1901 — Sep 16, steamer Hudson sinks, Lake Superior storm ~8m off Eagle River, MI–24-25

–24-25 Blanchard estimated death-toll range: Most of the newspaper reports of the time which we have seen note twenty-five aboard (we cite only a few herein). We have seen brief summary reporting which notes twenty-four aboard. There were no survivors. The published sources since then note either twenty-four or twenty-five. We have not been able to locate a roster or listing of named crew, thus we resort to the use of a range of deaths from twenty-four to twenty-five.

— 25 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY. “Ship and 25 Men Probably Lost.” 9-19-1901, p. 4.
–~25 Krueger. “118 years after ship sank…searchers locate wreck…” MPRnews, MN. 9-23-2019.
— 25 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 112.
— 24 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 692.
— 24 The Quill, La Harpe, IL. “Foundered in Lake Superior.” 9-24-1901, p. 6, col. 1.
— 24 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report…FY Ended June 30, 1902. 1902, p77.
— 24 Wolff. Lake Superior Shipwrecks…Maritime Accidents and Disasters. 1990, p. 94.

Narrative Information

Nash: “1901….Sept. 16, Hudson…24 [lives lost]. The steamship foundered on Lake Superior.”

Swayze: “Hudson. Steel package freight steamer of 2,294 t. [tons] and 288 ft. launched in 1888 at Wyandotte.

“Lake Michigan [sic]: This steamer’s fore-and-aft tandem stacks, green and grey color scheme, and graceful lines made her one of the handsomest, most distinctive freighters on the Lakes. On September 16, 1901, she was downbound with a cargo of wheat and flax when she encountered a terrific gale. Sometime during the storm her cargo probably shifted and she capsized and went down with all 25 hands. Her remains lie somewhere off Eagle River, Michigan near the tip of the Keweenaw.” (Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 112.)

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service: “September 16.—While en route from Duluth to Buffalo, and when about 8 miles off Eagle River, on Lake Superior, the steamer Hudson foundered during a heavy southwest gale, resulting in the loss of the steamer and the entire crew, which, as nearly as can be ascertained, consisted of 24 persons. Damage to steamer, $180,000. The steamer John M. Nicol passed in close proximity to the steamer Hudson while the latter was in a sinking condition, without making any attempt to rescue the officers and crew. This seeming negligence on the part of the officers of the steamer John M. Nicol was investigated and the case dismissed.” (US SIS. Annual Report 1902. P. 77.)

Wolff: “A Whooping pre-equinoctial gale ravaged the central and eastern lake [Superior] for several days beginning on September 16 [1901]. Shipping came to a standstill. Telegraph and telephone wires were downed along the Keweenaw country. Unconfirmed rumors filtered into Houghton that a large ship had gone down off Eagle Harbor while debris cluttered the beaches at Grand Marais, Michigan. For a while, as no new information came in, the sinking story was discounted. Yet, by September 19, when communications were restored to the Keweenaw, the ugly fact of a major catastrophe was substantiated. At 10 a.m. on September 16 the keepers at Eagle Light had observed a sizeable twin-stacked steame4r dead in the water, listing badly. The unidentified steamer suddenly rolled over and sank stern first as they watched. Another steamer was seen in the area and, as no yawl boats were sighted, the keepers first 6thought a passing steamer may have picked up the crew. Unfortunately, this was not the case. As the lake quieted, fishing boats put out and sighted wreckage all the way from Eagle River to Copper Harbor, a stretch of 25 miles. The black and yellow posts seen in the debris, as well as the obervers’ description, seemed to indicate the victim was the package freighter Hudson of the Western Transit Line, which had cleared Duluth on September 15, with a cargo of 69,000 bushels of wheat and 22,500 bushels of flax. They were correct. On September 21, a cabin and a yawl boat came ashore near Eagle River and 75 miles to the east, near Stannard Rock, a pilothouse was picked up by the steamer J. C. Ford. Still in the pilothouse was the body of Wheelsman Sherman G. Brooks wearing a life preserver stenciled ‘S.S. Hudson.’ The entire crew of 24 had gone down with their ship.

“The Hudson was a 288-foot, 2,,294-ton steel vessel built in 1888 at Wyandotte and one of the fastest ships on the lakes. Her master was Captain Angus J. McDonald, and Moses Trouton was her chief engineer. Most of her crew was from the Buffalo area. The ship was worth about $200,000 and the grain another $95,000, making this one of the most expensive accidents to date. Insurance of $211,000 was carried. Quantities of wreckage were tossed up for days along the Keweenaw coast –yawls, hatch covers, a cabin, spars, a good deal of flour. Still nothing to indicate the cause of the sinking. Shipping men presumed that her grain cargo shifted, but an engine break-down might also have contributed to or caused the loss.

