Sport / Sport

The tug Sport, one of the nation’s earliest steel-hulled vessels, was built for lumber and steel entrepreneur Eber Brock Ward in 1873 by the Wyandotte Iron Ship Building Works in Wyandotte, Michigan. For forty-seven years the tug towed, salvaged, and aided vessels in distress. Frank E. Kirby designed the tug and later became a nationally known naval architect recognized for designing large, elegant sidewheel passenger steamers and ice-breaking car ferries, such as Chief Wawatam. In 1913 Sport was purchased by Captain Robert Thompson of Port Huron. Sport’s final voyage began on the afternoon of December 13, 1920, when it departed Port Huron bound for Harbor Beach. The tug fought heavy seas and by 6:00 p.m. was taking on more water than the pumps could handle. Near Lexington, the seasick fire-tender crawled to his bunk. The unattended fire died, the boat lost steam, and the pumps quit. The six-man crew abandoned ship in a lifeboat around 11:00 p.m. when waves crashed over the deck. The crew washed ashore near Lexington, cold and exhausted but alive. Sport sank and was not discovered until 1987.