HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-11-04, Page 1f -I ... •" 1 u 9.
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1976
SECOND SECTION
• B'4' RILL HUMPHRIES
Perhaps the greatest 'storm in the
history of shipping on the Great Lakes
occurred or November 9, 1913.,This was
a major stormof major •importance
which by law and engineering "flanges
produced ships and harbors providing
greater safety and a. ess for zna, iners.
This was nut the only storm to ravage
the Great I akes during .the month of
November. During November 15 - 24.
The Edmund, Fitzgerald was built in i958 and was lost November 10, 1975
with all 29 crewmen aboard... Gordon Lightfoot's song "The Edmund
Fitzgerald" has recently made the hit parade and the story of the ill-fated
ship has become a•legend. The Edmund Fitzgerald .was 729 feet• three
inches long; she had a beam of 75 feet and a depth of 39 feet. She was
powered by 7500 hp. teal _fired steam turbines. She was located and
photographed June 1976: She was broken in half, stern upside down; bow
upright. (photo courtesy Bill Humphries)'
•
TRi4SP;;fi7.1.10ti
CORPORATION
Sixty years of service prpeeeded the sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell, built she broke in wff Harbor
Beach, tVliohigan,; on November 1'7,. '1986. -
for Cambria Steam Ship Company in 1908. She was launched on August 22 'There -:was one survivor out of 33
of that year. Her length was 600 feet, her beam 58 feet, her draft 32 feet: Humphries) , crew mezribers, (photo .courtesy Bili
The Bethlehem Transportation C'orporatidn operated her from 1924 until
•
1879, a"serjes of storms wrecked a tot
of 65 vessels.
November 11, 1883` a storm swept the
lakes and la•'sted nearly two weeks with
the loss of the ' passenger vessel
"MANISTEE and the "H.C. ACKLEY"
to mention only two.
The loss of 29 ships resulted froth a
gale during November 17, 18&6, and
during November 5, 1897 there •was a
wreck of the "IDAHO" off Long Point
which involved the historic rescue of two
crew members.
November 25, 1905, a storm to be
remembered, with the sinking of two
vessels and the wrecking of nine others.
This blow also claimed 35 lives,
The Armistice Day Storm of 1940
claimed three ships and their crews.
Two men survived the sinking of the
"CARL D. BRADLEY" during a gale
November 18, 1958, while only One man
survived the sinking of the- >"DANIEL -J:.
MORRELL" on November 29,1966.
The loss ' of the "EDMUND FIT
ZGERALD" November 10, 1975 with the
loss of all crewmen is the latest victim of
the November gales,
The gale of November 1913 originate
over Lake Superior on Friday
November 7. . Blinding snow .ac
companied winds of 70. mph producin
high seas and making navigation nears
impossible.
On Sunday the storm struck Lake
Huron and tore across South Western
Ontario to Lake Erie. Telephone,•
telegraph wires and other forms :..of
communication were destroyed. For the
better part of two days vessel owners did
not know the whereabouts of their
vessels orb of the extent of the lasses.
As information became available i
was apparent that the storm had take
its toll. the like of which had never bee
experienced before. Ten vessels ha
totally dissappeared leaving nosur
vivors, six were beached. and becam
total losses, •fifteen had been drive
ashore, entailing:heayy damage• an
-many others had to go•to shipyards a
have rivets tightened.
Many ,stories and articles have; bee
written in regard- to losses.. By the use
photos and original news. articles '1 hav
covered these losses in my book "Gre
Fofurythestorm: thus presenting a differen't.aspe
al Thunder Bay. From our soundings when
we got. to Thunder.:Bay. at 8:35 a.m. we
were about two miles outside of•'•our
regular : course down- Lake Huron,
having steered. southeast :y south oue-,
eighth south. The barometer at this tizfie...':
was below normal, but stationary.
"fn an hour and a half after pissing -
Thunder Bay Island the wind had in-
creased
and there was a strong wind
fronorth north-east with snow, The'
sea kept on increasing and the wind
changed'to due north, blowing a gale.
"Atli :30 a.m. the course was changed
to south by east one=half east in order to
bring the`'ship .more before the sea, and
we continued to shift from a half to a
point -as the sea increased so as to keep
the ship running practically. dead before
it; .also to keep the ship from rolling and
the seas from breaking over the decks.
"We got the regular soundings at
'Pointe _Mix Barques that we had been
getting on previous trips, • and by the
soundings- and. the time we could tell
when' we were abreast of the Pointe: It
was snowing a blinding .blizzard and we
could not see anything. ,
- "According -to the soundings we got by
the deep sea sounding dead we were. . .
abreast of Harbor Beach at 4:50 p.m. We and three: miles outside ,e regular •
course we take during the .summer..At
this time the wind was due north and at.
Harbor. Beach we changed our cour. se to
due south running dead before the sea
and wind.
