Shipwrecks of Lake Erie: Tragedy in the Quadrangle

by David Frew

Overview

Lake Erie has seen its share of disasters, claiming more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Read the mysteries of its most mysterious and notorious wrecks and disappearances.

The great lakes have seen many ships meet their end, but none so much as Lake Erie. As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is prone to sudden waves and wildly shifting sandbars. The steamer Atlantic succumbed to these conditions when, in 1852, a late night collision brought 68 of its weary immigrant passengers to watery graves. The 1916 Black Friday Storm sank four ships — including the "unsinkable" James B. Colgate — in the course of its 20-hour tantrum over the lake. In 1954, a difficult fishing season sent the Richard R into troubled waters in the hopes of catching a few more fish. One of the lake's sudden storms drowned the boat and three man crew. At just 50 miles wide and 200 miles long, Lake Erie has claimed more ships per square mile than any other body of freshwater. Author David Frew dives deep to discover the mysteries of some of Lake Erie's most notorious wrecks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626195516
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/03/2014
Series:	Disaster
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	668,298
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Dr. David Frew is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, and the author of numerous books on the local and maritime history of the region. He is a visiting professor at Mercyhurst College, and a former executive director of the Erie County Historical Society. He is an avid racing and cruising sailor.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Lake Erie Quadrangle 9

Acknowledgements 13

Part I Lake Erie Shipwrecks

Meeting the Beachcomber: The Shipwreck Capital of the World 15

Inventing the Quadrangle: Adding a Database to Lake Erie's Shipwreck Research 19

Between the Cracks: Some Things that We Missed 22

Evolutions in Dive Technology: The Rare Intact Wreck Sites 24

Part II Wartime on Lake Erie

The Schooner Amelia (1813): Lake Erie's First Shipwreck 29

Salina (1813): Double Spoils of War 34

The British Payroll Ship Mohawk (1814): Legends of Long Point Gold 38

Part III Overlake Commerce, Steam and Technology

The Steamship Erie (1841): Erie's Reed Family 43

The Schooner St. James (1870): A New Fleet Management Strategy 48

George Mowbray (1880): The Nitro Boat 51

Norwegian Angst (1852): Touched by a Shipwreck 56

Salvaging the Steamer Atlantic: Johnny Green Discovers the Bends 62

Dean Richmond (1893): Salvage Diving Precedents 66

Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 (1909): Still Missing After All These Years 69

Part IV Commercial Fishing

Grace M (1904) and Barnhurst (1905): Lake Erie's Fish Wars 73

Rocket (1910): Lake Erie's First Steel Fish Tug 79

The Fish Tug Peerless (1924): Problems with Gasoline 81

The Steamer Louise (1931): Lake Erie's Last Commercial Fish Transport Ship 85

Part V New Business Models

The Daring Young Man in a Flying Machine (1912): Shipwrecks Were Not Just for Ships 89

Colonial (1925): Lake Erie's Excursion Business 94

Pterodactyl (1926): Yachts Can Be Shipwrecks Too 97

Howard S Gerkin (1926): Dangers of Dredging 101

Part VI Modern Fishing Disasters

The Explosion of the Mary Lou (1952): They Should Have Switched to Diesel 105

Richard R (1954): Extending the Season 108

Aletha B (1974) and Stanley Clipper (1984): Troubles with Trawling 110

Part VII Is Lake Erie's Shipwreck Era Over?

The Whaleback James B Colgate (1916): Hurricane Seasons Past 117

Wrreck Spotting on a Clear Day: What a Difference a Day Makes 121

Eulogy for the Beachcomber: Goodbye Old Friend 125

Epilogue: The Search Goes On 131

Bibliography 137

Index 139

About the Author 143