This is a list of shipwrecks during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
| Ships foundered | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Gross tons | Length (ft) | Beam (ft) | Built | Cargo | Approximate location | Damage ($) | Deaths |
| Lake Superior | ||||||||
| Leafield | 1,454 | 269 | 35 | 1892 | steel rails | Angus Island | 100,000 | 18 |
| Henry B. Smith [1] | 6,631 | 525 | 55 | 1906 | iron ore | Marquette, Michigan | 350,000 | 25 |
| Lake Michigan | ||||||||
| Plymouth (Barge) | 776 | 225 | 35 | 1854 | lumber | Gull Island | 5,000 | 7 |
| Lake Huron | ||||||||
| Argus | 4,707 | 436 | 50 | 1903 | coal | Point aux Barques, Michigan | 136,000 | 28 |
| James Carruthers | 7,862 | 550 | 58 | 1913 | grain | Goderich, Ontario | 410,000 | 22 |
| Hydrus | 4,700 | 416 | 50 | 1903 | iron ore | Goderich, Ontario [ citation needed ] | 136,000[ citation needed ] | 27 [1] |
| SS John A. McGean [1] | 5,100 | 452 | 52 | 1908 | coal | Sturgeon Point, Michigan | 240,000 | 22 [1] |
| Charles S. Price | 6,322 | 524 | 54 | 1910 | coal | Port Huron, Michigan | 340,000 | 28 |
| Regina | 1,956 | 249 | 42.5 | 1907 | steel pipe, package freight | Harbor Beach, Michigan | 125,000 | 20 |
| Isaac M. Scott | 6,372 | 524 | 54 | 1909 | coal | Sturgeon Point, Michigan | 340,000 | 28 |
| Wexford | 2,104 | 250 | 40 | 1883 | steel rails | 8.6 miles NNE of Grand Bend, Ontario | 125,000 | (actual number uncertain) 17 to 24 victims reported |
| Lake Erie | ||||||||
| United States lightship LV-82 Buffalo | 180 | 105 | 21 | 1912 | none | Point Abino, Ontario, Canada | 25,000 | 6 {Lightship salvaged} |
| Ships stranded | ||||||||
| Ship | Gross Tons | Length (ft) | Beam (ft) | Built | Cargo | Approx Location | Damage ($) | Notes |
| Lake Superior | ||||||||
| Fred G. Hartwell | 6,223 | 504 | 58 | 1908 | unknown | Point Iroquois, Michigan | 30,000 | rebuilt |
| Huronic | 3,330 | 321 | 43 | 1902 | passengers | Whitefish Point, Michigan | 30,000 | |
| J.T. Hutchinson | 3,734 | 346 | 48 | 1901 | unknown | Point Iroquois, Michigan | 40,000 | |
| Major | 1,864 | 303 | 41 | 1889 | unknown | Crisp Point, Michigan | unknown | rebuilt |
| William Nottingham | 4,234 | 377 | 50 | 1902 | wheat | Whitefish Bay, Michigan | 75,000 | 3 men lost |
| Scottish Hero | 2,202 | 297 | 40 | 1895 | unknown | unknown | 500 | |
| Turret Chief | 1,881 | 273 | 44 | 1896 | unknown | Copper Harbor, Michigan | unknown | rebuilt 1914 as Salvor |
| L.C. Waldo | 4,466 | 472 | 48 | 1896 | iron ore | Gull Rock, Michigan | unknown | rebuilt 1916 as Riverton |
| St. Marys River | ||||||||
| Meaford | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | 500 | ||
| Lake Michigan | ||||||||
| Halsted (Barge) | 497 | 191 | 32 | 1873 | lumber | Washington Harbor, | unknown | |
| Louisiana | 1,753 | 287 | 39 | 1887 | empty | Washington Harbor, | burned to waterline | |
| Pontiac | 2,298 | 300 | 40 | 1889 | unknown | Simmon's Reef | 7,500 | |
| Lake Huron | ||||||||
| Acadian | 2,305 | 246.5 | 43 | 1908 | unknown | Thunder Bay, Michigan | 30,000 | |
| Lightship # 61 aka "Corsica Shoals" | 160 | 87'2" | 21'6" | 1893 | none | Forced from Corsica Shoals to Point Edward Canada-reportedly contributed to loss of "Matthew Andrews" {See article United States lightship Huron (LV-103)} | refloated | |
| Matthew Andrews | 7,014 | 532 | 56 | 1907 | unknown | Corsica Shoal | 2,500 | refloated |
| Howard M. Hanna Jr. | 5,667 | 500 | 54 | 1908 | coal | Port Austin, Michigan | rebuilt 1916 | |
| Henry A. Hawgood | 6,839 | 552 | 56 | 1906 | unknown | Weis Beach | 7,000 | refloated |
| J.M. Jenks | 4,644 | 414 | 50 | 1902 | unknown | Georgian Bay | 25,000 | |
| Matoa | 2,311 | 310 | 40 | 1890 | coal | Point aux Barques, Michigan | 117,000 | 0 |
