My grandfather was a cook on the lakers. Carol Lake. So, when I heard that the cook had died, it made me think of him. I live on the old Welland Canal, so shipping is real history around here.
@@evolveausevolveaus Crud, I wasn't clear. I just thought about my grandpa, he wasn't on the ship. The story of the Fitz always reminds me too of how dangerous the job was, not that my grandpa died on a ship.
Living in Duluth and having the chance to go to the pier in stormy weathers is truly something, waves coming in and threatening to wash you off even with the 5 foot high barriers Or travel north along the north shore just 20 minutes and the cliffs are probably 80 feet or higher in places and waves can still crash over them and spray mist everywhere.
I can not even imagine a wave that tall. I lived in a valley in NSW Australia and never seen a large flood. Having seen one in the early 2000s I'm still finding it hard to grasp the amount of water I saw rushing across, once dry paddocks.
And those 80 foot cliffs are on average about 20 to 30 feet deep in the lake so the cliff are about 100 feet tall with most of it above water. The ore dock in Silver Bay MN is parallel with the shore because it sits on a 80 foot drop in the lake.
Grew up near Ashland, WI. Heard of the Mataafa when I was young. Never realized the ship went on to sail after that much less 60 years more. Wow. Obviously a sad story for those in the 1905 storm
yeah, the ship outlived the crew that she had in 1905. scary stuff.. people talk about ghosts haunting the places they died? 9 men froze solid in the aft section of Mataafa. you'd think they'd haunt it.... Hmm....
Scariest part of this? Mataafa outlived the crew she had in 1905. I doubt any of them were still alive 60 years later when Mataafa was finally scrapped.
The location of Split Rock was crucial due to high mineral contents that threw off compasses whenever ships sailed past the area. This is one of the main causes of the Maderia's sinking (others being a schooner, etc.), and why the location of Split Rock is just south of the wreck at Gold Rock Cliff
I worked Lake Superior until I got my AB card and then I split for the ocean. Going to what we call "the deeps" is all too real for me, I had a friend many years ago set sail out of Duluth for Grand Marais. He never made it to his destination, and he never came home. he was a loner, by the time we realized he was missing weeks had gone by. They never found him or his sailboat, there wasn't even debris. He literally vanished out there.
Oh, I bid farewell to the port and the land, And I paddle away from brave England's white sands. To search for my long ago forgotten friends, To search for the place I hear all sailors end. As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind I'll search without sleeping 'til peace I can find. I fear not the weather, I fear not the sea I remember the fallen, do they think of me? When their bones in the ocean forever will be.
@@unconventionalideas5683sailboats generally don't capsize due to their ballasts keels, they can flip over but usually right themselves. ...they lose hull integrity, either from hull damage from waves, collisions, grounding or just get flooded quickly by boarding waves
Great video. I lived in Duluth and know city well. Thank you for telling this story. My grandfather, Ransome Tourville, skippered the walk-in ferry that ran from Duluth to Ashland. He and my uncles got caught in such a storm and barely made it ashore Park Point.
A sad story. I was reminded of another wreck that was close to shore. On New Year's day 1919, HMY Iolaire struck rocks just off Stornoway Harbour (Hebridies, Scotland). On board were sailors from the Great war returning home to the isle of Lewis. 200 out of 280 died which represented almost the entire male generation of the island (when added to those who had already died during WW1).
Interesting I never know about this storm system I only was aware of the great storm of 1913 and the rare lake Huron hurricane system but very awesome story and video great history as well
Near Two Harbors I watched several big storms with huge waves on Lake Superior. Some very big waves hit a cliff side area so hard it tossed the waves way up and shook the ground. I could only imagine what was happening to any boats and ships out there on Gichigami.
The thing about us being more interested in stories of ships that went down with all hands compared to ships with survivor does tell a grim reality about us. We might act civil but deep down, we are more interested in stories where people dies. Stories with lots of survivors tends to be forgotten easily. But stories about ships, planes, anything where there is no survivors tends to get remembered and talked about even after several years.
I find them all interesting. I am interested in how the vessel is lost. The mistake or decisions, that cost the loss the of vessels and crew is of interest to me as I vessel I used to volunteer on , was lost due to not being drydocked for the voyage to her new home on the Gulf Coast. Compromised Tim er gave way and she was lost in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Her name was The Alexandria. You can see her sailing in "An Interview with a Vampire" She was a good ship when she was properly maintained.
Yes, I enjoyed this. A remarkable career for this ship. Looked like she broke and must have been quite a repair. I wonder if much of the ore was salvaged.
Ore? I imagine most of it. the thing there is... you gotta unload the ore to re-float the hulk... might as well load it into something while you're at it. sure it's more time than just throwing it overboard.. but not that much... still gotta haul it out of the cargo hold the hard way. Well, except whatever got washed out of a hole in the hull i guess.
This channel is criminally underrated. Your videos are really good quality and you tell stories that are rarely covered (and even then, only covered by other channels specialising in the same subject). The only other video I've ever seen on the Mataafa storm and the wreck of the boat that it was named for was a recent one by Big Old Boats.
