew members were below deck when the vessel turned over and one member of the crew was found dead at the surface. The vessel apparently floated close to shore for several days after capsizing and served as a local attraction for a short while.