“The ship which the lighthouse keepers had seen near the foundering Hudson proved to be the 263-foot wooden steamer John M. Nicol of the Union Transit company out of Buffalo under Captain McLean. Captain McLean revealed that he had approached as close as he dared to the Hudson, but could see only four persons on deck. Therefore, he concluded that her crew wasn’t too worried about their predicament and, with his own ship taking a battering, he had better pull away. Indeed, the Nicol had to be dry-docked for extensive weather damage repairs. Since there was apparently no attempt to launch lifeboats, vessel men supposed that most of the Hudson crew many have been in the hold trying to trim the shifted grain cargo and were trapped when the ship rolled over. This supposition is reinforced by the fact that despite an intensive water and shoreline search of three months by the Western Transit Company, only seven bodies were recovered, some well down the east side of Keweenaw Point. Why the Hudson succumbed when many other less substantial ships came through remains one of the mysteries of the lake.” (Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Complete Reference to Maritime Accidents and Disasters. Duluth, MN: Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc., 1990, p. 94.)

Newspapers

Sep 19: “Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., September 19. – News of the probable loss of the Western Transit steamboat Hudson with a crew of twenty-five me on Lake Superior last Monday was brought y the steamboat Nicol, which reached here from Duluth early today. According to the report of Captain McLean of the Nicol, the Hudson left Duluth for Buffalo some time after the Nicol and passed that steamboat Sunday night. Monday morning the Nicol came up to the Hudson again about eight miles west of Eagle River.

“The Hudson was in a bad way, with decks awash in a furious gale, and pumps hard at work. Captain McLean said he had all he could do to save his own vessel, and could not render assistance.

“When he arrived in port he supposed the steamship Gilchrist had rescued the Hudson’s crew. When he heard such was not the case he said there was no possible hope for the foundered ship.

“The Hudson was valued at $200,000 and carried a full cargo of flour, grain and east-bound merchandise worth $100,000.” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY. “Ship and 25 Men Probably Lost.” 9-19-1901, p. 4.)

Sep 21: “Calumet, Mich., Sept. 21. – Advices received yesterday from Eagle River state that persons patrolling the lake shore in that vicinity have found wreckage, presumably from the Western Transit line steamer Hudson. The wreckage consists of a couple of spars, hatch cover and a quantity of flour. The cargo of the Hudson consisted largely of flour. No bodies have yet been found. It is thought the crew of twenty-five men went down.” (Logansport Pharos, IN. “Some Relics of the Hudson.” 9-21-1901, p. 2.)

Sep 23: “Houghton, Mich., Sept. 23. – The yawl and one of the cabins of the steamer Hudson washed ashore near Eagle River Saturday. Both were marked with the name of the boat.” (Rock Island Argus, IL. “Tidings From The Dead.” 9-23-1901, p. 8.)

Sep 24: “The steamer Hudson of the Western Transit Company foundered in Lake Superior off Eagle river, and her crew of twenty-four men were undoubtedly drowned.” (The Quill, La Harpe, IL. “Foundered in Lake Superior.” 9-24-1901, p. 6, col. 1.)

Sep 28: “One of the bodies found at Little Traverse bay yesterday morning [Sep 27] has been identified as that of Daniel Glass, an oiler of the lost steamer Hudson. The other body is that of the assistant cook, name unknown. The bodies were found by Finnish fisherman nearly seventy miles from Eagle river, the scene of the wreck.” (Albert Lea Enterprise, MN. “Victims of the Wreck.” 10-2-1901, p. 3, col. 3.)

Sources

Albert Lea Enterprise, MN. “Victims of the Wreck.” 10-2-1901, p. 3, col. 3. Accessed 11-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/albert-lea-enterprise-oct-02-1901-p-3/

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY. “Ship and 25 Men Probably Lost.” 9-19-1901, p. 4. Accessed 11-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brooklyn-daily-eagle-sep-19-1901-p-4/

Krueger, Andrew. “118 years after ship sank in Lake Superior gale, searchers locate wreck 825 feet beneath the surface.” MPRnews, MN. 9-23-2019. Accessed 11-28-2020 at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/09/22/searchers-locate-shipwreck-hudson-lake-superior

Logansport Pharos, IN. “Some Relics of the Hudson.” 9-21-1901, p. 2. Accessed 11-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/logansport-pharos-tribune-sep-21-1901-p-2/

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

Rock Island Argus, IL. “Tidings From The Dead.” 9-23-1901, p. 8. Accessed 11-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/rock-island-argus-sep-23-1901-p-8/

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

The Quill, La Harpe, IL. “Foundered in Lake Superior.” 9-24-1901, p. 6, col. 1. Accessed 121-28-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/la-harpe-quill-sep-24-1901-p-6/

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1902. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1902, 337 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed 11-27-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=sVYpAAAAYAAJ

Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Complete Reference to Maritime Accidents and Disasters. Duluth, MN: Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc., 1990.