Lake Superior never returns dead, never have truer words been spoken. For hundreds of years, the lake called Gitchi Gumi claimed both transportation and life. He constantly reminds people that mother nature is tough. Many ships were lost, the list is too long, it is impossible to list them all in one article.
In this article, various ships will be included. Some of iron, others of wood. Launch the sails with steam to windward the sails. In the past 150 years, Great Lakes ships have doubled, tripled and quadrupled in size, power and capacity. With more ore carriers in the 1,000ft class these days, it’s only about time before Mother Iron Ore industry, Ely was the first to develop iron mining. he was worthy of the sea. Launched in 1869, it was conducted much of the time between Escanaba MI and Cleveland Ohio.
Later in life he often followed Sarah E. Sheldon. At last the bad sailors were removed by relegating the wooden ship to the service of the cargo ship removed from that point. In 1887 she was scuttled and sunk in shallow water in Lake Erie. She recovered and returned to work.
In 1896, she left Duluth, MN on a tugboat from Hesper. The weather was such that Hesper could not control the load. The survivor was to leave Elia to fend for herself. In a short time Ely was on the rocks at two ports in MN. By a heroic effort all the members of the crew were saved, but 200 of the ship was a total loss.
Hesper: Nine years later Hesper meets the same fate as Eli’s barge/schooner. A 60 mph gust of north drove it onto the rocks on the shore of Silver Bay Harbor, about 25 miles north of where it broke up in Ely. Luckily the crew was able to reach safety again as the ship broke apart.
Henry Steinbrenner: A 427′ steel carrier went down in 1953, during a late spring snow season. With 75 mph winds 3 gusts of wind blew the lids off in the morning. Fourteen fellow sailors were rescued from three life rafts by other ships in the area.
USS Mesquite: The most recent shipwreck, she was intentionally sunk after striking the Keweenaw Peninsula on Dec. 4. 1989. The soft tenella at the base was badly damaged and was deposited after being lost. the storm broke it out of repair before it could be re-floated. The following summer, Bete Grise Bay was shelled in 100 water. Now one of the many wrecks is available for various explorations.
Edmond Fitzgerald: At 729′ in length it was the longest descent. It sank near Whitefish Bay when the group went down on November 10, 1975. The Great Fitz, as it is known, was the first coal-fired ship, but was converted to oil in 1971, launched in 1958, and stricken. from the beginning. He took three shots before Mrs. Fitzgerald was able to break the bottle of bells over the bow. Regarded as a bad omen, it went from bad to worse, so that the ship was damaged while carrying the herd. A spectator also suffered a heart attack during the event. During its 17-year career, the Fitz-V suffered more collisions, and even lost an anchor in the Detroit River. Its destruction came during a terrible November storm, possibly from the treacherous waves that had been reported in the area. She was suddenly overwhelmed and sank, taking everything with her. Nay, the ship burst into two parts, with a section of the bows straight on the ground, and the stern nearly overturned.
As indicated at the top of this article, there are thousands of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. To find more detailed information about these ships and more, be sure to read the full story at www.mnhs.org
Sailing the Great Lakes as a Merchant Marine is a life of adventure. There is no better scene than reclining against the bulk in your chair on a ship at the bow of such a monster. At midnight, the full moon as your only light. The water is almost still as it silently cuts through it. Except for the bottom knocking of the engine and propeller, located 1,000ft away, at the stern of the ship. Working on a ship is a wonderful experience, as long as Mother Nature is in good spirits. She can and will scare the hell out of you.
www.northshorevisitor.com
www.mnhs.org
www.wikipedia.org
