44°12′08″N87°24′44″W / 44.20222°N 87.41222°W /44.20222; -87.41222
 Vernon before she sank | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg) United States | |
| Name | Vernon |
| Namesake | W. Vernon Booth |
| Owner | Alfred Booth[1] |
| Operator | Northern Michigan Line[1] |
| Port of registry | Chicago, Illinois, United States[2] |
| Builder | James P. Smith ofChicago, Illinois[1] |
| In service | September 1/2, 1886[1][3] |
| Identification | Registry number US 161557[4] |
| Fate | Sank October 29, 1887[1][2][3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger and package freighter |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 158.58 ft (48.34 m)[3] |
| Beam | 25.42 ft (7.75 m)[3] |
| Depth | 18.66 ft (5.69 m)[3] |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × fixed pitch propeller[5] |
| Speed | 13knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)[5] |
| Crew | 23–25 |
SSVernon was a wooden-hulled American passenger and packagefreighter that sank in aLake Michigan storm on October 29, 1887, nearTwo Rivers, Wisconsin, with the loss of between 36 and 50 lives, making her one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever to have occurred inWisconsin. Only one of the people on board survived.
Vernon was built in 1886 inChicago, Illinois by the James P. Smith shipyard. She was built for Alfred Booth, also of Chicago. That same year, she replaced the package freighterA. Booth (which sank on August 29, 1886, near Duluth, Minnesota) in theDuluth, Minnesota-Port Arthur, Ontario run onLake Superior. For a time in 1887,Vernon was engaged in theiron ore trade, towing schoonerbarges between Lake Superior ports andCleveland, Ohio. In July 1887,Vernon briefly came into the ownership of John Pridgeon ofDetroit, Michigan, to whom she was sold as compensation for the damage done to hisscow barges while they were being towed byVernon. In August of that same year,Vernon once again became owned by Booth and was operated as part of his Booth Packing Company. Around the same time, she waschartered by the Northern Michigan Line in order to replace their steamerChamplain which had burned down inCharlevoix, Michigan.
In October 1887,Vernon was bound fromCheboygan, Michigan, for Chicago, making stops at several ports along the way. On October 28, she leftFrankfort, Michigan, for the lake's western shore, she began encountering rough seas. Eventually, she became overwhelmed by the waves, sinking near Two Rivers on the morning of October 29. Only one person, fireman Axel Stone, survived.
Discovered in 1969, the wreck ofVernon rests intact in 210 feet (64 m) of water.
Vernon (Official number 161557) was built in 1886 inChicago, Illinois, by the shipyard owned by James P. Smith.[1][2][3] Her wooden hull was 158.58 feet (48.3 m) (some sources state 177 feet (53.9 m)[6]) in length, 25.42 feet (7.7 m) wide and 18.66 feet (5.7 m) deep.Vernon had agross register tonnage of 694.94 tons and anet register tonnage of 560.41 tons.[1][3][5]
Vernon was powered by a two-cylinder 565 hp (421 kW)fore and aft compound engine; the cylinders of the engine hadbores of 22 inches (56 cm) and 40 inches (100 cm) and astroke of 24 inches (61 cm).[1] Steam for the engine was produced by two 16-by-6.6-foot (4.9 m × 2.0 m) 125 psi (860 kPa)Scotch marine boilers.[1] The engine and boilers were manufactured by the Marine Boiler Works in Chicago.[1][5] She was propelled to a top speed of 15 miles per hour (13 kn; 24 km/h) by a single fixed pitch propeller.[5]
Vernon was built to carry passengers and freight from Chicago toManistique, Michigan/NorthernLake Michigan in as little time as possible.[1] She was regarded as one of the most elegant ships on theGreat Lakes.[2] Equipped with extensivebrass fittings, eighteenstate rooms and one very large cabin lounge, she cost $78,000 (equivalent to $2.4 million in 2024[7]) to build.[6]
Vernon had an abnormally deepdraft when compared to her narrow beam, which caused her to become unstable when she was fully loaded.[2][6] At the time of her construction, sailors criticizedVernon's builders for sacrificing her buoyancy and stability in return for speed, predicting that she would "sooner or later meet with disaster".[2][4][8]
Great Lakes shipping expert Steve Harold wrote that:
"From the start, theVernon was known to have an unusual, perhaps defective, hull design. Even when empty, she had an extreme draft and sat very low in the water. Some people later declared it was even unsafe for her to carry significant amounts of cargo because she was then dangerously low in the water."[9]
Vernon was launched on August 16, 1886, in front of approximately 5000 onlookers. She was named after W. Vernon Booth, one of Alfred Booth's two sons. She was built for Alfred Booth of Chicago, Illinois, and his sons, A. Edeward and W. Vernon Booth, each of whom owned a1⁄3 share in her.[6] She received her enrollment on September 1/2, 1886 in Chicago, which would also be her home port.[1][2][3] That same year, she replaced the package freighterA. Booth (which sank on August 29, 1886, nearDuluth, Minnesota,[10]) in the Duluth–Port Arthur, Ontario, run onLake Superior.[1][11] For a time in 1887,Vernon was engaged in theiron ore trade, towingschooner barges between Lake Superior ports andCleveland, Ohio.[1] While towingscowbarges owned by John Pridgeon ofDetroit, Michigan, when she ran onto a reef in theStraits of Mackinac, causing damage to the barges.[12] She was sold by theUnited States Marshals Service to Pridgeon on July 22, 1887, as he hadlibeled her, due to the damage done to his barges.[1][12] On August 6, 1887, she was repurchased by Alfred Booth for $23,350; and was then transferred to Booth's Booth Packing Company.[12] That same month, she waschartered by the Northern Michigan Line, in order to replace their steamerChamplain, which burned down inCharlevoix, Michigan, on June 1 of that same year, with the loss of 21 lives.[1][9][12][13]
