Ironsides

The Ironsides was launched on July 23, 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio. She was built by Ira Laffrinier and owned by the Lake Superior Line as a comfortable and roomy passenger steamer. The 1,123 ton, wood hull steamer was 218 feet long at the keel and 231 feet long overall length, with a beam of just over 30 feet and was distinguished by the strengthening arches running along both sides. She had a passenger deck over a single cargo deck with a pilot house at the stem. Enrollment papers stated she had "a plain stem and a round stern".