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NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Dredge Raritan

Seagoing Hopper Dredge:
  • Built in 1908, at Maryland Steel, Sparrow Point, MD.
  • Launched, in 1908
  • Delivered 1908 and placed in commission by the US Army Corps of Engineers, as USED Raritan
  • Decommissioned, circa October 1947
  • Laid up, 10 October 1947, in the National Defense Reserve Fleet James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Sold, 13 February 1950, to Construction Aggregate Corp., renamed Sandmate
  • On 24 May 1951 SS Sandmate sank in Newark Bay. All 25 crewmembers were rescued by the tug Thomas E. Moran
  • Sandmate was eventually raised, repaired and returned to service
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1956
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,911 t.
    Length 290'
    Beam 48'
    Draft 28'
    Complement unknown
    Hopper Capacity unknown
    Dredging Depth unknown
    Dredging Pipes unknown
    Propulsion
    two reciprocating steam engines, 1,485hp
    two propeller shafts
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USED Dredge Raritan
    Raritan
    30268002    		 35k USED Raritan at anchor, date and location unknown
    US Army Corps of Engineers Digial Library    		  
    Raritan
    30268001    		 38k USED Raritan at anchor, date and location unknown
    Tugster World Press    		 John Spivey
    Commercial Service
    Raritan
    30268003    		 89k SS Sandmate (Ex-USED Raritan) sitting on the bottom of Newwark Bay after sinking, 24 May 1951. "In the early hours of May 24, 1951 the overloaded SS Sandmate headed east in the Kill Van Kull, enroute from a dredging site off Coney Island. She passed buoy 8 heading north in the 1:20 AM blackness. She then sheered to the starboard side of the channel at Bergen Point, scraping bottom twice. The sea rushed in and she sank about a mile further on, in Newark Bay. The ship was riding deeper in the water than the captain, who had a spotless 20-year record, understood."
    Photo and caption from New York Public Library    		 John Spivey
    There is no history available for Raritan at NavSource
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 25 August 2023