Vernon left Chicago, Illinois, forCheboygan, Michigan, on October 20, 1887, under the command of Captain George Thorpe, making stops along the way atManitowoc, Wisconsin,Suttons Bay, Michigan, andSt. Ignace, Michigan. Reports conflict about the number of crewmen on board, with most reports giving estimates of between 23 and 25.[5][12] On her return trip,Vernon was bound from Cheboygan for Chicago, and was once again scheduled to make stops atMackinac Island and several other northern Lake Michigan ports.[4][8] She left Cheboygan at around 3:00 a.m., accompanied by the package freighterJoseph L. Hurd.[12] The two ships proceeded toBeaver Island, whereVernon boarded passengers and loaded freight, whileJoseph L. Hurd headed for Chicago.[12]Vernon departed Beaver Island the following day, and passedLeeland, Michigan, at 1:00 p.m. She made a stop atGlen Haven, Michigan, and later atFrankfort, Michigan.[12] On the evening of October 28,Vernon left Frankfort, and head across Lake Michigan to its Wisconsin shore.[2][12] At around 10:00 p.m.,Vernon encountered a northeast gale, which gradually worsened as she headed across the lake.[14] Eventually, the large waves that made headway increasingly difficult, swampedVernon, extinguishing her boilers. Now powerless,Vernon sank nearTwo Rivers, Wisconsin, sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on October 29.[14] WhenVernon sank, she was carrying a cargo of 400 boxes of fish, 90 tons ofpig iron, apples, 2,000bushels of potatoes, 90,000barrel staves and other general merchandise.[9][14]
Late at night, the same dayVernon sank, the schoonerJoseph Page arrived inMilwaukee, Wisconsin; she reported encountering copious amounts of wreckage from a "large, white propeller", with several people clinging to it.[14] The steam bargeSuperior reported encountering severallife rafts and ayawl, which contained survivors who were signalling for assistance.Superior also encountered people floating in the water, wearinglife jackets.[14] Captain Moran ofSuperior identified the wreckage asVernon's, based upon the goldscrollwork unique toVernon. The schoonersBlazing Star,Horace A. Badger,William Home and the tugAnderson passed through a wreckage field, encountering several corpses.[14][15] None of the ships that passed through the wreckage stopped to assist the survivors. Eventually, only 19 bodies were recovered; they were laid out in the Two Riversfire station, which served as a temporary morgue.[16][17] Initially, it was assumed that fifty people died onboardVernon. This number was later revised to 36–41 lives, as several passengers embarked and disembarked at the ports where she stopped.[18] The high toll makesVernon one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever to have occurred in Wisconsin.[19] She was valued at $75,000 (equivalent to $2.31 million in 2024[7]).[20]
Initially, it was believed that no one onboardVernon survived.[21][22] However, on October 31, the schoonerS.B. Pomeroy which was bound from Chicago, Illinois forGreen Bay, Wisconsin discovered a life raft with two men on board. One had died from exposure, meanwhile the other one, 23-year-old Swedish fireman Axel Stone had survived.[9][16]S.B. Pomeroy transported him to Green Bay, where he recounted the details of the disaster to the local newspaper.[16] Stone claimed thatVernon was heavily overloaded, to the point that less than 6 inches (15 cm) offreeboard remained above the waterline. He reported that due to the excessive load,Vernon's crew were unable to close the gangways.[23][24]
An inquest held on November 7, 1887, stated that:
The storm of October 29th was not so fierce nor the lake so rough as to prevent the rescue of these bodies. If their perilous condition had been known, the life-saving crew, each and all of the five fishing tugs here, besides many small boats would have gone promptly to their rescue.[21]
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As part of the inquest, the captains ofJoseph Page andSuperior were reprimanded for not making more of an effort to save the survivors.[25]
A wreck, possibly that ofVernon was found in 1908 by two fishermen, 8 miles (12.9 km) north of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, 5 miles (8.0 km) off shore in 300 feet (91.4 m) of water.[26] The wreck ofVernon was located in 1969 by Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[27] She rests intact in 210 feet (64 m) of water, northeast of Two Rivers. She is keeled over to starboard side. Her pilot house and cabins which broke away when she sank, lie west of her wreck in 160 feet (48.8 m) of water.[2][4] Her cargo is still intact within her hold.[28] Her gangways are still open, confirming Axel Stone's claims of her crew not being able to close them due to her excessive load. Various artefacts, including her name board are on display at the Rogers Street Fishing Village in Two Rivers.[2][4][8][29]
A monument commemorating eight of the people who died onboardVernon stands in the Pioneer Rest Calvary Cemetery in Two Rivers.[19]
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