Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read USGenNet Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= USGenNet Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Algoma OTHER NAME(S): - OFFICIAL NO: (Can) 85766 DATE OF LOSS: 7 November 1885 CAUSE OF LOSS: Storm LOCATION: Lake Superior, Isle Royale RIG TYPE: Propeller, passenger HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Aiken and Mansel, Glasgow, Scotland - 1883 OWNER(S): Canadian Pacific Railway, Owen Sound, Ontario MASTER: Capt. James Moore TONNAGE: 1,773 gt DIMENSIONS: 262.66 x 38.16 x 23.25 CASUALTIES: 37-48 (numbers vary by source) THE ALGOMA DISASTER ---------- WHOLE NUMBER OF LOST NOW SAID TO BE FORTY-EIGHT ---------- Sixty-two Souls On Board - A Gale of Unprecedented Fury - The Story of the Calamity as Told by Several Survivors - List of the Saved and Lost. Port Arthur, Ont., Nov. 10 - A ter- rible marine disaster, resulting in the drowning of forty-eight persons and the loss of one of the most valued passen- ger steamers on the lakes, was reported last night when the steamer Athabasca arrived. On board of the Athabasca were Captain James Moore, commander of the Canadian Pacific railway steamer ALGOMA, two passengers and eleven of her crew. They were all that were left of the sixty- two persons that sailed for this port from Owen Sound on the ALGOMA last Thursday. THE SURVIVORS The following are the survivors: W.J. Hull and W.B. McArthur, of Meadford, Ont.; Captain James Moore, First Mate Hastings, Second Mate Richard Simpson, Wheelman Henry Lewis, Watchman J.C. McNabb, Fireman J. McCalgar, Deck Hands R. Stevens, James Bolton, Daniel Daughlin, Waiters John McLane, George McCall, John McKenzie. The captain was badly injured. The ship's papers were lost. LIST of the LOST The following is a list of the lost: Mrs. Dudgeon and her son, aged 10, of St. Paul. Mr. and Mrs. Frost (or Foster) relatives of R.P. Butchart, of Owen Sound. George Pettigrew, chief engineer. Alex. McDermott, of Sarnia, second engineer. Alex. Taylor, chief sterward, of either Buffalo or Cleveland. Mr. Jones, steerage steward, of Scotland The names of the deck hands, fireman, waiters and others of the crew cannot be obtained. STORY OF THE DISASTER The story of the disaster, as related by Captain Moore, is that the ALGOMA passed through the St. Mary's canal, bound for this port Friday noon. Soon after reach- ing Lake Superior the wind began to freshen up from the Northwest, and a great bank of leaden clouds along the Northern horizon denoted the approach of heavy weather. Realizing, however, that the ALGOMA was one of the strongest and most powerful steamers afloat and well able to cope with even a severe gale, Captain Moore kept her on her course. But as night approached the wind con- tinued to increase in violence and by dark had developed into one of the fiercest and most destructive gales ever experienced on the upper lakes. As the gale increased the sea rose, and before midnight Lake Superior was lashed into a seething foam. While the tempest roared great seas swept completely over the struggling steamer. The situation was made all the more terrible by a blinding snow storm that set in before morning. It was impossible to see the length of the steamer. A PANIC ON BOARD The passengers and crew were terrified beyond measure, and momentarily expected to see the steamer plunge to the bottom. By instructions of Captain Moore the officers went among the passengers and tried to allay their fears. They were panic-stricken, however, and huddled together in the cabin, where the screams and prayers of the women and children could be heard above the thundering gale. Saturday morning Isle Royal was sighted, and Captain Moore headed the steamer for Rock Harbor, where he hoped to gain shel- ter. The island forms a national harbor of refuge, but near the entrance there is a dangerous reef and just as the steamer was nearing the entrance she struck the reef. There was a terrific shock, and then the steamer came to a full stop. The passengers rushed out of the cabin and beseeched the officers to tell them what had happened. "We are on a reef," replied Captain Moore, "but if you will only keep as calm as possible I trust all will be safely landed." Just then one of the crew reported that the steamer's bottom had been punctured, and that she was filling with water. The boats were at once got in readiness and all started to leave the steamer, but just as they were about to lower them the steamer slipped off the reef and disappeared with an angry roar. THE WATER WAS COVERED with the struggling forms of men and women, and then all was over. Only fourteen lived to tell the tale. These got into one of the boats, but they were powerless to save themselves as they were without oars. Captain Moore, however, wrenched a board from the bottom of the boat, and with that as a paddle succeeded in working the boat to the island where the survivors were picked up by the Athabasca. Mr. Bentley, the manager of the line, has sent out tugs from here with instruc- tions to search Isle Royal for any sur- vivors that may possibly have got ashore, and to pick up and take care of any bodies that may be found. The tugs are now at the scene of the wreck. A THRILLING SCENE One of the rescued passengers gives a graphic account of the terrible scene be- fore and after the wreck. "It's no use to describe the scene," said he. "Nothing worse ever occurred on earth. In their madness, when the waves were washing the deck, a number threw themselves into the foaming billows, others, when a great wave would pass off the deck, which was swaying from side to side, were swept into the sea like feathers. A few hung on to ropes or to the masts, but the ma- jority seemed to abandon themselves in the wild alarm and dispair. Even the crew seemed powerless, so stricken were they with the awful suddenness of the disaster. Meanwhile the boat rapidly went to pieces and dashed against the rocks. The crew, all of whom except waitresses had clung to the rigging, managed during a light lull in the storm to place themselves in a life boat, cut the fastenings, and in an instant a wave swept them from. EXPERIENCES of the LIFE BOAT Amid the roar of the wind and dashing of the waves the boat was borne onward. Two of the passengers had managed to place themselves in the boat before it was cut away from the wreck. Any effort that had been made to launch boats dur- ing the early confusion and horror had failed. Meantime the life boat and its occupants had a terrible experience on the lake. All who could, bound them- selves to the boat, while the remainder held on the sides expecting every mo- ment to meet their death by drowning or from exposure and cold. Once the boat was turned over with the waves and one of the crew washed away, but the frail craft righted itself and was swept on in complete darkness. After half an hour the boat suddenly struck some rocks. The inmates feared all was over with them as the craft capsized, but to their surprise, when thrown out the water was only a foot deep and they discovered they were on land. After remaining there an hour, exposed to the elements, the storm abated and the sky cleared. It was then discovered that they were on Isle Royal, and that the vessel had been wrecked about a mile from shore on the great boulders near the channel. It was about 10 o'clock in the morning, and the half dead crew remained there until late in the afternoon, when the ATHABASCA came along and picked them up. Broome Republican, Binghamton, N.Y., Thursday Nov. 12, 1885 ======================================================================== Sources: "Shipwrecks of the Lakes", Dana Thomas Bowen Broome Republican, 12 November 1885 The Weekly Expositor (Brockway Centre, MI) 19 November 1885