1910 — Sep 9, Pere Marquette 18 springs leak/sinks, Lake MI, 20M off Sheboygan, WI–29-31

–29-31  Blanchard estimate.[1]

 

—  39  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Ship With Officers Sinks. Carferry No. 18…” 9-9-1910, p.1.

—  35  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Breaks Silence.” 9-13-1910, p. 1.[2]

—  33  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Breaks Silence.” 9-13-1910, p. 1.[3]

—  31  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Dionne Tells of Disaster.” 9-10-1910, p. 1.[4]

—  30  New York Times. “Events That Made the History of 1910…” Jan 1, 1911.

—  30  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Dionne Tells of Disaster.” 9-10-1910, p. 1.[5]

—  29  P.M. 18 only. La Crosse Tribune, WI. “Steamer Which was Lost in Lake Michigan,” Sep 12.

—>29  Michigan Historical Markers. “S.S. Pere Marquette 18.” Stearns Park, Ludington, MI.

—  29  Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac, “Casualties, 1910,” 1910, 551

—  29  Carferries.com.  Remembering the Steamer Pere Marquette 18

—  29  Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Dionne Tells of Disaster.” 9-10-1910, p. 1.[6]

—  28  P.M. 18 only. AP. “Survivors Blame Rescue Boat for Death.” Times-Tribune, 9-11-1910.

—  28  P.M. 18 only. Petersen. “The Pere Marquette 18.” Ludington Daily News, WI. 9-15-2008.[7]

—  28  P.M. 18 only. Sheboygan Daily Press. “Survivors of the Pere Marquette…” 9-14-1910, 1.

—  27  Berman, Bruce D.  Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 259.

—  27  Maritime History of the Great Lakes.  “Pere Marquette No. 18, (St. S.), 1910…”

—  27  U.S. Bureau of Navigation. Merchant Vessels of the United States…1911, p. 414.

—  27  U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service.  Annual Report 1911, p. 12.

—  27  U.S. SIS, Report of U.S. Local Inspectors…Foundering…Steamer Pere Marquette No. 18.

—  27  Wisconsin Historical Society Shipwreck Database. Vessel Detail…for: Pere Marquette 18.

—  25  Swayze, David D.  Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter P.

—  23  Oleszewski, Wes. Stormy Disasters: Great Lakes Shipwrecks. 2001, p. 194.

 

Narrative Information

 

Michigan Historical Markers: “At least twenty-nine persons died when this vessel sank in Lake Michigan twenty miles off the Wisconsin coast on September 9, 1910. One of the Ludington carferry fleet,[8] the 350 foot S.S. Pere Marquette 18 was traveling from this port to Wisconsin. About midlake a crewman discovered the ship was taking on vast amounts of water. The captain set a direct course for Wisconsin and sent a distress signal by wireless. He and the crew battled for four hours to save the boat but she sank suddenly. All of the officers and many of the crew and passengers perished, among them the first wireless operator to die in active service on the Great Lakes. The S.S. Pere Marquette 17, aided by other ships who also heeded the wireless message for help, rescued more than thirty survivors but lost two of her own crew. The exact cause of this disaster remains a mystery.” (Michigan Historical Markers. S.S. Pere Marquette 18. Stearns Park, Ludington, MI )

 

Swayze: “Waves washing over her deck ran down her hatchways, put out her fires and sank her when her steam pumps could no longer function. The vessel had no wave-resisting seagate at her stern, a fact which is considered a major contributing factor in her loss.”  (Swayze, David D.  Great Lakes Shipwrecks Beginning with the letter P.)

 

US SIS: “On September 9, 1910, the steamer Pere Marquette No. 18, from Ludington, Mich., bound for Milwaukee, Wis., with a cargo of 29 loaded cars, sank from some unknown cause.  Twenty-seven lives were lost, many being killed by the sea and floating wreckage.” (U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service.  Annual Report 1911, p. 12.)

 

US SIS: “Report of United States Local Inspectors, United States Steamboat-Inspection Service, on Foundering of Steamer ‘Pere Marquette No. 18.’

 

“Having completed the investigation of the sinking of the steamer Pere Marquette 18 on September 9, 1910, we have to report as follows:

 

“We examined 26 witnesses, and from the testimony submitted we have arrived at the following conclusion, viz:

 

“The steamer Pere Marquette 18 left Ludington, Mich., at 11.40 p. m., September 8, 1910, bound for Milwaukee, Wis., with a cargo of 29 loaded cars. Some of the cars were loaded with general merchandise and others with coal. The wind was blowing fresh from the north and a heavy sea was running and continued to make during the night.

