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 .
34-597: 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 . 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. At her launching, she was the largest vessel ever built on freshwater. The whole town of Lorain crowded
68-728: A controlling interest in American Ship Building. Frustrated after years of fighting with unions over cost-saving work changes, the Steinbrenners closed the Lorain shipyard in December 1983 and moved all operations to Tampa, Florida. The principal member of the Steinbrenner family who was involved in the operation of the company at this time was George Steinbrenner , who by then already was becoming better known as
102-513: A curved prow. Many types of bows exist. These include: From Middle Dutch boech or Old Norse bógr (shoulder). Thus it has the same origin as the English "bough" (from the Old English bóg , or bóh , (shoulder, the bough of a tree) but the nautical term is unrelated, being unknown in this sense in English before 1600. The "prow" (French : proue ) is the forward-most part of
136-495: A flared bow (a raked stem with flared topsides) is ideal to reduce the amount of water shipped over the bow. Ideally, the bow should reduce the resistance and should be tall enough to prevent water from regularly washing over the top of it. Large commercial barges on inland waterways rarely meet big waves and may have remarkably little freeboard at the bow, whereas fast military vessels operating offshore must be able to cope with heavy seas. On slower ships like tankers and barges,
170-481: A fuller bow shape is used to maximise the volume of the ship for a given length. The bow may be reinforced to serve as an ice-breaker. The forward part of the bow is called the "stem" or "forestem". Traditionally, the stem was a timber (or metal) post into which side planks (or plates) were joined. Some boats such as the Dutch barge "aak" or the clinker-built Viking longships have no straight stem, having instead
204-626: A heated conference in which everyone denied any knowledge of a smallpox sign. Dr. Griffin issued a warning that any misuse of a contagious disease sign would be immediately reported to the Michigan Secretary of State . Shipwreck historian Wes Oleszewski reported, "In the ensuing days, there were far fewer uninvited guests aboard any of the boats tied up at the Soo Locks, especially the Superior City ." The Superior City sailed
238-405: A synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part of the bow above the waterline. A ship's bow should be designed to enable the hull to pass efficiently through the water. Bow shapes vary according to the speed of the boat, the seas or waterways being navigated, and the vessel's function. Where sea conditions are likely to promote pitching , it is useful if the bow provides reserve buoyancy ;
272-668: A twisted, broken stern, seventeen shell plates and frames destroyed, interior forward decks buckled, and numerous angles and stringers that required replacement, Captain Nelson ordered that no member of the crew was to discuss the accident with anyone but representatives of the vessel's owner or agents. 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
306-761: Is protected for future generations by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum. Cave dive sites: American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War . It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed its name to
340-636: 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 . For a number of years the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society used a wedding ring from a skeleton on
374-514: The Superior City sank. No bodies were ever recovered. 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
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#1732780316603408-490: 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. Scuba diving to the Superior City wreck requires advanced technical diving skills as it is among
442-409: The Superior City was, "[R]ammed on her port side, aft of midships … [causing] … a tremendous explosion when the terrible inrushing wall of cold water burst her aft bulkheads and hit the boilers. The vessel’s stern was literally blown off…. [and she] was nearly halved in the collision." Immediately following the collision, the crew was struggling to lower the lifeboats that were located over
476-488: The telegraph to stop and then full astern. The estimated speed at the time of impact was 12 miles (19 km) per hour for the King , and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) per hour for the Superior City . The accident was investigated by U.S. Steamboat Inspectors Gooding and Hanson of Marquette, Michigan . After their initial statements, both captains communicated only in depositions to the proctors -in- admiralty representatives of
510-574: 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. After more haggling by underwriters and proctors, the Superior City was valued at $ 300,000 and her tonnage was valued at $ 42,922.95. The King's damage was $ 42,520. The loss-of-life claims were not paid until late in 1923. The lawyers of victim's estates had little muscle against
544-897: The American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired Superior Shipbuilding , in Superior, Wisconsin ; Toledo Shipbuilding, in Toledo, Ohio ; and West Bay Shipbuilding, in West Bay City, Michigan . With the coming of World War I , the company also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in Buffalo, New York ; Chicago Shipbuilding, in Chicago, Illinois ; and Detroit Shipbuilding, in Wyandotte, Michigan . American Shipbuilding ranked 81st among United States corporations in
