Tashmoo (sidewheeler)

Postcard from 1907 depicting the Tashmoo
History
United States
Name:	S.S. Tashmoo
Namesake:	Tashmoo Park
Owner:	White Star Line
Builder:	Detroit Shipbuilding Company
Launched:	December 30, 1899
Identification:	US 145843
Fate:	Sank in 1936 and scrapped
General characteristics
Type:	Sidewheel steamer
Tonnage:	1,344 GRT
Length:	320 ft (100 m)
Beam:	70 ft (20 m)
Height:	22.3 ft (6.8 m)
Installed power:	2,500 ihp (1,900 kW) triple expansion steam engine
Speed:	≥ 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)

The Tashmoo was a sidewheeler steamboat on Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron. It was famous for being one of the fastest ships, at the time, on the Great Lakes.

The Tashmoo was the first ship constructed in 1900 and was launched on December 31, 1899. It was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Wyandotte, Michigan for Detroit's White Star Line. The Tashmoo was nicknamed the "White Flyer" and, because of the number of windows on the ship, the "Glass Hack."

The Tashmoo's regular route was from Detroit to Port Huron, Michigan. It made several stops along the way, including at its namesake, Tashmoo Park.

After a race between the City of Chicago and the City of Milwaukee in September 1900, a Chicago–newspaper boasted that the winner (the City of Chicago) was the "fastest on the lakes". A paper in Detroit, Michigan subsequently listed nine vessels that could have easily beaten the City of Chicago. The list did not mention the Tashmoo. A. A. Parker, the president of the White Star Line, offered $1,000 to any ship that could beat the Tashmoo in a race. The president of the Cleveland Buffalo Transit Company accepted the challenge on befalf of his ship, the City of Erie. The course was 82 nautical miles (152 km; 94 mi) long and went from Cleveland, Ohio to Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Tashmoo fell behind at the start of the race but quickly regained ground. It was forced to slow after going out of sight of the shore because the "wheelman was not used to steering [only] by compass." The Tashmoo was later forced to slow again due to an overheating condenser. The City of Erie eventually beat the Tashmoo by 45 seconds, but the Tashmoo had been catching up to the City of Erie before the finish. A. A. Parker offered the owners of the City of Erie $10,000 for a rematch, but they refused the offer, although they later admitted that the Tashmoo was the faster ship.