| D.O. Mills | 6,598 | 532 | 58 | 1907 | unknown | Harbor Beach, Michigan | 45,000 | refloated |
| Northern Queen | 2,476 | 300 | 41 | 1889 | unknown | Kettle Point 44, Ontario | 25,000 | |
| A.E. Stewart | 3,943 | 356 | 50 | 1902 | unknown | Thunder Bay, Michigan | 30,000 | refloated |
| St. Clair & Detroit Rivers | ||||||||
| W.G. Pollock | 4,872 | 420 | 52 | 1906 | unknown | St. Clair Flats | 5,000 | |
| Saxona | 4,716 | 418 | 50 | 1903 | unknown | Lake St. Clair | 1,500 | |
| Victory | 4,527 | 450 | 48 | 1895 | unknown | Livingston Channel | 12,000 | |
| Lake Erie | ||||||||
| Donaldson (Barge) | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | Cleveland, Ohio | 800 | |
| C.W. Elphicke1 | 2,058 | 273 | 42 | 1889 | flax | Long Point, Ontario | unknown | |
| Fulton | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | Bar Point | 2,500 | |
| G.J. Grammer | 4,471 | 418 | 48 | 1902 | unknown | Lorain, Ohio | 1,500 | refloated |
| Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Barges | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown | Cleveland, Ohio | 100,000 | unmanned |
| 1. The steamer C.W. Elphicke reportedly struck a submerged obstruction on Lake Erie, off Long Point, on October 21, 1913, during a gale; it was beached just above the Long Point Lighthouse 21⁄2 hours later. Before it could be salvaged, the November gale hit and it became a total loss. No lives lost. It was on voyage from Fort William, Ontario, for Buffalo, NY, with cargo of flax. | ||||||||
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightvessel was off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in London, England, placed there by its inventor Robert Hamblin in 1734. The type has become largely obsolete; lighthouses replaced some stations as the construction techniques for lighthouses advanced, while large, automated buoys replaced others.
The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and Southwestern Ontario, Canada, from November 7 to 10, 1913. The storm was most powerful on November 9, battering and overturning ships on four of the five Great Lakes, particularly Lake Huron.
The United States lightship Huron (LV-103) is a lightvessel that was launched in 1920. She is now a museum ship moored in Pine Grove Park, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan.
The SS Regina was a cargo ship built for the Merchant Mutual Line and home ported in Montreal, Quebec. Named after Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina had a tonnage of 1,956 gross register tons (GRT) and a crew of 32.
The SS Hydrus was an American steel-hulled Great Lakes bulk freighter, constructed in 1903 and launched as the R.E. Schuck. She was following the SS James Carruthers heading south on Lake Huron while carrying a load of iron ore when she and the Carruthers were caught in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
SS Clifton, originally Samuel Mather, was a whaleback lake freighter built in 1892 for service on the Great Lakes. She was 308 foot (94 m) long, 30 foot (9.1 m) beam, and 24 foot (7.3 m) depth, and had a 3,500 ton capacity. The self-propelled barge was built by the American Steel Barge Company in West Superior, Wisconsin. Her builders used a design well-suited to carry iron ore, her intended trade. The new vessel was christened Samuel Mather, after a cofounder of Pickands Mather and Company, which at the time was the second largest fleet on the Great Lakes.
The SS Argus was a steel-hulled Great Lakes freighter, that was constructed as the SS Lewis Woodruff by the American Ship Building Company, and was launched on 5 August 1903. Its original owner was the Gilchrist Transportation Company, based in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1913, the ship was sold to the Interlake Steamship Company, and was renamed the Argus.
