1909 — May 1-2, steamer Adella Shores lost, Lake Superior gale, off Grand Island, MI– 14

— 27 Nash. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 694. (Shows loss date as May 9 and location as “Great Lakes.”)
— 21 Atlantic Evening News, IA. “Lake Steamer Sinks; 21 Lives are Lost,” May 10, 1909, p. 6.
— 21 Elgin Echo, IA. “Report Ship Lost With 21,” May 20, 1909, p. 4.
— 21 Waukesha Freeman, WI. “Events in 1909 Chronology,” Jan 10, 1910, p. 12.
— 14 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 233.
— 14 McNeil. “Adella Shores…sunk, 1 May 1909.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— 14 New York Times. “Report 14 Lost With Lake Steamer.” 5-8-1909, p. 1, col. 3.
— 14 Steamboat-Inspect. Svc. Report of the Supervising Inspector General…Year 1909, p. 473.
— 14 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 217.
— 14 U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1909, p. 390.
— 14 Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks. 1990, p. 130.
— 8 Donald. “Safety of Life at Sea.” Journal of the Franklin Institute, 175/1, Jan 1913, p. 33.

Narrative Information

Swayze: “Adella Shores. Wooden lumber hooker of 734 t. and 195 ft., launched in 1894 at Gibraltar, MI. Lake Superior: The fate of this well-known steamer is one of the great mysteries of the Big Lake. She sailed into a heavy gale on May 1, 1909, with a crew of 14 and a cargo of salt, and was never heard from again. The Adella Shores is thought to have been overwhelmed and sunk somewhere off Whitefish Point.” (Swayze. Shipwreck. 1992, p. 217.)

U.S. Bureau of Navigation: “St.s…Adella Shores…734 [gross tonnage]…1894 [built]…14 [on board]…14 [lives lost]…Foundered…May 1, 1909…Grand Island, Mich.” (U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Forty-First An. List of Merchant Vessels…[US]…Year Ended June 30, 1909. 1909.)

U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service: “On May 1 or 2, 1909, while en route from Ludington, Mich., to Duluth, Minn., and when off Grand Island, Lake Superior, the steamer Adella Shores, heavily laden with a cargo of salt, foundered during a terrific gale, resulting in the loss of her entire crew of 14 men.” (US Steamboat-Inspection Svc. Annual Rpt. …Year Ended June 30, 1909, p.473.)

Wolfe: “….on that dismal May 1 [1909]…the 195-foot, 734-ton wooden lumber hooker Adella Shores, upbound to Duluth with a cargo of salt, had entered the lake on April 29…The Shores…did not appear at Duluth on May 2 as scheduled. Her mere 500- horsepower engine could not cope with the northeasterly blasts, but something far more serious went wrong….

“The first inkling that a tragedy occurred came when normal lake traffic resumed and the wooden steamer Simon Langell found herself in a mass of wreckage north of Grand Island. As the Langell’s Captain Geel and Mate Spaulding viewed the gruesome flotsam on May 4, they recognized that paint scheme and skylight structure of the cabin remains as those of the Adella Shores. Not long afterward, north of Au Sable Light, the captain of the steamer Gettysburg reported more debris, including a pilot-house, yawl boat and cabin. Positive identification came on May 10 at Grand Marais, Michigan, as the Shore’s nameboard and marked life preservers were found along the beach by patrolling lifesavers. Nearly three weeks after the presumed foundering, another grotesque bit of evidence turned up, a piece of decking floating with an oar driven through it, an improvised raft. On the decking was a seaman’s coat, the pocket of which contained a union card made out to Peter Olson, West Alli, Wisconsin. Perhaps one man had survived the immediate sinking, only to die of exposure or to be washed off later. Captain S. Holmes of Milwaukee and his 13-man crew had perished. The 15-year-old Shores, which had been built in Detroit for the Shores Lumber Company, was worth $30,000 to her owners, the Manx Transit Company of Cleveland.”

Newspapers

May 7: “Cleveland, May 7. – The steamer Adella Shores, of Cleveland, is reported to have gone down off White Fish Point, in Lake Superior, with all on board. Fourteen are believed to have perished in the wreck. The boat was manned by Capt. S. H. Holmes, a part owner, who lives in Milwaukee, and a crew of thirteen. Of the latter, only the engineer, R. S. Nott, has been identified….