DINNER WASHED AWAY •
"The .bell. rang for supper at 5 :•45 -p.m.,
which was prepared and the tables "set,
when a gigantic sea• mounted our'stern,
t blooding the fantail, sendirigtorrents.of •
n water through the passageways'on each
n side of ,the cabin,.concaving. the cabin,
d breaking the windows in the after cabin,
washing ' our'provisions out of the'
e refrigerator and practically destroying
n 'them all, leaving us .with one ham and a
d few potatoes. We had; no tea or .coffee.'
an
d
g
y
Our ,flour . was turned into dough. The
supper was swept off the tables and :all
n the dishes smashed.:
of . "Volumes of water came down on the
e engine through the upper skylights-, • aid
at at tunes there were from four to six ft. •of •...:
ct w:ater'" in the cabin. 'Considerable
damage was done to the interior of the.
cabin and fixtures. '
"The after steel bulkhead of the cabin
• was buckled. All the skylights and ` -t<
f windows were • broken jn: 'A small
e working boat on the top of after cabin
• and the mate's chadburn were washed
away.
t "It was blowing about 70 miles an hour
at this time, With high, seas, one wave
s' -following another very closely, Owing,to
the sudden force of the wind the seas had
not lengthened out as they .usually do .
when the wind increases in the ordinary
way.
"In about four hours the wind had
come up from 25 to 70 miles an hour, but
Ido not think exceeded 70 miles an hour.
"Immediately after the first sea swept
over our stern, I ordered the boatswain
to take sufficient men and shutters to
close all windows in the after cabin. The
.1 men forced their, way aft, braving the,
wind, sleet' and seas, one hand grasping
"the life railand the -other the shutters.
"Reaching the after cabin._ in safety,
they began securing the shutters, when.
another tremendous sea swept over the
vessel, carrying away the shutters,.. The
men were forced to cling to whatever'
was nearest to them to keep .from being
washed overboard;' immediately' a third
sea, equally as severe, boarded the
vessel, flooding the fantail' and
'hurricane"deck.
- "The men.attempted to , reach the
crew's dininroom, but could not make
it, and only saved themselves by grip-
ping ping the nearest object they could reach,
• indeed one of the wheelsmen was only
saved from going over by accidentally
falling as he endea"ored to grope his
wayto the rail, his foot catching in one'of
the bulwark braces, preventing Whim
from being swept off.
"Another monster sea boarded the
boat, tearing the man loose -from the
- brace and landing him in the after tow
line, which had• been washed from its
rack and was fouled on the deck. -
"The men finally made the shelter of '
the dining room and galley. One of the
oilder stood watch at the dining room
door, closing it when the boat shipped a
sea and opening it when the decks were
Clear to let the water out of the cabins.
UNCOMFORTABLE BtJT ALIVE
"The steward and -h-is wife were
standing knee-deep in the icy water. The
steward's wife was assisted into the
engine room, the steward remaining in
the dining room, securing furniture and
the silverware, •
"The firemen and seaineri were
comfortable in their rooms, as they -
Were not touched, Some of the outfit of
the private dining room was washed into
the mess roan , the.steward's trunk was.
(continued on page 22 A)
MOST INFORMATIVE
STATEMENT
Rather than reproduce' the events o
.the•, storm - from a tragic point .th
following is the statement of Capt: S.A
Lyons of the steamer "J.H. SHEADLE"
I. do believe this statement to be a mos
informative 'statement of conditions
experienced throughout the storm. Thi.
. statement ' from the Marine Review
March 1914:•
"We loaded. grain at Fort' William and
left there 8 p.m. the night of November 6.
The captain of the James Carruthers
and I were in the shipping office together
and intended to come down together as
we were going'to •.get away at about the
same time, but evidently he did not get
out until some tithe after T did. .
"When.I left, the barometer was below
no 1nal, but stationary, and the wind had
been blowing for some time. After
getting.outside of Thunder. Cape was a
',heavy •sea running from the southwest
and a strong, breeze. I went back under
Pie Island: letting go anchor at 10 o'clock
and laying there•until 3:30 the morning
of the 7th, when the wind, went north and
we proceeded on our voyage.
"On arriving at White Fish, it shut in
very thick and foggy,, which held'"us,
there the balance of the night and 'until
about 8 o'clock the following morning,
November 8. .
• "There were' a number of steamers
-laying at anchor further down the Bay
and they, of' course, locked down ahead
of the Sheadle. The James Carruthers'
locked down just ahead 'of -us, then we
followed at 8:30 p.m., with the Hydrus
immediately after us," both of which
vessels were lost. It had been snowing,
having commenced along • in the 'af-
ternoon, -It was snowing some while we
were in the lock but' had cleared up
when we left the .lock.
EARLY NOV. 9, 1913
"I had wired the office I would not.
leave, but as it clearedup, we continued
on down the rivet, passing out into Lake.
Huron at 1:53 a.m. the morning of
November 9, with the 'wind•'light north
:forth -east..
"The only variations in our course
from that time until 'practically • within
two miles of Thunder. Bay was . one•
-eighth of a point. As we approached the
fuel dock of Messrs Pickands, Mathers
and to., we sighted the Carruthers
taking on fuel; she left the dock,rounded
to, and • entered Lake Huron shortly •
before we did.
"Before we - arrived al Presque isle,
Lake 1•Iuz•on, it commenced to snow
some; sometimes it would clear up so
that we could pick up the land;. we saw
Presque Isle, Middle Island, and
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