1929 — Oct 31, fog, steamers collide, Senator sinks, Lake MI, off Port Washington, WI–7-10

–7-10 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

–25 Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Freighter Sunk…Collision in Lake Michigan.” 10-31-1929, 1.
–10 Door County News, Sturgeon Bay, WI. “Lake Disasters.” 11-7-1929, p. 10, col. 1.
–10 Door County News, Sturgeon Bay, WI. “Big Lake Steamers Collide…” 11-8-1929, p. 9.
–10 La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Ten Lost in Sinking of Lake Craft.” 11-1-1929, 1.
–10 Manitowoc Herald-News, WI. “Findings of Board May Hold Captain.” 11-4-1929, p. 1.
–10 Swayze. Shipwreck!…Directory of…Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 1992, p. 214.
–10 Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Survivors of Sunken Ship Face Probe.” 11-2-1929, p. 1.
— 9 Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Herbert Peting Tells of Lake Michigan Wreck.” 11-6-1929, 17.
— 9 Escanaba Daily Press, MI. “Rescued Sailors Deny Marquette Helped Senator.” 11-3-1929, 1.
— 9 Giles. “Archival Revival: The sinking of the SS Senator.” Kenosha News, WI, 10-21-2019.
— 9 Moline Daily Dispatch, IL. “Captain of Steamer Faces Prosecution.” 11-23-1929, p. 3, c. 1.
— 9 Supervising Inspector General of Steamboats. Report to the Sec. of Commerce, 1930, p. 15.
— 7 Ludington Daily News, MI. “Grim Reminders of Sunken Ship Found on Beach.” 11-12-1929, 1.
— 7 McNeil. “Senator…sunk by collision, 31 Oct 1929.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— 7 Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Steamship Limps Into Port After Collision.” 11-10-1929, p. 4.
— 7 Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. 2003, p. 64.

* Blanchard estimated death toll range. We employ the use of a range of deaths, 7-10, because of the large number of forces noting 7, 9, or 10 deaths. Given that one of the sources noting ten deaths was not a newspaper source of the time but the writer of a book on Great Lakes shipwrecks, who also has a website devoted to Great Lakes vessels, we are persuaded to include the number 10 in our range, though we are of the opinion that the death toll was more probably seven or nine.

Narrative Information

Supervising Inspector of Steamboats: On October 31, 1929, the steamers Senator and Marquette collided 20 miles east of Port Washington in Lake Michigan, resulting in the sinking of the Senator and the loss of 9 of her crew. The case was investigated by the local inspectors at Milwaukee, Wis. Charges were preferred against Capt. Walter F. Amesbury, master of the steamer Marquette, which were sustained and his license suspended for 6 months. An appeal was made and the decision afterwards modified to 3 months. Estimated amount of damage, $275,000.” (Supervising Inspector General Steamboat Inspection Service. Annual Report to the Sec. of Commerce, 1930, p. 15.)

Swayze: “Senator. Steel auto-carrying steamer of 4,048 t. [tons] and 410 ft., launched in 1896 at Wyandotte, MI.

“Lake Michigan: This large automobile carrier was one of several such ships to be lost on the Lakes in the ‘20s…The Senator was loaded with 240 Nash autos when she was lost on October 31, 1929, off Port Washington, Wisconsin. Groping her way through a heavy fog, the big steamer was rammed by the steamer Marquette and sank rapidly. Ten of the 29 sailors aboard were lost when she went down….” (Swayze. Shipwreck!…Shipwrecks…Great Lakes. 1992, p. 214.)

Newspapers

Oct 31: “Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 31. – (AP) – Colliding in Lake Michigan, 20 miles off Port Washington, Wis., in a dense fog, the freight steamer Senator sank almost immediately and the Marquette, an ore carrier, badly damaged; was waging what was regarded as a hopeless fight to make Port Washington. The Senator carried a crew of 28. All but three who were taken aboard the Marquette are unaccounted for. The Marquette carried 30 men.

“A few minutes after the collision both ships began sending ‘SOS.’ After about 10 minutes the Senator wireless ceased to sputter and the Marquette said she had sunk.

