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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. =========================================================================== Dozens of Vessels Lost or Cast Away ------------------- Terrific Toll of Life and Property Taken When Inland Seas Boiled In November Fury ---------- "To die is landing on some silent shore, Where billows never break, nor tempests roar; Ere well we feel the friendly stroke, 't is o'er." --Samuel Garth ---------- by DAN LAWLOR Sarnia Bureau of the Border Cities Star To the majority of the Canadian people, this month is notable because in it is commemorated the memory of those who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War. To those who sail the Great Lakes, as well as their friends, relatives and the survivors of those who sailed in former years, it is also the commemoration of the greatest tragedy of the inland seas--the famous storm of Nov. 9, 1913. This season is the twentieth anniversary of that storm, which, while it is usually referred to as of November 9, really lasted from the 8th to the 10th. It took an official toll of 38 ships, the lives of 250 sailors and caused a mone- tary loss in ships and cargo of nearly six million dollars. Many other ships suffered minor injuries. And today the sailors who navigate the lakes, concious of the terrible risks which face them in the ever-threat- ening November storms, look back on that tragedy of 20 years ago as a terrible warning of what the Storm King can do, once he is aroused. Why Did So Many Go? When winter's grip has locked the ships in ice-bound harbors, lake captains will gather in their clubs in Sarnia and other places and de- bate again, as they have done for a score of years, on how it was that so many ships went down in that storm, some without leaving a trace. Situated at the entrance to Lake Huron, where most of the ships were lost, the people of Sarnia and the adjoining village of Point Ed- ward, still watch the big ships come and go on their trips across the lake, seeing, as it were beyond them, a picture of the awful marine car- nage of 20 years ago. They see again, in that picture, the modern freighter Charles S. Price, floating bottom up, 10 miles out in the lake. They see the H. B. Hawgood and the Northern Queen, thrown up on the shore of Lake Huron. The bodies of sailors, life- boats and merchandise, washed ashore as mute evidence of the loss of the Regina, the Wexford and the James B. Carruthers, good Canadian ships, with every one of their crews. They ponder the mystery and the awfulness of it all and heave an anxious sigh for the safety of those who still risk their lives in these pre-winter days on the lakes. Meet any of the dozens of cap- tains who make their home in Sar- nia, or those who live in other Great Lakes ports and they can relate details of that storm, which would furnish ample material for many a narrative. An unusual storm struck the head of Lake Superior from the northeast on Friday night, Novem- ber 7. It was accompanied by a blinding snowstorm and before it spent itself out in the next few days, reached a velocity of from 68 to 79 miles an hour, at various points between Fort William and Cleveland. Saturday was a bad day on Lake Superior. On Sunday the storm struck Lake Huron, crossed Western Ontario into Lake Erie, tearing down telephone and telegraph wires, piling up snow and causing loss of life on land as well as water. For at least two days vessel own- ers did not know what had hap- pened to their ships and then, as the wireless equipment on ships and shore began to operate again, the tragic news of the greatest catas- trophe of the Great Lakes, began to filter in. That Sunday, November 9, eight ships were lost in Lake Huron, two were a total constructive loss and five were washed ashore badly damaged. Two boats were lost in Lake Superior and two in Lake Michigan. One foundered in Lake Erie. Three ships which were washed ashore on Lake Superior were total losses and six were sal- vaged, although seriously damaged. At the Border Cities Four ships were blown ashore ad- jacent to the Border Cities. The Harlow and the LaBelle collided in the Detroit river and the former was beached on Peche Island. The Pollock went aground at the lower end of the St. Clair ship canal, near the flats and the Victory in the Livingstone Channel, near Amherst- burg. The Robert Fulton, of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., brought up hard on the bottom at Bar Point in Lake Erie. It is as "the mystery ship" that residents of Sarnia and the vicinity still talk about the steamer Charles S. Price of Cleveland, which floated bottom up in Lake Huron for sev- eral days and then sank, with 28 of a crew. Diver Used At first it was believed the ship was either the Wexford or the Regina and it was not until a diver went down and examined the hull that speculation as to the name of the ship was put to an end. The diver also exploded a theory that the Price and the Regina might have been in a collision, as the hull of the Price was undamaged. The latter, which was only three years old, had passed Sarnia at 5 a.m. that Sunday, upbound with a cargo of coal at about the same time as the Isaac M. Scott, which was also lost and the H. M. Hanna, Jr., which was wrecked on a reef in Lake Huron, near Port Austin, Mich. While the barometer was low, the marine records show that there was nothing, in either the sea or the wind, to indicate that the trip across the lake could not be made with reasonable safety. Capt. W. M. Black of Cleveland, was in command of the Price and nearly all of the crew were Ameri- cans. Wilson