Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Eastcliffe Hall OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: (C)195604 DATE OF LOSS: 14 July 1970 CAUSE OF LOSS: Navigational error LOCATION: St. Lawrence River, near Crystal Shoal RIG TYPE: Propeller, bulk freight HULL TYPE: Steel BUILDER: at Montreal, Canada, 1954 OWNER(S): Hall Corporation of Canada MASTER: Albert Groulx (d) TONNAGE: 3,335 gt DIMENSIONS: 343.33 x 43.66 x 22.66 CASUALTIES: 9 of 21 Was 100 feet off course and out of the channel when she first grounded. About 40 minutes later she struck rock again, ripping a gaping hole in her bottom, and sunk within 3 minutes. Was carrying 4,000 ton of pig iron. It was later reported that blood alcohol analysis on the captain's body revealed he was intoxicated at the time of the accident and, following investigation, was summed up by Mr. Justice Francois Chevalier as "The court is entirely satisfied that because of his state of plain drunkenness the master of the EASTCLIFFE HALL was in no condition at all to steer his vessel and there lies the primary cause of the grounding, the subsequent striking of the submerged pier and the eventual sinking of the ship." ======================================================================== Sources: Toronto Globe, 15 July 1970 Chicago Tribune, 15-16 July 1970 Montreal Gazette, 21 November 1970 Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University