SS Ira H. Owen was a steel-hulled American lake freighter in service between 1887 and 1905. One of the first steel lake freighters, she was built in 1887 in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Globe Iron Works Company, and was built for the Owen Line of Chicago, Illinois. Early in her career, Ira H. Owen carried iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan. In April 1898, Ira H. Owen was chartered by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. She was sold to the National Steamship Company of Chicago, on December 30, 1899, for whom she frequently carried coal and grain. Throughout her career, Ira H. Owen was involved in multiple accidents and incidents.
The George Spencer was a wooden lake freighter that sank on along with her schooner barge Amboy on Lake Superior, near Thomasville, Cook County, Minnesota in the Mataafa Storm of 1905. On April 14, 1994, the wrecks of the Spencer and the Amboy were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Amboy was a wooden schooner barge that sank along with her towing steamer, the George Spencer on Lake Superior off the coast of Schroeder, Cook County, Minnesota in the United States. In 1994 the remains of the Amboy were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The AmboyandGeorge SpencerShipwreck Site is an archeological shipwreck site which consists of the wrecks of the wooden bulk freighter George Spencer and the wooden schooner-barge Amboy. Both vessels were wrecked during the Mataafa Storm of 1905. In 1994 the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
SS Russia was an iron-hulled American Great Lakes package freighter that sank in a Lake Huron gale on April 30, 1909, near DeTour Village, Michigan, with all 22 of her crew and one passenger surviving.
115 was an American whaleback barge in service between 1891 and 1899. She was built between May and August 1891, in Superior, Wisconsin by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for the "McDougall fleet", based in Buffalo, New York. She was one of a class of distinctive, experimental ship designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 115 entered service on August 25, hauling iron ore from Superior.
129 was an American whaleback barge in service between 1893 and 1902. She was built between December 1892 and May 1893, in Superior, Wisconsin,, by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for McDougall's fleet of the same name, based in Buffalo, New York. She was one of a class of distinctive and experimental ships designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 129 entered service on May 22, hauling wheat from Superior. She was sold to the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1900. In 1901, she became owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company of Duluth, Minnesota, when the Bessemer fleet merged into it.
104 was an American whaleback barge in service between 1890 and 1898. The fourth whaleback constructed, she was built between October 1889 and February 1890, in Duluth, Minnesota by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for McDougall's fleet of the same name, based in Buffalo, New York. She was a whaleback, a class of distinctive, experimental ship designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 104 entered service on April 21, hauling iron ore from Two Harbors, Minnesota.
SS Merchant was an American iron–hulled passenger and package freighter in service between 1862 and 1875. The first iron–hulled merchant ship built on the Great Lakes, she was built in 1862 in Buffalo, New York, by the David Bell shipyard, out of components manufactured in Black Rock, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was built for James C. and Edwin T. Evans of Buffalo, under whom she carried passengers and freight. Merchant made her maiden voyage in August 1862, sailing from Buffalo to Chicago. Between late 1872 and early 1873, she was lengthened by 30 feet (9.1 m), and had her passenger cabins removed. Also in 1873, Merchant was sold to the Erie & Western Transportation Company of Erie, Pennsylvania.
SS Cayuga was a steel-hulled American package freighter in service between 1889 and 1895. She was built in 1889 in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Globe Iron Works Company for the Lehigh Valley Transit Company of Buffalo, New York. One of five identical sister ships, Cayuga entered service in 1889, carrying package freight between Buffalo and Chicago, Illinois, also making stops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Gladstone, Michigan. Prior to her sinking, Cayuga was involved in two accidents. In the first in 1890, when she went aground in a gale just outside of Buffalo harbour; six tugboats managed to pull her free that same day. The second accident occurred in 1891, when Cayuga was involved in a collision with the package freighter Delaware near Cheboygan, Michigan.
SS Chester A. Congdon was a steel-hulled American lake freighter in service between 1907 and 1918. She was built in 1907 by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company of South Chicago, Illinois, for the Holmes Steamship Company, and was intended to be used in the grain trade on the Great Lakes. She entered service on September 19, 1907, when she made her maiden voyage. In 1911, Salt Lake City was sold to the Acme Transit Company. A year later, she was transferred to the Continental Steamship Company, and was renamed Chester A. Congdon, after lawyer and entrepreneur Chester Adgate Congdon. She was involved in several accidents throughout her career.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1913 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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