 Mataafa wrecked outside Duluth harbor after the storm of November 28, 1905 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SSMataafa |
| Builder | Cleveland Shipbuilding Company |
| Completed | 1899 |
| Out of service | 1965 |
| Fate | Wrecked 1905, raised and repaired; scrapped 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 4,840 GRT |
| Length | 430 ft (130 m) |
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Depth | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Installed power | 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) |
| Crew | 24 in 1905 |
SSMataafa was an Americansteamship that had a lengthy career on theGreat Lakes of North America, first as abulk carrier and later as acar carrier. She was wrecked in 1905 inLake Superior just outside the harbor atDuluth, Minnesota, during astorm that was named after her. She was built asSSPennsylvania in 1899,[1] and renamedMataafa when she was purchased in the same year by the Minnesota Steamship Company. After her 1905 wreck, she was raised and repaired, and served for another sixty years before being scrapped.
Built in 1899 as SSPennsylvania by theCleveland Shipbuilding Company,[1] she was 430 feet (130 m) long and had abeam of 50 feet (15 m).[2] She was rated at 4,840 gross register tons (GRT), and her engines were capable of producing 1,800horsepower (1,300 kW).[3] Like most steel ships on theGreat Lakes, her hull was made of large steel plates riveted to steel frames.
The company that built her leased her out as SSPennsylvania for a few months, but quickly sold her to the Minnesota Steamship Company (MSC), which renamed her SSMataafa. Her first season with the MSC was not without difficulties; she struck a rock in theStraits of Mackinac and arrived atChicago, Illinois, with a leak, and then ran aground above theSoo Locks on her way back to Minnesota.[2]
In 1901, she became a part of the original Pittsburgh Steamship Division ofU.S. Steel when the division was formed.[2] Due to fog, she ran aground again, this time on Knife Island Reef in Lake Superior, on June 2, 1902.[4]
At three-thirty in the afternoon of November 27, 1905, she was on her way out of Duluth, Minnesota, loaded with iron ore and towing the bargeJames Nasmyth. According to Captain Richard F. Humble, they were rounding theApostle Islands when anor'easter hit. After hours of fighting the storm, Humble decided to turn back to safe port inTwo Harbors, Minnesota. After five more hours of struggling with the nor'easter, the ship made it back to Two Harbors, but was unable to enter the harbor due to the darkness. Her only remaining option was to try to make port at Duluth.
As she approached Duluth, it became clear that it was useless to try to bring both the steamer and the barge through the narrowDuluth Ship Canal into the harbor, so Captain Humble gave the order to cut looseJames Nasmyth, after whichMataafa attempted to make it into the harbor alone. She made it about half-way between the twin concrete piers when a backwater surged out. Heavy water struck her stern, driving her prow down to the muddy bottom, and then slammed her stern against the north pier. Her rudder tore off and the water pulled her prow out toward the open lake, then smashed her stern against the south pier. She grounded in the shallow water outside the north pier,[5] where she broke in two, her stern settling slowly into the water.[6]
When the ship broke in two, twelve men were in the after portion. Three of the men struggled out to the forward part of the ship. The nine who remained aboard the after portion died of exposure during the night; one of the bodies in the after half had to be chopped out of solid ice.[7] The fifteen men in the fore half fared better; although rescue attempts were futile during the stormy night, the next day a small boat made it out, and all fifteen were taken off in two boatloads.[8]
Mataafa wasrefloated and repaired. She continued to be accident-prone; On October 14, 1908, she was in a collision that sankSS Sacramento in the harbor atDuluth, Minnesota.,[9] On 1 October, 1910 she rescued the crew ofNew York after the ship burned and sank inThunder Bay, Michigan,Lake Huron,[10][11] and in 1914 she struck another pier.[5] She did play the heroic part on a few occasions, however; on July 17, 1912, she rescued 19 men from the sinking wooden steamerNew York inLake St. Clair, and on the same day six years later she rescued the entire crew of the bargeCommodore off South East Shoal inLake Erie.[2]
She was rebuilt due to wear in 1926, and in 1946 she was converted from abulk carrier to acar carrier, after which she served theNicholson Transit Company. She served until 1964, when she was sold to Marine Salvage to be scrapped. She was dismantled inHamburg, West Germany, in 1965.[2]
Because the wreck ofMataafa occurred just outside Duluth, hundreds if not thousands of people were witnesses to the event. This made the wreck ofMataafa famous enough for the November 1905 storm to become known as the "Mataafa Storm."[5][12] The Duluth Cigar Company quickly capitalized on the wreck with the "Mataafa" Cigar, which bore a picture of the wrecked bulk carrier.[13]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1901 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1908 | |
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