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<\/a>\nThe Aftermath of the Storm in Ontario<\/em><\/p>\n
On November 8, a third low-pressure system originating in the Gulf of Mexico joined this icy maelstrom.\u00a0 No one was prepared for the violence that followed.\u00a0 On Lake Huron, the cruel combination of savage seas and blinding snow and ice made survival for any ship caught on the lake almost inconceivable.<\/p>\n
When the\u00a0James Carruthers<\/em>\u00a0left the dock at De Tour, Michigan at 12:53 a.m. on Sunday the 8th<\/sup>, two lanterns were clearly displayed, white above red, denoting a northwest storm warning.\u00a0 Such signals were a common sight in November, however, and usually ignored.\u00a0 In fact, owners often reprimanded any skipper who took shelter from such a storm, especially when other boats made port safely.<\/p>\n Several boats were beating north on Lake Huron: the tramp steamer\u00a0Wexford<\/em>\u00a0loading with grain, the\u00a0Howard M. Hanna, Jr<\/em>. loaded with soft coal and the 269-foot (81m) package freighter\u00a0Regina<\/em>.\u00a0 As the\u00a0Hanna\u00a0<\/em>neared Harbor Beach, Michigan, the wind shifted briefly to the southeast, then to the northeast, and finally to the north-northeast, where it steadily increased in strength.\u00a0 By afternoon, it had begun to snow heavily and the ships struggled with limited visibility.<\/p>\n One of the first victims was the coal-laden\u00a0Argus<\/em>.\u00a0 When spotted by Walter C. Iler, captain of the steamer\u00a0George C. Crawford,\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0Argus<\/em>\u00a0was struggling in murderous troughs.\u00a0 Then before Iler\u2019s eyes the worst possible scenario unfolded \u2013 the\u00a0Argus<\/em>\u2019 bow and stern sat atop two different waves and the cargo, heavy in the midships, was suspended between them.\u00a0 \u201cThe\u00a0Argus<\/em>\u00a0just appeared to crumple like an eggshell and disappeared!\u201d\u00a0 All hands were lost.<\/p>\n The next to be overcome was the\u00a0Hanna<\/em>.\u00a0 Around 8 p.m. a massive wave broke over the stern, propelling the steward\u2019s wife and furniture from her room through an interior bulkhead, dropping them into the engine room, much to the astonishment of Chief Engineer Charles Mayberry.\u00a0 By 10 p.m. the\u00a0Hanna<\/em>\u00a0was aground on the Port Austin reef, broken in two pieces.<\/p>\n Everywhere, vessels struggled to find safe ports.\u00a0 By late Monday the 9th<\/sup>, the storm had begun to ease and evidence of shipwrecks began to appear along the shores of Lake Huron.\u00a0 At Port Franks, 30 miles (48km) east of Port Huron, ten frozen crewmembers of the Regina were found, surrounded by debris and cargo: hay, canned goods and mixed freight.\u00a0 Two more were found nearby, frozen in a lifeboat.<\/p>\n A telegram received by the Pioneer Steamship Company in Cleveland confirmed that the\u00a0John A. McGean<\/em>\u00a0had been lost with all hands.\u00a0 Three bodies lashed to a lifeboat bearing this name were found on the shore five miles south of Goderich, Ontario.\u00a0 The\u00a0Carruthers<\/em>\u00a0was also presumed lost when life preservers, oars and rudders were discovered.\u00a0 South of Goderich near Kincardine, bodies and wreckage from the\u00a0Argus<\/em>\u00a0turned up.<\/p>\n Families began to arrive at the ports to identify bodies of their loved ones.\u00a0 In Hamilton, Thomas Thompson received a wire from his daughter Mrs. Edward Ward of Sarnia, reporting that his son had been drowned and he was to come to Goderich at once.\u00a0 Mrs. Ward was certain that her brother John Thompson had been on the wrecked\u00a0Carruthers<\/em>.\u00a0 Late Tuesday night, Thompson arrived and identified one of the bodies as his son.\u00a0 The body\u2019s left forearm was tattooed with the initials \u201cJ.T.\u201d.<\/p>\n The next day, John Thompson read of his own demise in a Toronto newspaper and immediately set off for Hamilton.\u00a0 For some reason, he did not send any word to his family.\u00a0 In the meantime, his father had purchased a cemetery plot and made arrangements for the funeral.\u00a0 When John arrived, the wake was in full swing.\u00a0 Thomas Thompson, utterly shocked by his son\u2019s appearance, exclaimed, \u201cIt\u2019s just like you to come back to attend your own wake, and you can get right out of the house until this thing blows over!\u201d<\/p>\n At Port Huron\u00a0 early on Monday the 9th<\/sup>, while surveying the wreck of his life-saving station, Captain George Plough glanced at the murderous lake and spotted a dark object about 100 feet (30m) long, floating three miles (4.8 kms) from shore.\u00a0 At first it was thought that it was the\u00a0Regina<\/em>, as crew members had been found not far from Port Huron.\u00a0 The hull lay in international waters between Canada and the United States but neither country immediately sent authorities to determine the ships\u2019 identity.\u00a0 The U.S. finally dispatched the cutter\u00a0Morrill<\/em>, but upon arrival at the site, the ship was ordered to turn around to assist the steamer\u00a0G.J. Grammer<\/em>, driven ashore on Lake Erie.\u00a0 Many were confounded by this decision as the hull, lying directly in the shipping lane, was a potential hazard.<\/p>\n William Livingstone, president of the Lake Carrier\u2019s Association, was enraged and dispatched the tug\u00a0Sarnia City<\/em>\u00a0to investigate.\u00a0 The tug\u2019s crew speculated that the hull was stuck on the bottom of the lake, held by its spar.