“The Marquette stood by and picked up three survivors. An hour later Captain W. S. Amesbury radioed that he would attempt to beach his vessel at Port Washington. At 12:06 p.m., the Marquette sent ‘SOS’ signals and requested boats in the vicinity to come and stand by. Captain Ainsbury [sic] messaged that he did not think the Marquette would remain up until he could get to Port Washington.

“A score of boats of all description rushed to the aid of the Marquette. Tugs, coastguard cutters, and large lake freighters not far from the scene of the crash made up the rescue fleet.

“Shortly after 1 p.m., the Marquette wirelessed [?] she would not go to Port Washington, but intended to try to make Milwaukee. At this time she was just a little way off shore between Port Washington and Milwaukee. If necessary, the captain said the boat could be reached. The Marquette was reported listing badly, several tugs and other vessels remained near her as she proceeded down the Wisconsin coast line.

“The Senator, commanded by Captain George Kinch, left Milwaukee at 7:45 a.m., and was bound for Detroit and Lake Erie ports with a load of automobiles. The ore laden Marquette was bound for Indiana harbor.

“Wireless reports received here said the Senator sank so quickly there was no time to launch life boats. Only three of the Senator’s crew are accounted for, according to radio reports. The three picked up by the Marquette are Ralph Ellis, radio operator William Filbeck, and Leonard Ross.

“The fog was so dense that those aboard the Marquette were unable to see more than 50 feet. This probably accounts for the fact that a greater number was not rescued.

“Word from Port Washington said that blasts of a fog horn coming from the south just off shore could be plainly heard at 1:30. It was presumed they came from the Marquette as she proceeded southward toward Milwaukee. The fog was so thick the boat could not be seen.

“The Senator was of 4,048 gross tons, 410-feet long and 45.4 foot beam. She was owned by the Nickolson Universal Steamship company. The Marquette was owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron company of Cleveland, O. She is of 4,956 gross tons, 420-feet long and 52 foot beam.

“One woman was believed aboard the Senator. Tuesday night when the steamer was in Green Bay, Minnie, last name unknown, acted as cook and served a dinner to the ship’s officers….” (Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Freighter Sunk, Ore Carrier Crippled Following Collision in Lake Michigan.” 10-31-1929, p. 1.)

Nov 1: “Milwaukee, Wis. – (AP) – Lives of nine men and a woman Friday were believed to have been lost in the collision between the ore carrier Marquette and the freighter Senator which sank 20 miles off Port Washington in Lake Michigan Thursday….

“Among those still missing were Captain George Kinch, skipper of the Senator, and Mrs. Minnie Gormley, wife of the steward and the only woman on board. She was seen to slip from a piece of wreckage and apparently went down. One body, that of Peter Smith, wheelsman, of Fredonia, N.Y., was recovered.

“An inquiry was begun Friday by federal steamboat inspectors who summoned the 18 known survivors to appear for questioning. Of these, three were brought in by the disable Marquette and 15 were saved by the fishing tug Delos H. Smith and taken to Port Washington….

“At the federal inquiry, Captain Ainsbury [sic] testified his ship virtually was at a standstill when the crash occurred, saying the Senator rammed broadside into his prow. The captain said he ordered his engines reversed the moment he sighted the freighter looming out of the fog and that in his opinion the Marquette had come to a stop by the time of the collision….

“…The two freighters loomed suddenly before each other out of the sticky fog and hardly had time to sound a warning before the steel nose of the ore boat [Marquette] rammed broadside into the steel freighter, laden with autos [Senator], ripping it open with such a gap that it sank before the crew could reach the life boats. It rolled over on its port side and sank rapidly. Two of its crew leaped and grabbed the Marquette, saving themselves. A third, Ralph Ellis, Senator radio operator, buckled on a life belt and jumped. He was quickly pulled aboard the ore boat.

“Nearly a score of others clung to a life raft and of these, the fishing tug Delos H. Smith picked up 15 within 45 minutes…” (La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Ten Lost in Sinking of Lake Craft.” 11-1-1929, p. 1.)

