SS Superior City
Superior City after launching. First vessel launched from the Lorain shipyard of the Cleveland Ship Building Co.
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History | |
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Name | Superior City |
Owner | American Steamship Company 1898 – 1901; Pittsburg Steamship Company 1901 – 1920 |
Port of registry | Cleveland, Ohio United States |
Builder | Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, Lorain, Ohio |
Completed | 1898 |
Identification | United States Registry # 116820 |
Fate | Sank in Whitefish Bay 20 August 1920 after colliding with Willis L. King |
General characteristics | |
Type | Bulk freighter, propeller |
Tonnage |
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Length | 450 ft (140 m) |
Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
Height | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
Propulsion | Propeller, 1900 hp engine |
Crew | 33 |
The SS Superior City was considered a pioneer vessel at her launching in 1898. She was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater at that time. She sailed the Great Lakes for twenty-two years until she sank after a collision in 1920 with the steamer Willis L. King in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior that resulted in the loss of 29 lives. Controversy was immediate over the collision. It was subsequently ruled that the captains of both ships failed to follow the “rules-of-the-road”. Controversy started again in 1988 when the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society produced a video called "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" that included extensive footage of the skeletons of the Superior City crew. The controversy continued as late as 1996 over artifacts removed from her wreck. She is now a protected shipwreck in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
History
The Superior City launched 13 April 1898 in the yards of the Cleveland Ship Building Company (later named the American Ship Building Company) at Lorain, Ohio.[1] The Superior City was a pioneer vessel representing the steady progression of bigger, longer, and stronger craft from the days of ships powered by sails.[2] At her launching, she was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater. The whole town of Lorain crowded the river front to watch her launch.[1]
On April 26, 1909, Dr. Griffin, the local health officer at
The Superior City sailed the lakes for twenty-two years before she came to an untimely end in the worst collision ever occurring on Lake Superior.[1][4]
Collision
At 9:10 PM on 20 August 1920, the steamers Superior City and Willis L. King collided in
Casualties and survivors
The Superior City sank rapidly with the loss of lives of 28 men and one woman, the worst loss of life in the history of the Pittsburg Steamship Company. Of the four survivors, Captain Sawyer, second mate G.G. Lehnt, and watchman Peter Jacobsen were forward and jumped for their lives. Captain Sawyer was found clinging to a life preserver that he never had time to put on. Second mate Lehnt was found clinging to the bottom of a capsized lifeboat. Watchman Jacobson fought his way back to the surface after being dragged down with the ship and swam for about 20 minutes until the King's lifeboat picked him up. Boatswain Walter Richter was sleeping in his bunk wearing only long underwear when alarm bells sounded. When he raced to the deck, the explosion blew him overboard, blowing off his underwear. The steamer J.J. Turner picked him up clinging to a hatch cover that he rode as a raft.[5][6] Crewmembers on the Turner reported that wooden ports in the interior of the ship had been blown through her steel sides. Most of the crewmembers were likely blown to pieces by the boiler explosion or were trapped in the suction of the powerful whirlpool when the Superior City sank. No bodies were ever recovered.[7]
Investigation
The vessels sighted each other about ten minutes before the collision and exchanged steam whistle signals. Captain Sawyer of the Superior City and Captain Nelson of the Willis L. King offered conflicting statements about the weather and the whistle signals prior to the collision. Captain Sawyer said that the weather was clear at the time of the accident while Captain Nelson said that the night had been foggy and hazy. Captain Sawyer maintained that the two vessels exchanged one blast signals indicating the conventional port-to-port passing signal. Captain Nelson asserted that the vessels exchanged two blast signals for a
Rulings
After many months of investigation and litigation, United States District Court, the Western District of Wisconsin Judge C. Z. Luce ruled that both masters were guilty of failing to follow the "Rules of the Road" regulations that if there is doubt about the course or intention of the other, the pilot is required give the danger signal and slow to a speed barely sufficient for passageway and/or stop and reverse course.[5] After more haggling by
Wreck controversy
The wreck of the Superior City was initially discovered in 1972 by diver John Steele. The wreck was rediscovered in 1980 by Tom Farnquist and Gary Shumbarger of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society who extensively photographed the wreck.[8] The Shipwreck Society produced a video in 1988 about the wreck of the Superior City called "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" that showed extensive footage of skeletons of the crew and the removal of a wedding ring from a skeleton. The Shipwreck Society still claims accolades for the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" video but they no longer sell it to the public.[9]
The Evening News reported a
The controversy surrounding artifacts from the Superior City continued in 1996 over the ownership of her telegraph. The telegraph was on loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. When the owner’s representative, Great Lakes shipwreck diver Steve Harrington, removed the telegraph from the museum, the museum’s director, Tom Farnquist, notified the Michigan State Police who held the telegraph until ownership was determined. Both men admitted that the controversy really stemmed from proposed legislation over the photography of dead bodies in Michigan waters that included the wrecks of the Superior City and SS Edmund Fitzgerald.[12]
For a number of years the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society used a wedding ring from a skeleton on the Superior City to promote its museum. In a 2000 interview Farnquist likened the identity of the skeleton and the owner of the wedding ring to a shipwreck mystery that may never be solved. The ring and other artifacts from the Superior City are still on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.[13]
Wreck diving
Scuba diving to the Superior City wreck requires advanced technical diving skills as it is among the most dangerous and difficult dives among the many wrecks in Whitefish Bay. Twenty-six-year-old Scott Michael Snow lost his life while exploring the Superior City wreck in 2001. His body was retrieved from the wreck in 230 feet of water by the robotic arm of a remote vehicle.[14]
The wreck of the Superior City lies in 190 feet (58 m) to 270 feet (82 m) of water in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior at 46°43.51′N 84°52.37′W / 46.72517°N 84.87283°W.[15] The Superior City wreck is protected for future generations by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.
References
- ^ a b c Bowen, Dana Thomas, (1940, 1975,. Lore of the Great Lakes, pp. 223, 226 – 227., Freshwater Press, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. LCCN 40-33309.
- ISBN 0-02-549100-8.
- ISBN 978-0-932212-78-8.
- LCCN73-75623.
- ^ ISBN 0-912514-51-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-932212-18-8.
- ISBN 0814323936. Retrieved 2010-12-16., 76-77.
- ISBN 0-932212-43-3.
- ^ "Shipwreck Society Awards". Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ^ Storey, Jack, (4 December 1992). “Shipwreck artifact dispute simmers”. Evening News, p. A1.
- ISBN 0-9624629-8-5.
- ^ Brand, Scott, (11 September 1996). “Artifact removal raises debate”. Evening News, pp. 1, 2.
- ^ Loranger Gaska, Carrie (11 November 2000). "Recovering Mysteries of the Great Lakes". American Profile. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
- ^ Elmira (AP), (27 June 2001). “Diver surfaced too quickly from shipwreck, authorities say”. Evening News, p. 3.
- ^ "Michigan Preserve". Michigan Underwater Preserves Council. Retrieved 11 January 2009.