Pewabic (propeller) shipwreck site | |
 ThePewabic prior to her sinking | |
   | |
| Location | Lake Huron[2] |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Alpena Township, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 44°57′53″N83°6′14″W / 44.96472°N 83.10389°W /44.96472; -83.10389 |
| NRHP reference No. | 14001096[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 22, 2016 |
TheSSPewabic was apackage freighter that served ports on the UpperGreat Lakes. She was launched in October 1863, fitted out in the spring of 1864, and was in active service until she sank offThunder Bay Island inLake Huron on August 9, 1865, due to collision with her sister vessel.[3] There was significant loss of life, with a number variously estimated at 100 to 125[4][5][6][7] passengers and crew of the stricken vessel going down with the ship. If the higher number is accepted, the loss of life made this disaster, in terms of loss of life from the sinking of a single vessel, the seventh-worst tragedy in the history of the Great Lakes, and the worst ever on Lake Huron.[8]The sunken hull of the package freighter is a feature of the present-dayThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[9]
ThePewabic was built for the Lake Superior Transit Company by the Peck & Masters yard inCleveland. She was 200 feet (61 m) long and had a beam of 31 feet (9.4 m). Known as thePioneer Line, Lake Superior Transit specialized in the fast shipment of passengers and freight between Lake Erie and Lake Superior, especially theCopper Country centered on theKeweenaw Peninsula of far northern Michigan. Ingot copper from theUpper Peninsula's booming mines had found eager customers during the commodity boom that accompanied theCivil War. ThePioneer Line was highly successful in moving passengers in both directions; and thePewabic, acclaimed as "one of the finest vessels on the lakes", ran in coordination with a sister vessel, the SSMeteor. Both vessels sped through fresh water at what was then a blazing speed of 12knots. Whenever one vessel was going north, the other would be going south, and their paths typically crossed in northern Lake Huron.[6][7]
The rendezvous moments of the two vessels were often treated as an event calling for playful salutes and celebrations, and the respective ship's captains developed the custom of running close by each other. One oft-repeated story asserts that it was the custom for a seaman on the northbound vessel to heave a mail sack onto the deck of the southbound vessel; the bag allegedly contained Civil War newspapers that could be sold to news-starved passengers.[5][7] In any case, the August 9, 1865 rendezvous ended in mishap and tragedy. ThePewabic's helmsman unexpectedly swerved in front of theMeteor which buried its prow deep in the forequarters of her stricken sister ship.[3] ThePewabic, mortally wounded, sank no more than 30–45 minutes after the collision.[5] The site of the collision was six miles off Thunder Bay Island nearAlpena. TheMeteor was able to save some of the passengers and crew; the lost vessel's passenger manifest, which would have been able to clarify the death roll, went down with the ship.[7]
ThePewabic's wreck was 182 feet (55 m) feet below the water's surface. However, its cargo of 267 tons of solidcopperingots was extensively salvaged in 1917 and 1918 byBenjamin Franklin Leavitt,[5][10] and again in 1974 by Gregory James Busch.[6][7] In his World War I-era dives, Leavitt is acclaimed as having pioneered the use ofatmospheric diving suits in American waters, having organized asalvage operation, using some of the earliestdiving gear —diving helmet and an armored suit while directing dive buckets — which salvaged 350 tons (according to another source) ofcopper ore from the wreck.[10]
Today, the wreck of thePewabic sits in over 160 feet of water. The stern and the majority of the hull remain mostly intact. Due to salvage work in the 1860s and 1917 for her copper ingot cargo, the superstructure and the bow are broken up or missing.
Busch and his crew recovered thePewabic's 2,345 pounds (1,064 kg) bow anchor, which was presented to theBesser Museum for Northeast Michigan in December 1974. The Admiralty-pattern anchor was placed on public display as a memento of the lost vessel.[4]
A painting of the Pewabic and the Meteor by marine artist and historian Robert McGreevy is at theThunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.[3]
The exact number of people lost isn't know[n] for sure since the passenger list went down with the vessel, but as many as 125 may have perished.
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