“The Adella Shores…wintered in Ludington, Mich., and left there with a cargo of salt for Duluth two weeks ago. She passed through the Soo Canal April 29, and should have been in Duluth six days ago. Capt. Holmes had the reputation of being a careful man. He was 35 years old and unmarried. He was the only man in the crew known to the owners of the ship. The engineers and other members of the crew of thirteen were picked up in Ludington….” (New York Times. “Report 14 Lost With Lake Steamer.” 5-8-1909, p. 1, col. 3.)

May 8: “Duluth, May 8. – News of the destruction of the steamer Shores off Whitefish Point in Lake Superior was brought to Duluth by the crew of the steamer Northland, who say that as the latter was passing that point on the way up they discovered wreckage strewn all over the lake and in their opinion it belonged to the Shores. The fact that she was a week overdue at Duluth and no word of her has been received adds color to the theory.

“The Adella Shores belonged to the S. O. Neff Transportation company of Milwaukee and is said to have been upbound from Michigan with a load of salt. Rumor says that her passengers and crew numbered twenty-one, but this cannot be verified. The ship was of 1,250 tons burden and under command of Captain S. Holmes. The engineer is R. S. Nott. The names of the crew and passengers are not obtainable at this point. Telegraphic advices from various points between Duluth and the Soo are being momentarily awaited by many here who have given up all hope that the boat of its human freight were saved. The gale in which the ship foundered last week and in which also the Aurania, the Russian and the Nester went down, was one of the fiercest in the history of Lake Superior for this season of the year. The wind at times gained a velocity of seventy miles an hour. This, together with the fact that a violent snow storm prevailed for three days, made navigation extremely perilous for ships that were caught away from land and in the trough of the sea.” (Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, MN. “Vessel Lost on the Lakes…Adella Shores…” 5-8-1909, p.1.)

May 10: “Duluth, Minn., May 10 – The steamer Adella Shores was wrecked and all hands lost. The story of the wreck of the steamer was brought to Duluth by Capt. Geel and Mate Spaulding of the steamer Simon Langell. The Langell met with a considerable quantity of wreckage and the upper part of a boat that the captain feels sure belonged to the Adella Shores. ‘The crew and passengers numbered 21….’” (Atlantic Evening News, IA. “Lake Steamer Sinks; 21 Lives are Lost,” May 10, 1909, p. 6.)

May 20: “Advices received at Duluth are to the effect that the steamer Shores, six days’ overdue at Duluth, went down off White Fish Point in Lake Superior with all or board. The crew and passengers numbered twenty-one.

“News of the destruction of the Shores was brought to Duluth by the crew of the steamer Northland, who say that as the latter was passing that point on the way up they discovered wreckage strewn all over the lake, and, in their opinion, it belonged to the Shores. The fact that she was a week overdue at Duluth and no word of her has been received adds color to the theory.

“The Adelia Shores belonged to the S. O. Neff Transportation Company of Milwaukee, and is said to have been up bound from Michigan with a load of salt. The ship was of 1,250 tons burden and under command of Captain S. Holmes….” (Elgin Echo, IA. “Report Ship Lost With 21,” May 20, 1909, p. 4.)

Sources

Atlantic Evening News, IA. “Lake Steamer Sinks; 21 Lives are Lost,” May 10, 1909, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=166498799

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Donald, James. “Safety of Life at Sea.” Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 175, No. 1, Jan 1913, pp. 15-42. Accessed 9-11-2020 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=dswxAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Elgin Echo, IA. “Report Ship Lost With 21.” 5-20-1909, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=145716233

McNeil. “Adella Shores (Propeller), U107100, sunk, 1 May 1909.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-14-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/46710/data?n=1

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.

New York Times. “Report 14 Lost With Lake Steamer.” 5-8-1909, p. 1, col. 3. Accessed 1-14-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-may-08-1909-p-1/

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

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Forty-First Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1909. Wash.: GPO, 1909. Digitized by Google. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=vF0uAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:LCCNsn88028129#v=onepage&q=&f=false

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1909. In Department of Commerce and Labor. Reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor 1909 (Report of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor and Reports of Bureaus). Washington, DC: GPO, 1910. Digitized by Google. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=aaUXAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Waukesha Freeman, WI. “Events in 1909 Chronology,” Jan 10, 1910, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53091993

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