McInnis, whose home was near Owen Sound, was reported as one of the wheelsmen. As far as marine records show, no trace was ever found of the James Carruthers, the largest Cana- dian, if not the largest freighter on the lakes at that time, except some bodies washed ashore. Launched that year at the yards of the Collingwood Shipbuilding Co., she was 550 feet long and the pride of the Canadian merchant marine. She was considered the last word in the construction of lake carriers and was believed to have been practically unsinkable. The only certainty about her fate was that she went down in Lake Huron, having been last reported just before she entered that lake, downbound with a load of grain. She and the Wexford were seen the night before they were lost, in shelter in the vicinity of Detour, Mich., by the crew of the City of Midland. The three Canadian ships, the Carruthers, Wexford and City of Midland, rode at anchor during the night, waiting for the weather to clear and when the morning ar- rived they parted, the two lost ships heading out into Lake Huron and the City of Midland following her course along the north shore to Georgian Bay ports. Locked Through The Carruthers was also seen by Capt. Lyons of the J. H. Sheadle of Cleveland, who reported that the big Canadian freighter passed through the Soo locks about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, just ahead of him. Some idea of what the crew of the Carruthers must have gone through before they met death, was furnished by Capt. Lyons' account of the terrible struggle he had keep- ing the Sheadle and her crew from a similar fate. The wind, he re- ported was blowing 70 miles an hour and the waves were 35 feet high. Running before the wind, the after deck of the Sheadle was so badly damaged by the pounding of the seas and the ship was in such danger of being swamped, that Capt. Lyons, at 10 o'clock Sunday night, turned her about and headed her into the storm. At 5 a.m., Monday, for fear of running ashore, the captain again headed south, both manoeuvers being accomplished with great risk of capsizing, in the trough of the sea and amidst blind- ing snow. On one occasion, he re- ported, he came within 1,000 feet of the upturned steamer Price. One of the popular theories in respect to the fate of the Car- ruthers was that she had over- turned in endeavoring to do what Capt. Lyons succeeded in doing with the Sheadle, possibly owing to the shifting of her cargo. Seen By M. S. Mackey One of those who obtained a last glimpse of the Carruthers was M. S. Mackey, general manager of the Cities Bus Service companies in Stratford and Sarnia. He was at that time purser on the City of Midland. Mr. Mackey recalls vividly, the three ships being at anchor, the Wexford within megaphone speaking distance of the City of Midland and the Carruthers farther away. Capt. J. D. Montgomery of the Midland, "kidded" Capt. Bruce Cameron of the Wexford about not having his oilskins on, despite the inclemency of the weather. Capt. Cameron passed the matter off lightly, remarking that if he got his load of grain to Goderich safely and could get through an- other trip, he would not need to worry about the wind or the water until the next season. The City of Midland, after leaving the other ships, had a lot of excite- ment on its own account and was so long in reaching Collingwood that it was believed it too had been lost. So precarious did the outlook of the ship and its crew become that Mr. Mackey today prizes a number of notes which he wrote, on in- structions from the captain, and placed in a bottle on that occasion, in case the ship foundered. Fortunately it was not necessary to use them but after being washed ashore on Manitoulin Island, the Midland limped into Collingwood with several of her life boats and one blade of her propeller gone. Bodies Found The first indication that the Wex- ford had gone down was when five bodies, with life belts bearing the name of the ship, were found on the shore of Lake Huron between Kettle Point and Bayfield. Seven other bodies were found between Grand Bend and Port Franks and they were believed to have been from the Price or the Carruthers. Two bodies in a lifeboat from the Regina were also found in the lat- ter vicinity, as well as a lot of cargo from that ship. The Wexford, which had been built in England, left Fort William at noon on Thursday, November 6, with 96,000 bushels of wheat for Goderich. Capt. Bruce Cameron, her skipper, was from Collingwood, where he was well known as a hockey player. He was only 26 years old. He had been sailing for 10 years and had been married that spring. Twelve others lost with the ship, were also from Collingwood, with the result that that city was thrown into especially deep mourning by the disaster. They included Archibald Brooks, second officer; James Scott, chief engineer; Richard Lougheed, assist- ant engineer; Orrin Gordon, watch- man; Allan Dodson, watchman; George Willmott, steward, and his wife. The Regina was a ship of 1,280 tons net, and had also been built in England, in 1907. She was commanded by Capt. McConkey of Barrie, who was also putting in his first year in charge of her. Loaded at Sarnia On the fatal Sunday, the 9th the Regina load freight at Sarnia, including eight cars of canned goods from Leamington and elsewhere and a variety of merchandise from Chatham, Dresden and Sarnia. Part of the latter was 140 tons of hay being shipped by the King Milling Co., of Sarnia. When a variety of this cargo was later found on the shore it was taken as an indication that the ship had evi- dently gotten out in the storm and had attempted to get back to port