\u00a0 However, the hull could not be identified and Plough\u2019s discovery was dubbed the \u201cmystery ship.\u201d\u00a0 Superintendent Dugan of the Merchant\u2019s Mutual Line Company, owners of the\u00a0Regina<\/em>, visited the wreck and declared it was decidedly not their ship.\u00a0 All reports were going to President Livingstone of the Lake Carrier\u2019s Association including that of the captain of the\u00a0Sarnia City<\/em>, who informed him that the mystery hull had eight plates, each no bigger than five feet (1.5m) across, indicating a vessel of between 250 and 300 feet (75-90m).\u00a0 Livingstone confidently announced that all American vessels of this size were accounted for and so the ship must be from Canada.<\/p>\n Might it be the 250-foot steel bulk freighter steamer\u00a0Wexford<\/em>?\u00a0 A landowner near St. Joseph had made a particularly haunting discovery.\u00a0 A quarter mile offshore, a man seemed to be waving to him.\u00a0 It turned out to be a crewmember from the\u00a0Wexford<\/em>.\u00a0 His upraised arms were frozen stiff and as the body bobbed up and down, it appeared to be waving.\u00a0 Other crewmen were found on the beach, which was awash with grain from the\u00a0Wexford\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0hold.\u00a0 The\u00a0Wexford<\/em>, at about 250 feet (75m) could fit into Livingstone\u2019s theory.<\/p>\n First Mate James McCutcheon had been scheduled to sail on the\u00a0Wexford<\/em>\u00a0but had missed his train.\u00a0 Now he was being called upon to identify the bodies of his friends. \u00a0He admitted that it was the third time he had missed the boat and each time a disaster had occurred.\u00a0 In the first instance, the\u00a0Wexford\u00a0<\/em>had caught fire and several lives had been lost.\u00a0 The second time there had been a wreck but the boat had been repaired.\u00a0 Although horrified by the task before him, he could not help declaring, \u201cI\u2019m the luckiest man alive!\u201d<\/p>\n Milton Smith also considered himself lucky.\u00a0 He was an engineer on the missing\u00a0Charles S. Price<\/em>, but a strange premonition had kept him from sailing on what would be the\u00a0Price\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0last voyage.\u00a0 In Cleveland, Smith had been reading a newspaper to pass the time and was constantly drawn back to the weather forecast.\u00a0 There was no warning of anything unusual but Smith had a dreadful hunch.\u00a0 He repeated his fears to the chief engineer, John Groundwater, who scolded him for being foolish.\u00a0 Later, when Smith was called to Thedford to assist in the identification of his crewmates\u2019 bodies, he positively identified John Groundwater.\u00a0 This puzzled the coroner as the body had been found wearing a\u00a0Regina<\/em>\u00a0life jacket.\u00a0 How did the Chief Engineer of the\u00a0Price<\/em>\u00a0end up wearing a life jacket from the\u00a0Regina<\/em>?<\/p>\n Numerous other\u00a0Price<\/em>\u00a0crewmembers were also found with\u00a0Regina<\/em>\u00a0life jackets.\u00a0 The discovery of the\u00a0Price<\/em>\u2019s cook with his apron still on seemed to suggest that the ship had gone down quickly and at some point, the\u00a0Regina<\/em>\u00a0must have foundered as neither hull has ever been found.\u00a0 Did the two ships collide in the storm?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, William Livingstone, who was still eager to positively identify the \u201cmystery ship,\u201d received a call from\u00a0Sarnia<\/em>.\u00a0 The services of a professional diver and the tug\u00a0Sport<\/em>\u00a0were available. \u00a0Livingstone was overjoyed and cried, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, get them if you can.\u201d\u00a0 The dive was set for Friday morning.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, because of rough seas the dive was called off until the following morning.\u00a0 As they waited, more bodies washed ashore near the Point Clark lighthouse, adding to the tension.\u00a0 Finally, on Saturday morning, six days after the discovery of the wrecked vessel, William Baker made his dive.\u00a0 He descended into the inky water and brought back the answer.\u00a0 \u201cI d the name twice and then once more to be absolutely sure.\u00a0 The name was painted in black letters on white bulwarks \u2013\u00a0Charles S. Price<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n At Port Sanilac on Lake Huron a historical marker tells the story of the Great Storm of 1913:<\/p>\n Sudden tragedy struck the Great Lakes on November 9, 1913, when a storm whose equal veteran sailors could not recall left in its wake death and destruction.\u00a0 The grim toll was 235 seamen drowned, ten ships sunk, and more than twenty others driven ashore.\u00a0 Here on Lake Huron all 178 crewmen of the eight ships claimed by its waters were lost.\u00a0 For sixteen hours gales of a cyclonic fury made men and his machines helpless<\/p>\n Culled from:\u00a0Disaster Great Lakes<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND – 1949<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe James Carruthers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe Argus<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe Hanna<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe Regina<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe “Mystery Ship”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nWexford victims washed ashore<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe Charles S. Price<\/em><\/p>\nCorpse Du Jour!<\/h3>\n