1905 — Sep 2-3, Iosco & Olive-Jeanette sink, Lake Sup. storm, E of Keweenaw Pen., MI– 26

–26  Jerlecki. Sailing into Disaster: Ghost Ships and other Mysterious Shipwrecks… 2017, p 47.

–26  Weather Bureau, USDA. Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes…, 1906, p. 11.[1]

 

Steamer Iosco:

–19  Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 248.

–19  Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter I.

–19  U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1906, p. 386.

–19  U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report 1906, p. 13.

–19  Weather Bureau, USDA. Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes…, 1906, p. 11.[2]

 

Schooner Olive-Jeanette:

–7  Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Olive Jeanette (Schooner)…sunk, 3 Sep 1905.”

–7  Weather Bureau, USDA. Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes…, 1906, p. 11.[3]

 

Narrative Information — Iosco

 

Swayze:

“Official no.   :  100484

Type at loss    :   propeller, wood, bulk freight

Build info       :  1891, F. Wheeler, W. Bay City  hull #80

Specs              :  291x41x20  2051g  1707n

Date of loss    :  1905, Sep 2

Place of loss   :  E of Keweenaw Peninsula

Lake                :  Superior

Type of loss    :  storm

Loss of life      :  19 [all]

Carrying          :  iron ore, barge

 

“Detail: Towing ore-laden schooner OLIVE JEANETTE(qv), struck by a terrific gale and foundered, exact position unknown, but probably between Portage Entry and Huron Isls. OLIVE JEANETTE was also lost. Master: Capt. Nelson Gonyaw(d).” (Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter I.)

 

US Bureau of Navigation: No survivors. Bureau of Navigation lists the date of loss as Sept. 2, 1905 and the loss as foundering. (U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1906, p. 386.)

 

US Steamboat Inspection Service: “…the steamer Iosco [lost] on Lake Superior on September 3, 1905, when 19 lives were lost…” (US Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report 1906, p. 13.)

Narrative Information — Olive-Jeanette

 

Jerlecki: “…the schooner [Olive-Jeanette] and its towing steamer, Iosco, took on cargoes of iron ore at Duluth on the morning of Thursday, August 31, 1905….the pair ventured into Lake Superior to begin the first leg of the downbound voyage to a Lake Erie port.

 

“…the Iosco carried a crew of nineteen…the Olive-Jeanette employed a crew of seven…

 

“Even as the Iosco and Olive-Jeanette departed upon their ill-fated voyage, a very early fall storm was approaching the most northern reaches of the Great Lakes….the northeast gale assaulted the lake for the next two days with heavy rains and winds exceeding 40 miles per hour…the storm stirred up the cold waters so severely that heavy seas prevailed for two full days following its passage….

 

Notes “the keeper of the Huron Island Light spotted the Olive-Jeanette about four miles north of his station [Sep 3]. Seeing no evidence of any accompanying steamer and unaware of his unexpected visitor’s identity, the lighthouse keeper kept the consort barge in sight from atop his rocky island outpost until it foundered at 4 o’clock that afternoon….” (pp. 44-45)

 

Sources

 

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

 

Jerlecki, Constance M. Sailing into Disaster: Ghost Ships and other Mysterious Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Clinton Township, MI: Inland Expressions, 2017. Google preview accessed 7-6-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=N4MSDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Olive Jeanette (Schooner), U155181, sunk, 3 Sep 1905.” Accessed 7-6-2018 at: http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/54736/data

 

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter H. Accessed 9-7-2009 at:  http://greatlakeshistory.homestead.com/files/h.htm

 

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Thirty-Eighth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1906. Wash.: GPO, 1906. Digitized by Google at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=ROEYAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:LCCNsn88028129&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1906. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906. 345 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZVcpAAAAYAAJ

 

Weather Bureau, United States Department of Agriculture. Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes. Summary for the Season of 1905. No. 2, 1905. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906. Google preview accessed 7-6-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=_TwaAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[1] Table VI. — Vessels which became total losses during season of 1905.

[2] Table VI. — Vessels which became total losses during season of 1905.

[3] Table VI. — Vessels which became total losses during season of 1905.