.jpg) SSM.M. Drake underway | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | M.M. Drake |
| Owner | John Green,Buffalo, New York |
| Port of registry | Buffalo, New York |
| Builder | Union Dry Dock Company |
| Completed | 1882 |
| Identification | Official No. 91485 |
| Fate | Foundered off Vermilion Point inLake Superior with her tow,schoonerMichigan on 2 October 1901 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steamer,propeller, barge |
| Tonnage | 915 GRT 762 NRT |
| Length | 201 ft (61 m) |
| Beam | 34.42 ft (10.49 m) |
| Depth | 14.5 ft (4.4 m) |
SSM.M. Drake was a wooden steambarge that towedconsorts loaded with coal andiron ore on theGreat Lakes. She came to the rescue of the crews of at least four foundering vessels in her 19-year career only to meet the same fate in her final rescue attempt.Drake sank in 1901 offVermilion Point after a rescue attempt of her consortMichigan. Herrudder,anchor, andwindlass were illegally removed from her wreck site in the 1980s. They are now the property of the State of Michigan. The rudder is on display as a loan to theGreat Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the anchor and windlass are on loan for display toWhitefish Township Community Center. The wreck ofDrake is protected as part of an underwater museum in theWhitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
Drake was constructed in 1882 inBuffalo, New York as a wooden steam barge and named for the line superintendent of her building company,Marcus Motier Drake.[1] TheDrake started her career in September 1882 by towing the bargeF.W. Gifford. In 1883 she waschartered forLake Erie toDuluth, Minnesota for coal and fromMarquette, Michigan to Lake Erie for iron ore. She ran aground at theFox Islands in September 1883.[2] In 1885 she was re-admeasured and had upper decks added at the Union Dry Dock Company inBuffalo, New York.James Corrigan ofWickliffe, Ohio became her third and final owner in 1889.[3][4]
During her nineteen-year career, she came to the rescue of distressed vessels and she had several mishaps of her own, including stranding on a reef in 1882, running ashore in 1888 nearCheboygan, Michigan, and striking a bar and sinking at the dock inDuluth, Minnesota in 1889.[3] In 1883,Drake rescued the crew of her consort, the 347-ton schoonerDot (the formerMary Merrit), whenDot began leaking and sank offGrand Marais, Michigan. In 1889,Drake picked up 3 passengers and the 15-man crew from the wooden steam bargeSmith Moore that had been sideswiped byJames Pickands in heavy fog.Drake towedSmith Moore for six hours whenSmith Moore finally sank only 300 feet (91 m) from thebar at the mouth of theMunising, Michigan harbor. In 1900,Drake rescued the eight-man crew from the leaking schooner-bargeR. Hallaran that foundered offKeweenaw Point nearStannard Rock Light.Drake saved at least four crews from foundering vessels during her career but her final rescue of her own consort's crew caused a fatal blow to her structure that resulted in her suffering the same fate.[5]
On 1 October 1901,Drake headed into a storm onLake Superior with her consort, the 27-year-old, three-mastedschooner bargeMichigan, both heavy with iron ore loaded atSuperior, Wisconsin. AsDrake labored through frigid rain and 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) wind, by 2 October 1901, the seams ofMichigan's planking began to leak at a rate that overwhelmed her pumps. The flooded and dense iron ore cargo made it likely thatMichigan would sink without warning before the dawn of the day.[1]
Captain John McArthur Jr., ofMichigan, ordered the thick towinghawser pulled in within hailing distance ofDrake to communicate their status by shouts amplified with a megaphone. It was decided thatMichigan's crew would be removed in the pitch black night as there was no chance of launchingMichigan'syawl in the prevailing winds.Michigan was drawn up toDrake so that herbow was up againstDrake'sstern quarter on theleeward side. With the two wooden hulls grinding against each other, the crew ofMichigan leaped toDrake when the waves brought the twodecks level to one another.[1] Just as the last of theMichigan's crew were safely transferred toDrake, the wind carriedMichigan into a sea trough causing herjibboom that jutted forward from her forepeak to rake across length ofDrake.Drake's after cabin was fractured and her tall smoke stack was lopped off and shoved overboard.[1]