The witch of November is unforgiving to those who happen to cross her path. I know how the lakes weather can change in minutes. I've experienced it first hand a couple of times. The good Lord was looking out for us on both occasions. The first time was in early march back in the 80's I went up to lake eerie with a friend to go fishing. We had a small boat at the time 18 or 20 foot I think. Well it was very windy at the lake front and we decided to wait a bit and see if she calmed down. The lake did so we put in and began to slowly head out past the shelter of the break wall. So my friend is manning motor and my back was to the open water. All of a sudden my friends eyes go wide and he tells to hang on so I say why what's wrong he says you are about to see. In just the few short minutes it took us to put in and head out, a storm came blowing in from the northwest. Now it was a ways from us but the winds ahead of it were fierce! He turned the boat back towards safety just as we were passing out from the calm waters inside the break wall. We stared raising up or climbing you could say as the boat came about. He gunned the motor yelled hang on as we kept climbing up the biggest swell I've ever seen on the lake. I'll venture a guess and say that when we reached the top of it, we had to be at least 25 feet in the air. I thought this is it I'm going go smashed on the rocks for sure. Somehow we road that wave all the way back to shore. I'm still amazed we weren't hurt or the boat damaged that day. The other time though tense was less dramatic some would say. A day that was supposed to be sunny, mild a light breeze on the lake no storms forecasted very quickly became a race to get to safe harbor. Lake Eerie is vast and it's like being on an ocean if you are miles out on it. Well you know we were just that way out on the lake drifting in catching our limit of walleye. Looking to the west I see a dark spot on the horizon. So I said to my friend hey that last breeze felt colder than the last and take a look over there. He looked and the dark spot was getting bigger fast. So he fired up the motor and we ran diagonally to the storm that just came up out of nowhere till we beached our boat drug it out the water it was a 16' aluminum boat. Flipped it over and got under it just as golf ball sized hail came slamming down. We spent about 2 hours like that before it cleared back up. Crazy great lake weather indeed.
It seems to me that the plight of the crew who died is all the more tragic in that they could be so close to safety but we're unable to reach either. Cold and wet waiting for the rescue that came too late.
The guy 'hugging' the smoke stack really messed with my head. I didn't think bodies could have tense muscles. I always thought somebody fully relaxed when they died, but apparently that's not always true
Thanks for the feedback. I've removed all but one midroll ad in this particular video. I didn't realize RU-vid had placed four; that's ridiculous! I'll be more mindful about managing midrolls before publishing a video. - Sam
I don’t live anywhere near the Great Lakes Region, but I do have a fascination for the Boats of the Great Lakes. The Long OreBoats of the Great Lakes are certainly more eye catching and unique compared to ships of the ocean. I am a fan of some fantasy shows, and sometimes, I imagine fictional nations who utilize the LongBoats for their commerce and trade, separate from the Magic & Medieval fighting going on far beyond the Horizons.
This is a new one for me. I have heard of a lot of the great lakes shipwrecks but never this one. My pic is standing on frozen lake superior in Munising harbor.
I live in northeast Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. I know too well how this lake can get ugly in winter. Two years ago there were huge waves and they wiped out a lighthouse on a pier. The lighthouse was there almost 100 years. I have a cousin in Milwaukee. They go surfing on the waves in winter at a beach. In wet suits. 😁
Just as in coal mines it's the pressure brought to bare by the higher ups in the company that bring untoward pressure against the captain to sail come hell or high water that causes these disasters.
6:39... this is something you don't get to see in most of these stories. Mataafa got taken to a dry dock and repaired... and the dock workers photographed just how bad the damage was. O-o' Ships that actually SINK... they don't get photoshoots like this.
To ship as much as possible before the lakes freeze and become impassable. It usually depends on the locks. If the locks are frozen over but the lake isn't then you can't go from Duluth to Buffalo.
@@JohnJohansen2 ships can handle weather, only a certain amount of it though. For decades storm prediction sucked so even when they got it right, it was ignored as was especially the case in this storm and the 1913 storm. Storms can happen anytime but just as tornado alley is most dangerous in summer, tornadoes still find their way around in December
The old steel hulled riveted boats would pop rivets out, because they twist so much in the middle. That was the case with the Bradley. It was supposed to layup in Manitowoc WI to be re riveted over the winter. The lone survivor said he was off duty and could see the docks of Manitowoc from the port hole. He was packing his seamanship bag in anticipation of getting home for Thanksgiving, when the boat started to turn away from the docks and started back out north into Lake Michigan. He asked someone what was going on and they told him the owner wanted one more load of limestone delivered before layup.Well they never made it to the limestone port which I believe to have been in the Eastern end of Michigan's upper peninsula. They split in half around Beaver island. The bow going down first, then the stern plowed on for 5 more miles before flipping over.
Well they gave us an engine that first went up and down, Then with more technology the engine went around. We know our steam and diesel, but what's a mainyard for? A stoker ain't a stoker with a shovel anymore!
I use to love your channel but god the amount of commercials in this video alone makes it hard to watch and if it continues like this I will unsubscribe not worth it watching a commercial every 2 minutes sorry. I know you need to make money but your videos have way way way to many of I want that many I’ll watch tv
Thanks for the feedback. I've removed all but one midroll ad in this particular video. I didn't realize RU-vid had placed four; that's ridiculous! I'll be more mindful about managing midrolls before publishing a video. - Sam
