The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-04-26, Page 22PAGE 2A—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1979
April
storm...
from page lA
it or pick it up because
they would lose too much
time, explains Mr. Bogie.
It was just assumed later
that the wreckage
belonged to the LAMB -
TON.
On April 22 the Glen -
finnan advised by radio
that the Caribou Island
light was not burning.
The three islands not
being lit was proof that
something was amiss,
that the lighthouse
keepers had not reached
their destinations. -
The Canadian Marine
Department sent,the tug
G.R. Gray to search the
area where the LAMB -
TON had been and had
some assistance from the
American patrol boat
Cook but to no avail. The
official conclusion drawn
was: "It is believed the
LAMBTON was lost with
all on board at about 6
p.m. on Wednesday, April
19 in the vicinity of
Caribou Island during an
exceptionally strong gale
accompanied by snow
from the northeast."
The LAMBTON was
presumably only about 15
or 16 miles from her
destination when she
went down. But it is
uncertain' as to whether
she went down on April 19
or 20. Sight had been lost
of her on April 19 but that
would not necessarily
mean she had gone down
the same day.
22 LOST
Not only was wreckage
from the disaster never
salvaged, but none of the
22 bodies lost were ever
found either. Mr. Bogie
explains that, Lake
Superior is so cold that
drowned bodies don't
surface. In a song written
by - Gordon Lightfoot
about a more • recent.
American marine
disaster involving The
Edmund Fitzgerald
which '' was "wrecked
withinthe same vicinity
as the LAMBTON, there
is a line that says,
-•-----•------ Super-iw-i-t2s said never --
gives up her dead."
Those who are believed
to have lost their lives on
the LAMBTON are:
Captain Alexander
Brown, 53, of Owen
Sound; Chief Officer '
Jeremy Mitchell, 69, of
Orillia.; Wheelsman .
Arthur Brunet, 24, of
Plantagenet,; Wheelsman
Leonard Lines, 21, of
Barrie; Seamen Andrew
and Harold Christenson,..
18 and 17, of Parry
Sound; Seaman Laverne
Kaebisch, 15, of Sault Ste.
Marie; Chief Engineer,
James M. Brechin, 41, of
Midland; Second
Engineer Napoleon
Columbus, 29, of Toronto;
Oiler Sidney Mumford,
24, of. Amherst.burg;
Fireman Fred Hayes, 24,
of Parry _Sound; Fireman-__
Frank Sims, 24, of Sault
te.--M-arie; Fireman-
Walter England, 43;
Steward and Cook,
Andrew Valyear, 52 of
Parry Sound; Cook's
Helper, Fred Cole, 16, of
London, England; Waiter
Charles Virgo, 19, of
Owen Sound; Chore Boy,
Stanley Liddle, 17, of
Satiit Ste. Marie;'
Lighthouse Keeper for
Caribou Island, George
Penfold of Sault Ste.
Marie; Assistant
...-Lighthouse: Keeper for -
Caribou Island, Malcolm
Easton of Lanark;
Lighthouse . Keeper for
Michipicoten Harbor,
W.D. Reid of St.
Catharines; Lighthouse
Keeper for Parisian
Island, John Douglas of
Sault Ste. Marie; and
Assistant Lighthouse
Keeper for Parisian •
Island, John Kay of Sault
Ste. Marie.
American marine
disasters always seem to
be well documented and
known about. There have
.been - -many marine -
tragedies in Canadian
,history too but they are
not always so well
documented and known.
The CGS LAMBTON, for
instance, is one that has
almost been overlooked
and forgotten.
Thanks to Mr. Bogie's
memory and persistance,
a picture of the LAMB -
TON and a written
history of her last tragic 1
Turn to page 14A •
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