Drake was mortally wounded. The loss of her smoke stack prevented a proper draft to her boilers to form a full head of steam to her engines and part of that steam was diverted to the pumps needed to stay ahead of the flooding below decks caused by the fractured after cabin. Without full steam,Drake's Captain J. W. Nicholson, could not keep her from hanging up in the sea trough in gale-force winds even though he ordered the crew to break up her cabins to feed a wood fire that burned hotter than a coal fire.[1]
WhenNorthern Wave, a two-year-old steel packagefreighter, headed upbound out ofWhitefish Bay shortly after 6:00 that morning, she spotted the strugglingDrake flying a distress signal from one her masts and the crew frantically swarming the cabins with fire axes and bare hands. When Captain M.S. Peterson easedNorthern Wave to the windward side of the founderingDrake, three crew members leaped to the deck ofNorthern Wave. Heavy seas prevented the steelNorthern Wave from staying alongside for a rescue ofDrake's crew without risking her wooden hull.Northern Wave attempted to tow the water-loggedDrake but the hawser immediately snapped. Captain Peterson informed Captain Nicholson by megaphone that he would standby in caseDrake's crew could be taken off but both knew the near impossibility of launching thelifeboats in the gale.[1]
By late afternoonDrake had slowed to a crawl due to her inability to keep up steam.Northern Wave still hovering nearby. The situation appeared hopeless until the steel freighter,Crescent City, came upon the strugglingDrake.Crescent City was nearly twice the size ofDrake and she used her massive hull to provide an artificial lee from the gale-force wind.Michigan's cook, Harry Brown, leaped towardCrescent City before the two vessels were close enough and was swallowed by Lake Superior. The rest of the crew waited until the hulls of the two ships were grinding together and all of them safely jumped toCrescent City by 17:00.Crescent City reached theSoo Locks withMichigan andDrake crews at 2:00 on 3 October 1901.[1]
Drake was a $35,000 loss andMichigan was a $19,000 loss.[5]
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The schooner-bargeMichigan was never seen again after the night of 2 October 1901.[1] The wreck ofDrake was first discovered by Captain Campbell ofLiberty just four days after she sank on 6 October 1901, when he was downbound for theSoo Locks. Captain Campbell reported thatDrake was located between Vermilion Point andWhitefish Point lying on her side in 40 feet (12 m) of water with about 5 feet (1.5 m) feet of water over her with a floatingspar still strung to the hull.[1] The wreck ofDrake lay forgotten on the bottom of Lake Superior for 77 years until she was rediscovered at46°46.588′N85°05.933′W / 46.776467°N 85.098883°W /46.776467; -85.098883 in 1978, by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS)[6] who subsequently illegally removed her rudder, windlass, anchor, and a sign board in the 1980s. Michigan's Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands. TheEvening News reported aMichigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment 1992 raid on theGreat Lakes Shipwreck Museum and its offices that found evidence of 150 artifacts illegally removed from the state-claimed bottomlands, including artifacts fromDrake.[7][8][9] Following a settlement agreement with the GLSHS,Drake's rudder, anchor, andwindlass are now the property of the State of Michigan.[8][9] The rudder is on loan to the GLSHS for display nearby the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the anchor and windlass is on loan to Whitefish Township for display next to its community building.
Great Lakes diver Harrington reported thatDrake's wreck lies scattered on the lake bottom about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from Vermilion Point.[10] Oleszewski reported that decades of winter ice and spring and fall storms smashed the remains of her upright keel leaving only the boiler standing.[1] TheDrake's wreck site is protected for future generations ofrecreational divers by theWhitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum. Divers who visit the wreck sites are expected to observe preservation laws and "take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but bubbles".[11] Harrington cautions that "divers must be certain of their abilities and equipment" when diving the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.[10]
{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link).Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1901 | |
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