when she was wrecked. The Merchants Mutual Line, which was afterwards absorbed by the Canada Steamship Lines, oper- ated besides the Regina and the Wexford, the Turret Chief and the Acadian, the latter two being also wrecked. The Turret Chief went ashore near Copper Harbour in Lake Superior and was declared a total constructive loss by the underwriters. The Acadian was tossed on a reef in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron, and damaged to the extent of $30,000. Harrowing Experience The Turret Chief was bound light for Fort William and was in com- mand of Capt. Thomas Paddington of Toronto, who, with his crew had a harrowing experience, after their ship stranded on Lake Superior's barren shore. The ship was 100 miles northwest of Whitefish Point when struck by the storm Friday afternoon. Being light, she became unmanageable before the gale and struck Kewee- naw Point at 4 o'clock Saturday morning. The crew of 17 managed to get clear of the ship that after- noon and camped on shore all night and Sunday, in a hut which they made of driftwood. They wandered through the woods, half frozen and exhausted, in search of assistance and finally encountered some trappers who fed and clothed them. They then set out of the railway and after 48 hours without food and shelter, managed to reach Mandan, Mich. Up to that time all trace of the ship and crew had been lost and it was feared both had gone down. The Acadian The Acadian went aground on a reef several miles off Alpena, Mich., about 4 p.m., Sunday, but her pre- dicament was not discovered until late Monday. The thick weather had made her signals of distress was invisible and inaudible from the land. Like a ship that sailed out to sea and was never heard of again was the disappearance of the steamer Leafield, which was owned by the Algoma Central Steamship Line of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. This ship was en route from the Soo to the head of the lakes with a cargo of steel rails and was under the com- mand of Capt. Baker of Colling- wood. She was a 3,500-ton boat built by Wood, Skinner & Co., New- castle, Eng. Capt. Foote of the steamer Hamonic and his mate were posi- tive that they saw the Leafield aground on Angus Island but a tug which was sent out from Fort Wil- liam reported it was not there when it arrived. In the opinion of some the Leafield probably slid off into deep water in the interval. Eighteen of a crew were lost with the ship. The shore of Lake Huron, be- tween Sarnia and Kettle Point was the resting place for two ships, the H. B. Hawgood of Cleveland and the Northern Queen of Buffalo. The latter suffered about $25,000 damage from the pounding on the shoals where it was beached, and the for- mer only about $7,000. Crews Escape The Hawgood was in command of the late Capt. May of Port Huron and was upbound without cargo. The crews of both it and the North- ern Queen, which were at first be- lieved lost, made shore in the life boats after the sea calmed down somewhat. The Northern Queen passed Sar- nia upbound on Sunday, November 9 and when 40 miles out Capt. Charles Crawford decided to turn around and try to get back into the St. Clair River. He was warned off however by seeing the steamer Mathew Andrews aground near Port Huron and reversed his course into Lake Huron, where he cast anchor. The anchors dragged however, the seas pounded the ship and she sprung a leak, quenching the fires. At the mercy of the high sea the Northern Queen was washed ashore and the crew, when they reached shore were relieved to find they had landed in a well inhabited spot. Residents of Sarnia and the vicin- ity were astonished on Monday morning to find the Hawgood on the shore, a few miles east of Point Edward. At Fort William When the storm struck Fort Wil- liam on Friday night, November 7, there were a number of Sarnia cap- tains with their cargoes loaded and all ready to start down the lake. The included Capt. Peter Mc- Intyre, in command of the Neebing, Capt. Dave Burke of the Empress of Midland, Capt. Wendell J. Brown on the George A. Graham and the late Capt. Alf Wright, in command of the Sarnia. As the storm developed into hur- ricane velocity, the captains com- pared notes and decided to wait until the morning. By that time the wind had veered to the north, which ordinarily would make it comparatively safe to go down under the protection of the north shore. The captains decided to go as far as the Welcome Islands, out of Thunder Bay on the edge of Superior, and if conditions appeared favorable to continue down the lake. Otherwise they would seek the shelter of the islands. Capt. McIntyre and the Neebing were in the vanguard of the fleet of freighters and when they reached the Welcome Islands, sig- nals were exchanged between ships and it was decided to try the trip down. Other ships, which had spent the night in the shelter of the islands, also joined the Sarnia captains, making a procession of a dozen or more ships. Perilous Trip While the freighters were fol- lowing in the wake of the storm, it was a trip that put the seaman- ship and courage of their captains to the test. The wind was still high and the water swirled into the air, at times, in spouts like in a southern tornado. During fre- quent squawls the snow was so thick the ships were out of sight of each other. From Saturday morning until Sunday evening the armada battled with the seas on Superior before reaching the comparative calm of the St. Mary's River, past the Soo locks and down to Detour, the last point of land before entering Lake Huron. It was on that Sunday that most of the ships had been lost on the latter lake and such