Jon Paul’s Maritime Diaries

I recently went on a trip to lower Michigan with my friend Bernard Bloom to pick up artifacts for the new exhibit “Fresh Water Fury” that will open May 24 at the Door County Maritime Museum. The exhibit is about the storm that ravaged the lakes November 8 – 13, 1913 and sank 12 ships with all hands, damaged 39 ships and cost more than 250 sailors their lives.

Our first stop was in Sarnia, Canada across the St. Clair River from Port Huron, Michigan to pick up a deck chair washed ashore from a ship in the Big Blow of 1913. Our next stop was the Port Huron Museum to pickup artifacts from four ships that wrecked in the storm. Here is a brief description of those wrecks.

The Charles S. Price

The American Shipbuilding Co. in Lorain, Ohio built the Charles S. Price in 1910. Built of steel, the Price was 504 feet long, 54 feet in breadth with a depth of 30 feet. She was 6,322 gross tons, 4,901 net and was owned by the Mahoning Steamship Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. She left Ashtabula, Ohio with 9,000 tons of soft coal for Superior, Wisconsin. She was found floating bottom up 11 miles northeast of Fort Gratiot Light, in Lake Huron, her crew of 28 lost to the storm. The Price was valued at $340,000, cargo at $21,700 and insured for $322,400. She slowly settled to the bottom in 75 feet; she was raised in 1916 and finding she was not worth salvaging allowed to sink again.

The L. C. Waldo

The L. C. Waldo was built at West Bay City, Michigan in 1896 by F. W. Wheeler & Co. She was 387.25 feet in length, with a 48-foot beam and a 23.66-foot depth. The steel hull was 4,244 gross tons, 3,290 net tons and was owned by the Roby Transportation Co. of Detroit, Michigan and named after the company’s manager. She was lengthened by Superior Shipbuilding Co. in Superior, Wisconsin in the winter of 1904 – 05 to 451.42 feet.

On November 8, 1913 she was blown ashore three quarters of a mile southeast of Gull Rock Light on Manitou Island in Lake Superior. The crew was stranded on the vessel until November 11 when US Life Saving Service from Portage Entry and Eagle River with the assistance of the tug Daniel L. Hebard could rescue the 24 members of the crew with no lives lost.

The Waldo was surrendered to the underwriters who had her refloated and taken to American Shipbuilding Co. in Lorain, Ohio to be rebuilt. The Price stayed in service until 1967 when she was sold to a scrapping firm in LaSpezia, Italy. She broke loose in a storm en route and stranded on the rocks at Portofina, in the Gulf of Genoa, and broke up becoming a total loss.

Howard M. Hanna Jr.

American Shipbuilding Co. in Cleveland, Ohio built the Howard M. Hanna Jr. in 1908. She was 480 feet in length, 54 feet in beam with a 30-foot depth at 5,905 gross tons, 4,413 net and was built of steel. The Hanna Transit Co. in Cleveland, Ohio owned her.

The Hanna was stranded on Port Austin Reef, Lake Huron on November 9 and broke in two. Her crew was rescued and the vessel was taken to Collingwood Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. in Collingwood, Ontario and rebuilt. Western Metals in Thunder Bay, Ontario, scrapped her in 1983.

The Steamer Regina

Our last stop of the trip was in Alpena, Michigan where we picked up artifacts from the steamer Regina at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. Located in the NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) building, it also contains the preservation lab for the state of Michigan. Wayne Lusardi underwater archaeologist for the state of Michigan runs the lab and helped us with the artifacts from the Regina.

The Regina was built at Dumbarton, Scotland in 1907 by A. McMillan & Son LTD. She was 249.25 feet in length, 42.5 feet in berth with a 23-foot depth, was made of steel and weighed 1.956 gross tons, 1,280 net. C.H.F. Plummer first owned her from Montreal, Canada.

She passed Port Huron at 12 pm on November 9, 1913 with her crew of 15 never to be seen again. At the time of her loss Canadian Interlake Line, LTD of Montreal, Canada owned her.

In 1986 it was found by divers Gary Benecky and Wayne Brusate three miles offshore off of Lexington, Michigan in 80 feet of water. It was salvaged under permit from the state of Michigan. They were looking for $86,000 in gold coin reported in the safe; this was never found, but 200 bottles of champagne and 100 bottles of scotch were found intact. One bottle of single malt whiskey sold at auction in London for $8,000.