1872 — Nov 27, barges Jupiter, Saturn ground, Lake Superior storm, Vermilion Pt. MI– 15

–14-16 Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks.
–7-8 Jupiter. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter J.
–7-8 Saturn. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter S.
— 15 Thompson 2004, Graveyard of the Lakes. 1975, p. 61.
–7 Jupiter
–8 Saturn
— 15 Wolff. Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Complete Reference to Maritime Accidents… 1990, 19.

Narrative Information

Swayze: Jupiter
Type at loss : schooner-barge, wood, bulk freight
Build info : 1872, (Detroit?)
Specs : 400 t.
Date of loss : 1872, Nov 27
Place of loss : near Vermilion Point, Upper Peninsula
Lake : Superior
Type of loss : storm
Loss of life : 7 or 8 [all]
Carrying : iron ore
Detail : Bound Marquette for Wyandotte, Mich., she was driven ashore and wrecked by
an arctic gale. Tow of steamer JOHN A. DIX with the schooner SATURN(qv),
when towline parted. The hull was probably recovered. Owned by Capt. Eber
Ward of Detroit. Master: Capt. Peter Howard(d). (Swayze. Great Lakes
Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter J.)

Swayze: Saturn
Official no.: 57662
Type at loss: schooner-barge, wood
Build info: 1872, New Jerusalem, Oh
Specs: 233 t.
Date of loss: 1872, Nov 27
Place of loss: just W of Whitefish Pt.
Lake: Superior
Type of loss: storm
Loss of life: 7 (8)[all]
Carrying: iron ore
Detail: Bound Marquette for Wyandotte, Mich., she was in tow of the steamer JOHN A.
DIX with sister JUPITER. She broke her towline in a gale and was driven
aground in the shallows, where she rapidly went to pieces.

Owned by E. B. Ward, Detroit. Master: Capt. Dick Stringleman(d). (Swayze. Great
Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter S.)

Thompson: “On the morning of November 27, 1872, the side-wheel steamer John A. Dix departed the ore docks at Marquette under the command of Captain Joseph Waltman and headed out onto Lake Superior. The Dix was towing the schooner-barges Jupiter and Saturn, a practice begun a few years earlier when Captain Eli Peck built the steamer R. J. Hackett and its barge consort, the Forest City. Winds and seas on Lake Superior continued to build as the convoy moved east toward Whitefish Point and the entrance to the St. Marys River. By suppertime, the three boats found themselves being buffeted by giant seas off Vermilion Point, still twenty miles west of Whitefish. The stout towlines connecting the two schooner consorts of the Dix were under great stress, fist slacking, then snapping taut as the ships rose and fell in the high seas. At about 5:30- p.m. the Jupiter’s towline snapped, and an hour later the towline to the Saturn also gave way. In the stormy seas, there was no way the lines could be reconnected, so the barges drifted away.

“While he was greatly concerned for the safety of the two schooner-barges, the worsening weather forced Captain Waltman to concentrate his complete attention on the welfare of the Dix. The captains and small crews on the two schooners would have to fend for themselves. Temperatures had plummeted to below zero, and as the towering seas swept across the deck of the steamer it was rapidly being encased in a heavy shroud of ice. In places the ice was already a foot thick, and if the Dix didn’t find shelter soon the heavy load of ice could sink her. Without hesitation, Waltman pointed the bow of the steamer in the direction of Whitefish Point and they eventually reached the protected waters of Whitefish Bay.

“With waves rolling over the decks of the Jupiter and Saturn, their crews were unable to set storm sails that might have allowed them to work their way along the shore to the shelter of Whitefish. They were adrift, and at the mercy of the wind and waves. In the terrifying blackness of that November night, the little schooners were eventually driven ashore. In the pounding surf, both broke apart. All seven crewmembers on the Jupiter and the eight on the Saturn died in the frenzied waters of Lake Superior. There was no way the fourteen men and one woman could have launched a lifeboat. Even if they had, it would surely have been capsized or wrecked in the pounding surf along the shore.” (Thompson 2006, 60-61)

Wolfe: “Worse was to follow 10 days later [after a Nov 12-13 gale] when a horrendous gale swooped down on Marquette, moving gradually eastward….The weather was immediately reinforced by more sinister blasts…the 400-ton-schooner-barges Jupiter and Saturn were loading iron ore in Marquette. They cleared port on the morning of November 27 in tow of the wooden side-wheel steamer John A. Dix under Captain Joseph Waltman….About 5 p.m. on November 27, the Dix and her tows were engulfed by enormous seas off Vermilion Point. In half an hour the Jupiter broke her towline and an hour later the Saturn broke hers. The Dix had to run for the shelter of Whitefish Point to save herself. Her decks were quickly covered with a foot of ice, as intense sub-zero temperatures accompanied the winds. The luckless schooner-barges were cast ashore; the Saturn three miles west of Whitefish Point and the Jupiter 12 miles further west of Vermillion Point. Apparently, both struck bottom, then were dragged by the undertow to deeper water, since only masts were visible. Their entire crews of 14 men and one woman were dead, either drowned or victims of exposure.” (Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Complete Reference to Maritime Accidents and Disasters. 1990, p. 19.)

Sources

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwreck Files. “Alphabetical Shipwreck List – J.” Accessed 10-29-2021 at: https://greatlakesrex.wordpress.com/j/

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwreck Files. “Alphabetical Shipwreck List – S.” Accessed 10-29-2021 at: https://greatlakesrex.wordpress.com/s/

Thompson, Mark L. Graveyard of the Lakes. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2004.

Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Complete Reference to Maritime Accidents and Disasters. Duluth, MN: Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc., 1990.