–15 Pearson’s Magazine. “Lives vs. Money.” July, 1910.[1]

–14 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 249.[2]

–14 New York Times. “14 Drown in Collision.” July 13, 1909.

–14 Oleszewski, Wes. Stormy Disasters: Great Lakes Shipwrecks. 2001, p. 130.

–14 Republican News, Hamilton, OH. “Chronology of the Year 1909,” p. 7.

–14 Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C.

–14 Thompson. Graveyard of the Lakes. 2004, 168.

–14 U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1910, p. 408.

–14 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1910, p. 12.

–14 Waukesha Freeman, WI. “Events in 1909 Chronology,” Jan 10, 1910, p. 12.

Narrative Information

Superior Trips: “The John B. Cowle…was a steel bulk freighter 420 feet long, 50 feet of beam and 24 feet in depth. It was built in 1902 by the Jenks Shipbuilding Company in Port Huron, Michigan for the Cowle Transportation Company of Fairport, Ohio.

“On July 12, 1909 the John B. Cowle sank in three minutes after a collision with the Isaac M. Scott taking fourteen of the twenty-four crew members to their watery graves. It was a foggy day[3] and the maiden voyage for the 504 foot Hanna steamer Isaac M. Scott. The Cowle had just loaded 7,023 tons of iron ore in Two Harbors, Minnesota and was down bound with her cargo. The Scott was up bound without a cargo when the Cowle loomed out of the fog in her path. The Scott cut the Cowle broadside piercing twenty feet into the hull then pulled back leaving the badly damaged Cowle to sink rapidly. Only ten of the crew were fished out of the water by the crew of the Scott and the passing steamer Frank H. Goodyear. The Isaac M. Scott was also badly damaged but managed to limp back to port. The captain of the Cowle Wallace Rogers survived the incident and was sited for operating his vessel too fast for the conditions.” (Superior Trips, “John B. Cowle.”)

Swayze: “John B. Cowle

Official no.: 77559

Type at loss: propeller, steel, bulk freight

Build info: 1902, Jenks, Port Huron

Specs: 420x50x28, 4731g 3911n

Date of loss: 1909, Jul 12

Place of loss: 1 mi NW of Whitefish Pt.

Lake: Superior

Type of loss: collision

Loss of life: 14 of 24

Carrying: iron ore

Detail: Rammed by the large steel bulker Isaac M. Scott (qv) and sank in 3

minutes. Heavy fog covered the area at the time. Scott and the passing

bulker Goodyear picked up survivors.

Wreck located by divers in 1972.” (Swayze. Great Lakes Shipwrecks C.)

U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1910, p. 408: Ten survivors.

U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service: “July 12, 1909, during a dense fog, a collision occurred between the steamers John B. Cowle and Isaac M. Scott, off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior. Three minutes after the collision the John B. Cowle sunk, carrying with her 14 members of her crew, who were drowned.” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report 1910, p. 12.)

Newspaper and Periodical of the Time

July 12: “Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., July 12. The steamer John B. Cowle was sunk at 5 o’clock this morning in Whitefish Bay in a collision with the steamer Isaac M. Scott. The Cowle and the Scott crashed together during a dense fog. The Cowle, which was loaded with 4,000 tons of iron ore, carried fourteen members of her crew down with her. The Isaac M. Scott picked up the survivors and put back to this port with them…The Scott is a new ship, which was on its maiden trip up the lakes. The John B. Cowle was 420 feet long and owned by the Cowle Transit Company of Cleveland. She was built in 1902.” (NYT. “14 Drown in Collision.” July 13, 1909.)

July 1910, Pearson’s: “The effect of unskilled manning and undermanning of vessels has been strikingly illustrated on the Great Lakes during the pat two years. The inefficient crews of men and boys who have been sent to take the places of the striking sailors are utterly incapable of handling the vessels even in ordinary weather. Last season was the most disastrous in the history of navigation on the Great Lakes, in the matter of collisions and wrecks….

“In July, 1909, the steamer Cowle sunk with fifteen of her crew after a collision with the new steamer Isaac M. Scott on Lake Superior. The Cowle was manned by utterly inexperienced men, as was the vessel that struck her. The relatives of the unfortunate members of the crew…received from $75 to $100 each, according to a member of the Lake Carriers’ Association….

“…there is absolutely no law to prevent the undermanning of these vessels and the employment of mere children as ‘able seamen.’ V. A. Olander, Secretary of the Lake Seamen’s Union, wrote to the Department of Commerce and Labor in September, 1909, protesting against the employment of boys on these vessels. The letter in answer was signed by Charles Earl, as Acting Secretary of Commerce and Labor. It states that the law will permit the ship-owners to ship a baby as an ‘able seaman’ if they want to. Says Mr. Earl: ‘The Department does not recall any law which prohibits those under legal age from being members of the crews of vessels of the United States in positions other than those of watch officers, licensed officers, and pilots.’….

“…What cares Big Business for the lives of boys and women and children? The ships are insured….” (Pearson’s Magazine. “Lives vs. Money.” July, 1910, pp. 39-40.)

Sources

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

New York Times. “14 Drown in Collision.” July 13, 1909. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9906EFDE123EE733A25750C1A9619C946897D6CF

Oleszewski, Wes. Stormy Disasters: Great Lakes Shipwrecks. Gwinn, MI: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 2001.

Pearson’s Magazine. “Lives vs. Money,” Vol. 24, No. 1, July 1910, pp. 38-40. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=q4wxAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cowle&f=false

Republican News, Hamilton, OH. “Chronology of the Year 1909,” p. 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=81521942

Swayze, David D. Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter C. Accessed 9-6-2009 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/c.htm

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

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Forty-Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1910. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1910. Google preview accessed 7-14-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=jcDQrscv2roC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#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, 1910. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1910. 391 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlgpAAAAYAAJ

Waukesha Freeman, WI. “Events in 1909 Chronology,” Jan 10, 1910, p. 12. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53091993

[1] Not used for fatality count in that no other source I have seen notes a number other than 14.

[2] Berman has the boat listed as the John B. Cowie.

[3] Oleszewski writes that though the boats were travelling in a fog: “There was no whistle blowing fog signals, no warning at all, only a few dim lights after it was too late.” (Stormy Disasters, 2001, p. 128.)

1909 — July 12, Fog, SS John B. Cowle hit by Scott/sinks, Lake Superior off Whitefish Pt., MI-14