1863 – Nov 11~, steam propeller Water Witch sinks, Lake Huron storm, ~off Oscoda, MI-23

— 28 Mansfield. (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 898.
— 28 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory…Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p.242.
— 20 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 263.
— 20 McNeil. “Water Witch (Propeller) sunk, 1 Oct 1863,” Maritime Hist. of the Great Lakes.
— 20 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 685.

Narrative Information

Lewis: “The Water Witch continued with a relatively uneventful season, until it was winding down in the fall. On November 8, she touched at Milwaukee where she picked up 400 barrels of flour. On board were Captain [George H.] Ryder and a crew of 22 men. The B. F. Wade, following two days later, reported her touching at Mackinaw before proceeding Southward on Lake Huron. She was last seen on the 10th, in the midst of a gale. At that point her smoke stack was gone. When the Wade passed the entrance to Saginaw Bay, she passed the upper works of a propeller floating in the lake. On the 12th a metallic life-boat was picked up near Point au Sable by the schooner Hyphen. In an era before painting the name of the vessel on life preservers and lifeboats became mandatory, no one could be positive that it belonged to the Water Witch, but it was considered ‘probable.’ The Meteor, with Captain Redmond S. Ryder (George’s brother) in command, made a final trip up to Bruce Mines on the north shore of Lake Huron where she took on a cargo of 186 tons of copper ore. She returned to the Canadian shore looking for signs of the Water Witch or possible survivors. The keeper of the Cove Island light off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, had just returned from a trip along the Canadian shoreline but had seen or heard nothing. Of the 23 men on board, only the name of her captain was reported.

“So why had the Water Witch been lost? According to the Detroit Free Press (which had the Ward advertising account to bear in mind), she ‘was considered a staunch craft. Whether it was swamped, blown up or sunk by collision is not known, but the fact of her being a new vessel would lead to the belief that it was neither of the two first.’ The Goderich Signal, which was under no such constraints, said:

‘She was probably the swiftest propeller on the lakes, and was of remarkably staunch build, but her machinery was an experiment, consisting of a cog-wheel engine and walking-beam working athwartships. It is possible that she became unmanageable by the disarrangement of some part of her machinery, but the disaster may have been caused by her being too heavily laden to weather the gale.’

“In the two seasons Water Witch served on the Lakes she had suffered damage to her engines twice, so this is not unreasonable speculation. Certainly, there is relatively little evidence, beyond the B. F. Wade and the further deployment of the unique geared beam engines in the region, and of course the fact that the Wade’s engine was replaced six years later.

“Somewhere under the waters of Lake Huron, probably near the entrance to Saginaw Bay where various elements were seen or recovered, lies the hull of the Water Witch together with her very unusual engine. Perhaps its discovery will help us answer some of the questions that her contemporaries could not.” (Lewis, Walter. “The Water Witch (1862).” Stories. Maritime History of the Great Lakes.)

Lytle and Holdcamper:: “Water Witch…369 [tons]…1862 [built]…foundered…10 1863… Saginaw Bay, Mich. …20 [Lives lost].” (Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. 1952, p. 263.)

Mansfield: “Water Witch, prop., 458 t., b. [built] Newport [MI], ’62, L. Hur., ’63, 28 lives lost.” (Mansfield, John Brandts. History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 898.)

Nash: “1863…Oct…Water Witch…20 [lives lost]. The 369-ton steam screw, built in 1862, foundered on Saginaw Bay, Mich.” (Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 685.)

Swayze: “Water Witch. Steam propeller of 458 t. [tons], launched in 1863. Lake Huron: Another case of a vessel that sailed out of port and disappeared is the steamer Water Witch. Still in her first season of service, the steamboat went missing in a storm in November [?] of 1863, with 28 [?] passengers and crew on board. She is thought to have foundered northeast of Au Sable Point, off Oscoda, Michigan, and was carrying a load of copper at the time.” (Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! …Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 242.)

Zaniewski: “Water Witch. The Water Witch’s unique, experimental propulsion system may have been its doom. The ship’s engine was positioned sideways so it could power a propeller rather than a sidewheel paddle mechanism, said Great Lakes historian and artist Robert McGreevy. The Water Witch was the fastest propeller ship on the Great Lakes — but it had a vibration problem, McGreevy said. He said the vessel was on Lake Huron in 1863 when it ‘shook itself apart on the middle of the lake.’

