Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2017 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/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Benjamin Noble OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 206240 DATE OF LOSS: 28 April 1914 CAUSE OF LOSS: Foundered, storm LOCATION: Lake Superior RIG TYPE: Propeller, steambarge HULL TYPE: Steel BUILDER: Detroit Shipbuilding Co., Wyandotte, MI - 1909 OWNER(S): Capitol Transportation Co., Detroit MASTER: Capt. John E. Eisenhardt, Milwaukee TONNAGE: 1,481 gt - 887 nt DIMENSIONS: 239.2 x 42.2 x 18.8 CASUALTIES: 22 (all) The BENJAMIN NOBLE cleared from Conneaut, OH., on April 18th loaded (some say grossly overloaded) with steel rails for Superior, Wisconsin. She cleared the Soo at 7 p.m. on the 25th along with the YOSEMITE. The RUFUS P. RANNEY (US#205088) followed an hour later. The YOSEMITE and RANNEY, both coal laden, arrived at Duluth on the 28th after battling a terrific gale for 24 hours. News from Duluth reported that five steamers due there on the 28th had not arrived yet the following morning. Among them was the BENJAMIN NOBLE. Before the day was over it became all too apparent that the NOBLE was lost as oars, hatch covers, lifebelts, spars and other wreckage from the missing steamer was flung up on Minnesota Point. The storm that took down the BENJAMIN NOBLE was so severe that it dangerously shook the aerial bridge at Duluth and it was shut down as, for the first time in its history, waves washed over its floor. For 90 years her final location remained a mystery. Her wreckage, badly crushed from the tremendous impact with the lake bottom, was finally discovered 365 feet down off Knife River in November, 2004. Among the lost: Capt. John E. Eisenhart - At age 31, was the youngest vessel master on the Great Lakes at the time and the BENJAMIN NOBLE was his first command. He had been married for less than a year. A. C. Conger, chief engineer - Port Clinton, Ont. Frank Conger, oiler, Port Clinton, Ont. Paul Botoroski, second engineer Alton Guntch, fireman, Toledo, OH William Goulett, fireman, Toledo, OH John Coleman, steward, Oswego, N.Y. Thomas Proud, steward, Oswego, N.Y. ======================================================================== Sources: Merchant Vessel List - 1912 Annual Report of the U.S.L.S.S. - 1914 Detroit Free Press - 30 April 1914 Times Herald (Port Huron) - 29 April 1914 Lansing State Journal - 29 April 1914