1875 — Aug 26, Ships Collide, Comet sinks, Lake Superior, 7M SE Whitefish Pt., WI — 11

–11 Cincinnati Commercial, OH. “Lake Disaster. Vessel Sunk and Eleven Lives Lost.” 8-28-1875, 3.
–11 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News, August 2009.
–11 Swayze. Shipwreck! A…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 57.
–11 US Life-Saving Service. Annual Report…for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1876. p130.
–10 Herald and News, Steubenville, OH. “Telegraph Summary.” 8-28-1875, p. 3.
–10 Mansfield (Editor). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 730.

Narrative Information

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive: “On 26 August 1875, Comet (propeller passenger/package freight, 181 foot, 744 tons, built in 1857, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying ore and pig iron in Lake Superior on a foggy night. While trying to pass the Beatty Line steamer Manitoba, 7 miles SE of Whitefish Point, signals were misunderstood and Comet veered into the path of Manitoba. Comet was rammed amidships and sank in ten minutes. 11 of the 21 aboard lost their lives.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. Report News, August 2009.)

Mansfield: “Propeller Comet Sunk by Collision. – The propeller Comet was struck by the Canadian steamer Manitoba near Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, August 26. The collision happened about 8:40 o’clock in the evening. The Manitoba struck the Comet about 15 feet from her stern on the port side, and the shattered vessel sank within three minutes. During the excitement several of the crew of the Manitoba jumped aboard the Comet, but luckily returned quickly to their own vessel. Of the Comet’s crew of 20, ten were lost. The Manitoba, which was bound up, returned with the survivors to the Sault. The Comet was owned by Hanna & Co., of Cleveland, and was valued at $25,000. She was 18 years old, having been built in Cleveland in 1857.” (Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). 1899, p. 730.)

Swayze: “Comet. Wooden package and bulk freight propeller of 744 t. [tons] and 181 ft., launched at Cleveland in 1856.

“Lake Superior: The freighter Comet was lost, and 11 of her 21 crew were drowned in a bizarre collision which occurred on busy Whitefish Bay. On the night of August 26, 1875, the Comet, carrying a cargo of ores and pig iron, was preparing to pass the big sidewheel steamer Manitoba, when misunderstood signals caused her to veer in front of the other ship. The Comet was rammed amidships and quickly sank. The wreckage of the vessel was discovered in 1980.” (Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 57.)

Wolff: “1875….The worst collision fatalities since the 1862 crash on the Oriole and Illinois occurred in late August. Having cleared Duluth on August 23 for Buffalo, with stops at intermediate points on Lake Superior, the 744-ton propeller Comet under Captain Francis Dugat…was making good time after leaving Munising. She rounded Whitefish Point by 8 p.m. on August 26 and headed on the usual southeast course to Point Iroquois. The lookout reported a vessel ahead. This turned out to be the steam barge Havana and her consort which were passed without incident. Only five minutes later, however, the lookout spotted a white light in the hazy dusk right on their course, and 15 minutes thereafter a red light. The captain altered course a half point to port, heading SE ½ S. Moments later appeared the green light of the approaching vessel. To his horror the captain realized he had swung across the bows of an oncoming steamer. He blew one blast on his whistle which went unanswered. Frantically ordering a hard turn to starboard, Captain Dugat saw the speeding Canadian side-wheeler Manitoba bear down on him; seconds later came the crash.

“The Manitoba struck the Comet on the port bow, about 20 feet from the stem, cutting in deeply. Immediately the Comet began to settle stern first, sinking in 10 minutes roughly seven miles southeast of Whitefish Point. The Manitoba halted at once, lowered her boats and picked up 10 survivors including the Comet’s captain, two mates, two wheelsmen, two deck hands, one lookout, a fireman and a porter, First Engineer Bogy and nearly the whole below deck crew had gone down with their ship. The Manitoba returned to the Soo with the rescued. The Comet carried a mixed cargo including 500 tons on pig iron, some copper ore and 70 tons of Montana silver ore which had been loaded at Duluth and was consigned to Philadelphia. Belonging to the Hanna Company of Cleveland, the Comet and her cargo were valued at more than $95,000 and 11 lives were lost.”
(Wolff, Julius F., Jr. Lake Superior Shipwrecks… 1990, pp. 23-24.)

Newspaper

Aug 27: “Detroit. August 27. – The Canadian steamer Manitoba collided with the propeller Comet, last evening, above Whitefish Point, on Lake Superior, at 8:30 P.M., and sunk her instantly. Ten lives were lost and ten were saved, including the Captain and first mate. No one was injured on the Manitoba, and she is now bound down with the survivors on the Comet.

“Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., August 27. – The steamer Manitoba, of Beatty’s line, arrived here at 9 o’clock this morning, having ran back from Whitefish Point with the crew of the propeller Comet, sunk last night, off Parisian Island….

“Among the drowned are Robey and Brown, first and second engineers, and nine others, names unknown. The Comet was owned by Hart & Co., of Cleveland; valuation, on underwriters’ register, $25,000,; amount of insurance not known here.” (Cincinnati Commercial, OH. “Lake Disaster. Vessel Sunk and Eleven Lives Lost.” 8-28-1875, 3.)

Aug 28: “The Canadian steamer Manitoba collided with the propellor Comet last night, on Lake Superior and sunk her instantly. Ten lives were lost and ten saved, including the Captain and first mate.” (Herald and News, Steubenville, OH. “Telegraph Summary.” 8-28-1875, p. 3.)

Sources

Cincinnati Commercial, OH. “Lake Disaster. Vessel Sunk and Eleven Lives Lost.” 8-28-1875, 3. Accessed 11-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-aug-28-1875-p-3/

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News, August 2009.” Accessed at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/8-09.htm

Herald and News, Steubenville, OH. “Telegraph Summary.” 8-28-1875, p. 3. Accessed 11-20-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/steubenville-daily-herald-and-news-aug-28-1875-p-3/

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. And Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. http://www.linkstothepast.com/marine/chapt36.html — Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

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

United States Life-Saving Service. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1876. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1876. Accessed 11-20-20 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015076784373&view=1up&seq=7

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