Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. 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 U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== The Argus-Press, Owosso, Mich. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1988 SURVIVOR RECALLS DAYS OF HORROR ------------------------------- By Jim Donahue Port Huron Times Herald LEXINGTON, Mich. (AP) - Edward F. Kanaby, believes he may be alive today because he disobeyed a captain's order and helped to beach the steamer H. B. HAWGOOD during the Great Storm of 1913. "When the captain said 'Hard aport, we're go- ing back up the lake,' that's when I got scared and made up my mind." said Kanaby, 93. "I did everything possible to put her on the beach, and we did." Kanaby is one of the last survivors of the devastating storm that swept Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior 75 years ago last week. Some 244 sailors were killed and at least 13 ships sank during the three-day storm. Another six ships were driven onto rocks and wrecked. It was the most destructive storm in the history of shipping on the Great Lakes. "The seas were like mountains," Kanaby said. "The clouds were so dark and gloomy you felt like they were going to fall on you." He was working as an 18-year-old wheelsman aboard the HAWGOOD and was standing watch during the worst of the storm Nov. 9, somewhere on lower Lake Huron. Another 20 members of the HAWGOOD'S crew survived the storm with Kanaby when the ship dragged her anchors and was blown aground at Weis Beach, Ontario, about three miles from Point Edward. He said he shipped out as a deck hand that season on the HAWGOOD and worked up to be a wheelsman by the time the storm hit. The ship's second wheelsman quit a few days before the storm, so Kanaby said he was sharing the wheel with the mate. The HAWGOOD was empty and steaming north to Port Williams, Ontario, for a load of grain. The wind was blowing hard from the north and high seas were rolling when the ship was off Port Hope that morning. Kanaby said the REGINA was in sight about three or four miles ahead of the HAWGOOD, while another vessel, believed to be the WEXFORD, was seen off to starboard. Both ships later sank. He said it was about that time that Capt. A. C. May ordered the ship turned around and headed back to the safety of the St. Clair River. Kanaby said he was relieved when he got the order and he turned the wheel to port. "The ship spun around like a top," he said. "We seemed to be making double time then with the wind at our stern." Snow soon started falling, and the storm quick- ly gained intensity. "It got thicker every minute and after awhile it became blinding," he said. "It really was a storm." Kanaby said the HAWGOOD also passed the PRICE goind north, and when somewhere off Lex- ington, they passed the ISAAC M. SCOTT, also steaming north. Both ships also were later lost. "I thought those guys were crazy to be coming out in a storm like this. But then the captain hollered down and said 'Hard aport, we're going to go back up the lake." That was when Kanaby said he decided to do what he could do to change the captain's mind. He said he turned to starboard and the ship quickly fell in the trough of the sea. "I never told the captain I was putting her out of control," he said. "But I think it was out of control anyway." Kanaby claims May decided to drop anchor somewhere in the lake, between Lexington and Port Huron, and try to ride out the storm. "We dropped both anchors with 90 fathoms of chain on each about 5 p.m. and then lay there pounding," Kanaby said. The anchors dragged and the ship hit the beach around 9:45 p.m. The HAWGOOD was damaged only slightly and returned to the lakes that fall. Kanaby said he was ready to quit sailing after that experience, but decided to go back out again the next spring after his friends teased him. "Everybody made fun of me and said I had my belly full of sailing," he said. "It made me mad. So I went back and sailed three more years." ===========================================================================