Nov 2: “Milwaukee. – (U.P.) – Survivors of the sunken steamship Senator told federal investigators of the disaster today that the S.S. Marquette failed to fill the office of rescuer after the two boats collided in the fog in Lake Michigan.

“Testimony of living members of the Senator’s crew said the Marquette backed away from the hole it had made in the other ship, and steamed way from the screaming, floundering sailors without putting off lifeboats or throwing lifelines.

“The investigation was begun Friday with testimony of Capt. W. F. Amesbury of the Marquette and members of the Marquette’s crew. Conflicting statements were obtained from the captain and members of his crew but it finally was established that the Marquette lifeboats never were put off to aid in picking up the Senator crew.

“It was variously explained that the only men available to man the lifeboats were not capable of handling them and that the fishing tug Delos H. Smith was sighted and apparently was providing all the assistance necessary to the Senator crew.

“The number lost in the crash appeared almost certainly today to have been 10, including nine men and one woman.” (Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Survivors of Sunken Ship Face Probe.” 11-2-1929, p. 1.)

Nov 2: “Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 2 (AP) – Testimony of survivors today placed blame on Captain W. F. Amesbary [sic], master of the ore carrier Marquette, for loss of life incurred when the freighter Senator went to the bottom of Lake Michigan on Thursday after a collision with the Marquette in a fog off Port Washington. Nine lives were lost.

“Survivors of the Senator today testified before Captain W. A. Collins and Captain F. W. Van Patten, federal steamboat inspectors, that Amesbary’s ship left the scene of the collision two minutes after the crash and that he failed to lower lifeboats to pick up survivors. Yesterday Amesbary asserted he lowered two lifeboats; his testimony later was denied by the second mate of the Marquette who said the boats were ordered manned only because they expected an abandon ship order, and when that order was not forthcoming the boats were not lowered.

“If the Marquette had lowered her lifeboats when the Senator’s crew was struggling in the water, ‘no one on the Senator need have lost their lives,’ testified Charles P. Sampson, chief engineer of the Senator. Other witnesses were Harvey Nicholson, second mate of the Senator, and Herbert Petting, the Senator’s wheelsman. Both said that the Marquette did not hold her stem in the split side of the Senator; that she disappeared into the fog within two minutes after the crash, and that no apparent effort was made by the Marquette to pick up the Senator’s crew from the water….”
(Escanaba Daily Press, MI. “Rescued Sailors Deny Marquette Helped Senator.” 11-3-1929, p. 1.)

Nov 12: “Grand Haven, Mich., Nov. 12 (AP) – Commander W. M. Wolff, of the 10th district coast guard announced today that the body of a member of the crew of the freighter Senator which sank in a collision October 31, with the steamer Marquette, was found south of Pentwater, this afternoon by coast guards located at that point….A life preserver of the freighter Senator fastened around the body identified the man as a member of the crew of the vessel.

“Efforts were being made at Holland to identify the body…It is believed that the body is that of Stewart Fox, of Grand Haven. A body discovered between Holland and Port Sheldon late Monday was identified as that of Tom Rotta, of Milwaukee, chef of the car ferry. Two other bodies found Monday morning were identified as those of Charles J. Smith, of Milwaukee, lookout and E. Krause, of Manistee, an oiler, on the car ferry….” (Escanaba Daily Press, MI. “Find Victims Bodies.” 11-13-1929, p. 1.)

Nov 23: “By Associated Press Leased Wire. Milwaukee, Wis., Nov 23. – Capt. Walter F. Amesbury of Ashtabula, O., master of the steamer Marquette, was ordered today to show cause why he should not be reported to the federal district attorney for criminal prosecution in connection with the sinking of the freighter Senator in Lake Michigan, October 31, with a loss of nine lives.

“Federal steamship inspectors, Capt. Frank W. VanPatten and William A. Collins, who conducted the investigation into the collision, charged Captain Amesbury with inattention to duty and negligence. When he appears December 10, he must also show cause why his master’s license would not be revoked.