578-681: The American Shipbuilding Company by consolidation in 1945, was itself the builder of several of the most well-known coal-fired steamships of the Great Lakes, such as the SS ; Chief Wawatam (built in 1911). In the early 1960s, the American Ship Building Company acquired Kinsman Marine Transit Company, which was owned by the Steinbrenner family . As a result of the transaction, the Steinbrenner family acquired
612-434: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society who extensively photographed the wreck. 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
646-492: The Michigan Department of State and Department of Natural Resources. 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
680-666: The Second World War, the company managed Delta Shipbuilding Company for the United States Maritime Commission . Delta had a yard at New Orleans and built a total of 188 ships. Delta Shipbuilding Company built 187 Liberty ships , the first completed was SS William C.C. Claiborne, named after the first governor of Louisiana, William C. C. Claiborne . The United States Maritime Commission had Delta and eight other emergency shipyards start building Liberty ships in 1941, 2,710 were produced during
714-458: 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 starboard -to-starboard passing. At the time impact, the Superior City was swinging across the King's bow while Captain Nelson swung his bow hard aport and rang
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#1732780316603748-508: The boilers and this concentrated them precisely over the explosion, resulting in the loss of life of most of the crew. 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
782-475: 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. 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
816-554: The lakes for twenty-two years before she came to an untimely end in the worst collision ever occurring on Lake Superior. At 9:10 PM on 20 August 1920, the steamers Superior City and Willis L. King collided in Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior. The Superior City was downbound and heavy with 7600 tons of iron ore loaded at Two Harbors, Minnesota . The steamer Willis L. King was upbound and light after unloading ore at Ashtabula, Ohio . Maritime historian Boyer wrote that
850-455: The largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers. The Lorain Yard closed in 1984 after a series of labor disputes. Most of the buildings associated with shipyard were demolished with only the water tower and Ship Building Pattern Warehouse remaining. The pattern warehouse is now The Shipyards dining and events venue. The remaining lands are now being redeveloped as an upscale housing development. During
884-399: The legal maneuverings of the admiralty proctors and they settled for $ 5,000 to the families of deckhands and porters , $ 3,700 for the wife of the second engineer, $ 11,205 for the second engineer, and $ 25,000 for the chief engineer. 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
918-623: 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. 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 / 46.72517; -84.87283 . The Superior City wreck
952-566: The owners of the vessels. Officers and crew of the nearby J.J. Turner and the Midvale witnessed the collision and heard the exchange of passing signals. It was determined that although very early in the night there had been haze and some fog, at the time of the collision the night was crystal clear with unlimited visibility. When the Willis L. King made to the Superior Shipbuilding Company's drydock for repairs of
986-475: The principal owner of the New York Yankees . The company began having difficulties in the 1980s, going through a bankruptcy in 1993. The company was sold in 1995. Bow (ship) The bow ( / b aʊ / ) is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat , the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern . Prow may be used as
1020-510: The public. The Evening News reported a Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and its offices that found evidence of 150 artifacts illegally removed from the state-claimed bottomlands. Artifacts from the Superior City and other shipwrecks are on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the state following a 1993 settlement agreement with
1054-455: The river front to watch her launch. On April 26, 1909, Dr. Griffin, the local health officer at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan received reports that boats tied up at the Soo Locks had been quarantined and a couple of the lockmen said that they heard that the Superior City had displayed a smallpox sign for a few hours on the previous night. Dr. Griffin boarded the Superior City and had
SS Superior City - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-657: The value of World War II military production contracts. The Lorain, Ohio Yard served as the main facility of the company after World War II and to this day five of the 13 separate 1,000 ft (300 m) ore carriers on the Great Lakes were built in Lorain, including the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha which is the largest vessel on the Great Lakes (1,013'06" long). Built in 1898, the Lorain Yard quickly grew in size and importance. The facilities eventually included two dry docks over 1,000 feet (300 m) long built to handle
1122-545: The war. Many were built in less than two months. The Delta shipyard was started specifically for the war effort, at a site on the Industrial Canal near the Almonaster Avenue Bridge , immediately south of the present-day I-10 high-rise bridge . The yard was shut down after the end of World War II. Sample of ships built: The Toledo Shipbuilding Company , which became an operating unit of
1156-507: 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
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