Page 13: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2023)

Announcement of the ship sinkings from the Grand Rapids Press, September 26, 1894 a possible collision, Moonlight’s crew cut Ironton’s tow line, far from the view of any surrounding vessels.

detaching the steamer from the schooner barges. As the schooner barge slipped swiftly beneath the waves,

Ironton’s crew found themselves suddenly adrift in the dark Ironton’s seven-man crew retreated to their lifeboat. Howev- and at the mercy of Lake Huron’s wind-blown seas. Under the er, in the commotion, no one untied the “painter,” a line that direction of Captain Peter Girard, they fought to regain control secured the lifeboat to Ironton. Survivor William W. Parry of of the ship, ? ring up the vessel’s auxiliary steam engine to help East China, Michigan, recounted: set the struggling ship’s sails. Despite their efforts, Ironton, Then the Ironton sank, taking the yawl with her. As the propelled by the wind from astern, veered off course into the painter was not untied, I sank underwater, and when I path of the southbound steamer Ohio. The 203-foot wooden came up grabbed a sailor’s bag. Wooley was a short dis- freighter Ohio was headed to Ogdensburg, New York, from tance from me on a box. I swam to where he was. (Duluth

Duluth, Minnesota, loaded with 1,000 tons of grain. News Tribune, September 27, 1894)

By the time Ironton’s crew spotted the approaching Ohio Wooley and Parry clung to ? oating wreckage as they battled through the darkness, it was too late—a head-on collision with the wind and waves in frigid Lake Huron. Within hours the the steamer was unavoidable. passing steamer Charles Hebard spotted and rescued the men.

The two vessels separated after the impact, both fatally dam- Lake Huron claimed Captain Girard and four other Ironton aged. Ironton’s bow tore a 12-foot diameter hole into Ohio’s crew: Mate Ed Bostwick, Sailor John Pope, and two unidenti- wooden hull. Heavily laden with cargo, Ohio sank quickly, ? ed sailors.

with all 16 crew escaping on lifeboats. Nearby ships rescued the sailors. The damaged Ironton, however, drifted out of sight A Piece of History of the responding vessels. By the time Captain Girard realized The three-masted Ironton represents the ? eet of wooden he could not save the ship, Ironton had drifted for over an hour, schooner barges that once traversed the Great Lakes as the www.marinetechnologynews.com 13

MTR #3 (1-17).indd 13 3/17/2023 5:06:45 PM