“Both vessels were found guilty to proceeding at full speed in the dense fog that blanketed the lake, a violation of Rule 15 of the pilot regulations. These regulations provide, Mr. Collins explained, that in a dense fog, a moderate rate of speed must be maintained.

“Capt. George Kinch of Detroit, master of the Senator, lost his life in the collision. Captain Amesbury, in addition to the charges of running at full speed, is also cited for failure to render aid to the crew of the Senator, floating in the water.” (Moline Daily Dispatch, IL. “Captain of Steamer Faces Prosecution.” 11-23-1929, p. 3, c. 1.

Summary of Individuals Named as Senator Fatalities in Sources Above

1. Fox, Stewart Grand Haven, MI Body recovered.
2. Gormley, Minnie Cook
3. Kinch, George Captain Detroit, MI
4. Krause, E. Oiler Manistee, WI Body recovered.
5. Rotta, Tom Chef Milwaukee, WI Body recovered.
6. Smith, Charles J. Lookout Milwaukee, WI Body recovered.
7. Smith, Peter Wheelsman Fredonia, NY Body recovered.

Sources

Door County News, Sturgeon Bay, WI. “Big Lake Steamers Collide…” 11-8-1929, p. 9. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sturgeon-bay-door-county-advocate-nov-08-1929-p-9/

Door County News, Sturgeon Bay, WI. “Lake Disasters.” 11-7-1929, p. 10, col. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sturgeon-bay-door-county-news-nov-07-1929-p-10/

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Herbert Peting Tells of Lake Michigan Wreck.” 11-6-1929, 17. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/dunkirk-evening-observer-nov-06-1929-p-17/

Escanaba Daily Press, MI. “Find Victims Bodies.” 11-13-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/escanaba-daily-press-nov-13-1929-p-1/

Escanaba Daily Press, MI. “Rescued Sailors Deny Marquette Helped Senator.” 11-3-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021f at: https://newspaperarchive.com/escanaba-daily-press-nov-03-1929-p-1/

Giles, Diane. “Archival Revival: The sinking of the SS Senator.” Kenosha News, WI, 10-21-2019. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/archival-revival-the-sinking-of-the-ss-senator/article_d4968fb4-aabc-51bb-9e0e-aa8ca51dae0c.html

Ironwood Daily Globe, MI. “Freighter Sunk, Ore Carrier Crippled Following Collision in Lake Michigan.” 10-31-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-globe-oct-31-1929-p-1/

La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Ten Lost in Sinking of Lake Craft.” 11-1-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/la-crosse-tribune-and-leader-press-nov-01-1929-p-1/

Ludington Daily News, MI. “Grim Reminders of Sunken Ship Found on Beach.” 11-12-1929, 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ludington-daily-news-nov-12-1929-p-1/

Manitowoc Herald-News, WI. “Findings of Board May Hold Captain.” 11-4-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/manitowoc-herald-news-nov-04-1929-p-1/

McNeil, William R. “Senator (Propeller), U116725, sunk by collision, 31 Oct 1929.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/59286/data?n=1

Moline Daily Dispatch, IL. “Captain of Steamer Faces Prosecution.” 11-23-1929, p. 3, c. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/moline-daily-dispatch-nov-23-1929-p-3/

Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Steamship Limps Into Port After Collision.” 11-10-1929, p. 4. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-nov-10-1929-p-4/

Shelak, Benjamin J. Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan. Big Earth Publishing, 2003. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4CBCcye0n6IC

Supervising Inspector General Steamboat Inspection Service (U.S.) Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1930. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1930. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015073345384&view=1up&seq=5&q1=senator

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

Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. “On this day…” Facebook post, 10-31-2016. Accessed 1-13-2021 at: https://www.facebook.com/WisconsinMarineHistoricalSociety/posts/on-this-day-1031-in-1929-the-ore-carrier-marquette-slammed-into-the-auto-carrier/1027317090727519/

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “Survivors of Sunken Ship Face Probe.” 11-2-1929, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2021: https://newspaperarchive.com/madison-wisconsin-state-journal-nov-02-1929-p-3/