“ ‘The vibrations caused the stern timbers to open up, and it allowed the ice-cold lake water to hit the red-hot boilers, and it exploded,’ McGreevy said. ‘There was a ship that was following it, and it saw it disappear. But they didn’t know it exploded until (they) retrieved some of the timbers in the lake. They could tell from the doors that it blew out from the inside.’” (Zaniewski, Ann (Detroit Free Press). “Shipwreck hunting: 8 undiscovered shipwrecks of the Great Lakes.” WUSA9 (Washington, DC), 6-22-2018.)

Newspapers

Nov 18: “Marine Disasters.”
Reported Loss of Several Vessels.”

“The propeller Water Witch, Captain Ryder, was sunk in Saginaw Bay, on Wednesday last [Nov 18], and all hands are supposed to be lost. She was seen to go down by the Captain of the schooner Norris, but he could render no assistance. The Water Witch was a new vessel, having come out in the spring of 1862. She was bound from Sarnia to Chicago. (Chicago Daily Tribune. “Marine Disasters.” 11-18-1863, p. 4, col. 1.)

Nov 18: “From Milwaukee.”
“Lake Disasters – Loss of the Propeller Water Witch with all on board.”

“(Special Dispatch to the Chicago Tribune). Milwaukee, Nov. 17, 1863.

“Private dispatches received from Detroit yesterday bring news of the sinking of the propeller Water Witch on Lake Huron, during the gale of the 11th. All on board supposed to be lost. She was bound from this point to Sarnia.” (Chicago Daily Tribune. “From Milwaukee.” 11-18-1863, p.1.)

Nov 19: “This propeller has been on the Chicago and Goderich route during the season. She belongs to E. Ward, of Detroit. The engineer of the steamer Fashion was put into her when she first came out. The Captain of the B.F. Wade reports that she was lost on Lake Huron. A metallic life-boat, picked up in Saginaw Bay by Capt. J. Osborn, of the schooner Hyphen, near Point au Sable, on the 12th, probably belongs to the Water Witch. It is feared the crew as well as the propeller are lost.” (Buffalo Daily Courier, NY. “The Propeller Water Witch Lost.” Nov 19, 1863; cited by William R. McNeil in “Water Witch (Propeller) sunk, 1 Oct 1863,” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.)

Nov 24: “The Water Witch, a propeller owned by E.B. Ward, of Detroit, and running from Chicago to Sarnia in connection with the Grand Trunk, has been wrecked in Saginaw Bay, and all hands are supposed to be lost. The Detroit Advertiser says that the Water Witch was built at Newport and came out in 1861, and ran last year in the Cleveland, Detroit and Lake Superior Line. She was probably the swiftest propeller on the lakes, and was of remarkably staunch build, but her machinery was an experiment, consisting of a cog-wheel engine and walking-beam working athwartships. It is possible that she became unmanageable by the disarrangement of some part of her machinery, but the disaster may have been caused by her being too heavily laden to weather the gale.” (Goderich Signal, Ontario. 11-24-1863; transcribed by McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes {website}.)

Sources

Buffalo Daily Courier, NY “The Propeller Water Witch Lost.” Nov 19, 1863; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes.

Chicago Daily Tribune. “From Milwaukee.” 11-18-1863, p. 1, col. 4. Accessed 2-6-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-nov-18-1863-p-1/

Chicago Daily Tribune. “Marine Disasters.” 11-18-1863, p. 4, col. 1. Accessed 2-6-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-daily-tribune-nov-18-1863-p-4/

Goderich Signal, Ontario. 11-24-1863; transcribed by William McNeil in Maritime History of the Great Lakes.

Lewis, Walter. “The Water Witch (1862).” Stories. Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Webpage accessed 2-6-2021 at: http://stories.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/water-witch/

Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=7

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. Google digitized. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

McNeil, William R. “Water Witch (Propeller) sunk, 1 Oct 1863,” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 2-6-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/38181/data?n=3

Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

Zaniewski, Ann (Detroit Free Press). “Shipwreck hunting: 8 undiscovered shipwrecks of the Great Lakes.” WUSA9 (Washington, DC), 6-22-2018. Accessed 2-6-2021 at: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/nation-now/shipwreck-hunting-8-undiscovered-shipwrecks-of-the-great-lakes/465-8f17307b-8450-4eb5-be67-be1de2b7e162