a gale was still blowing that the captains de- cided to wait for it to quiet down some. As a result they remained there from 8 p.m., Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday. During the memorable parade down Lake Superior four of the well known upper lake passenger boats were also battling with the elements. The Athabasca, of the C.P.R. line, was ahead of the flo- tilla and instead of waiting at De- tour her captain decided to take his chances on dodging along, in the shelter of the north shore, to Port McNicol, where he arrived at 4 p.m., Monday, with the ship coated with ice. The Huronic, of the Canada Steamship Lines, was also bound down on Superior but ran aground, and after being pounded on the beach above the Soo for some time, managed to get off and followed the fleet into the Soo. While she completed her trip to Sarnia without further trouble, marine reports show that when she was put in drydock it was discov- ered that she had sustained $30,000 damage. Meanwhile the Hamonic of the same line and the Assinaboia of the C.P.R. fleet, had battled their way up Superior from the Soo to the head of the lakes without in- jury except for coatings of ice. How closely the Storm King waved the wand of death and de- struction around the fleet of ships which sailed from Fort William on that memorable day is illustrated in the fate of the steamer Notting- ham which moved into loading position at an elevator as the other ships nosed out into the storm. She took on her cargo and fol- lowed six or seven hours in the wake of the procession but was wrecked on Sandy Island below Whitefish, with a loss of three men and $75,000 damage to the ship. She remained there all winter and was pulled off in the spring. Thrilling Experience Captain Benjamin Garvie of Point Edward had a most thrilling experience in the great storm. He was master of the Winona, which at that time was owned by the Inland Navigation Company, which was later absorbed by the Canada Steamship Lines. On the same ship also was Archie Hogue, first mate, now captain of the Pinebay of the Tree Line, and William Brown, of Sarnia, a colored cook, who, although well up in years is still given the odd job by The Canada Steamship interests at Sarnia. Capt. Garvie, for several seasons, has been acting as first mate on the Huronic. The Winona took a cargo of coal from Lake Erie to the Soo and after unloading there, started for Fort William for a cargo of grain. When Capt. Garvie set out from the Soo on Saturday, November 8, the barometer was low but he decided to go as far as Whitefish Point, 42 miles up the lake and check up on the weather when he arrived there. It was 2:20 p.m. when he ar- rived at the point, and as the wind had died down, he decided to chance the run to Passage Island, a dis- tance of 186 miles. At 11 o'clock that night, as Capt. Garvie relates the story of his experiences, the wind began to blow again and as it increased in velocity during the night, he set his course for Manitou Island, in the hope of obtaining shelter there. 65 Miles Off Course All night long the ship battled wind, waves and snow and when the weather cleared somewhat, at 7 a.m., Sunday he found he had drifted 65 miles off his course to near Marquette, Mich. The sea was still running so high that the navigating officers and men had not been able to get aft to the dining room for food for 24 hours. Hoever, so grave was their peril that this was a secondary consideration. Capt. Garvie concluded that the hazard of getting into Presque Ile would be less than trying to make Marquette, so he made for the for- mer port. He was 18 miles out of Presque Ile at 10 a.m., and it took the Winona until 4 p.m. to cover that distance. Successfully piloting the ship into Presque Ile Bay but unable to berth the cargo-light craft in the gale, Capt. Garvie beached her. After many hours he managed to land with some of his crew and report by wire to his owners. Owing to the damage done the telegraph systems by the storms, three days had elapsed between the message and the previous report received by the company from him. As a con- sequence it had been feared the Winona had been lost. About the same time as the Canadian boat was seeking the safe- ty of the American harbor, the Henry B. Smith, big Cleveland freighter, came out loaded with ore, and headed down the lake. Marine records show that after 20 minutes of buffeting by the sea and wind the Smith ship was turned to the north. She was seen from the shore to roll dangerously and to attempt further turns. Finally a snow storm obscured the view of the ship. It was believed she foundered about 20 miles out, as she was never heard of again. Waldo Crew Saved The steamer L. C. Waldo, owned by the Roby Transportation Co., of Detroit, went ashore on Manitou Island, which Capt. Garvie at first tried to reach, and broke in two. All of the crew was saved, although they were three days without food and practically without shelter. The steamer J. M. Jenks of the Hawgood fleet went ashore at Mid- land, but was released after part of her cargo had been lightered. The A. E. Stewart of Detroit went ashore in Whitefish Bay and others too numerous to mention were in distress between Fort William and the St. Lawrence River. Some criticism was made of the weather bureau for failing suffi- ciently to warn the ships. This fault was never sufficiently estab- lished, however, as the storm was said to be something too inter- mittent and violent to combat or accurately forecast. =========================================================================== SOURCE: The Border Cities Star Windsor, Ontario, Saturday November 11, 1933