 

“At 3 o’clock in the morning of September 9, 1910, an oiler went aft to oil the bearings for the main shafts. These bearings are about 7 feet below the floor of what is known as the ‘flicker,’ or sleeping quarters of the oilers, firemen, water tenders, and deck hands.

 

“The oiler found that the entire compartment was full of water and could not get down to the shafts, as this water was almost up to the ‘flicker’ floor. He then went back to the engine room and reported to the engineer on watch.

 

“The engineer then went to the pilot house and reported the case to the officer on watch—that ‘there was something wrong aft. The pumps were on and the water was gaining on them.’

 

“The first officer went aft then to investigate and returned to the pilot house and remarked to the wheelman that ‘only a deadlight was busted, and it didn’t amount to much.’[9]  The captain was then called and took charge of the ship.

 

“The captain, first officer, and some others of the crew went to the ‘flicker’ and tried to stop the leak in the deadlight, which was on the starboard side. Every one aboard the ship was then called and the vessel headed for the west shore.

 

“While the first officer and the crew were down in the ‘flicker’ trying to stop the leak in the deadlight three deadlights on the port side gave way, admitting large quantities of water, which drove everyone out of the ‘flicker’ and completely filled the ‘flicker’ and whole afterpart of the hull with water.

 

“In order to offset this added weight of water in the hull the master ordered some of the cars to be run overboard. After putting over 12 or 13 cars the ship seemed to lighten up aft and the crew felt easier.

 

“At about 4.15 a. m., wireless messages were sent out for help and the life preservers were gotten out for the people aboard. Three lifeboats were safely launched on the port side and men put into them to keep them fended off from the side of the ship. The steamer seemed to be settling aft.

 

“At about 6.30 a. m. the steamer Pere Marquette 17, a steamer of the same line, was sighted. Distress signals were blown and flags raised. The Pere Marquette 17 bore down upon the Pere Marquette 18 with all possible speed and arrived close up to the 18 at about 7.15 a. m.

 

“The Pere Marquette 17 came up to the No. 18 on the starboard side, which was the weather side. The master of the No. 18 then motioned to come up on the lee side, or port side, which was done. Very shortly after the No. 18 listed heavily to starboard, the stern started to go down, the bow raised, and she sank very rapidly.

 

“The people aboard the Pere Marquette 18 then began to jump overboard. The lifeboats of the Pere Marquette 17 were lowered immediately and the work of rescue began. These boats picked up 32 people. As near as we can ascertain, 27 lives were lost, many because of the sea and floating wreckage.

 

“As to the cause of the accident, we are unable to locate definitely any primary cause. We are of the opinion that the breaking of the three deadlights on the port side undoubtedly put the finishing touch to the vessel; but as to how the water first got into the after-compartment or why it was not pumped out, we are unable to ascertain, in as much as all of the officers of the ship, and who had the actual workings of the ship in charge, were lost. Not a single officer survived.

 

“We are confident that the large amount of water found in the after-compartment by the oiler at 3 a. m. could never have made through the defective deadlight on the starboard side.  From all evidence we could get relative to this deadlight, the amount of water it made could not have filled the after-compartment, and any pump aboard the boat would have more than taken care of this leakage.

 

“From the evidence submitted, we find that there were at least two other means whereby water could get into the after-compartment without the knowledge of the occupants of the ‘flicker.’

 

“One is by way of the seacock for filling the compartment, which might have been opened and closing neglected, or through the 18-inch deck scuttles. The sea might have washed off a scuttle cover and allowed the compartment to fill.

 

“It will always be a matter of conjecture as to what first filled the after-compartment before discovery, as those who would know are lost.  It is an assured fact, however, that the whole after-compartment was full of water at the time of sinking.

 

“Some water was let in forward, and this, together with the cars on the forward deck, placed the ship on an even balance. Then something occurred which destroyed this balance and caused the vessel to sink stern foremost, but what this was we can not say definitely. It may have been the giving away of a bulkhead, allowing the water to flow into the engine compartment, or it may be that the cars on deck forward became unfastened and ran to the after part of the ship. We have evidence from one man who started to go to the car deck from the forward part of the boat, and he claims that there was not a car on the deck.

 

“As regards the great loss of life, we regret that we are obliged to censure the judgment of one who is dead and unable to defend himself.

 

“It is our opinion that the master of the Pere Marquette 18 displayed very poor judgment in holding the crew aboard the boat as long as he did.  As much as two hours before the vessel sank, we feel that his knowledge and ability as a seaman must have told him that his ship was in a very precarious condition and dangerous to be aboard of.  We think that his efforts were directed more toward saving the ship than to the saving of the lives aboard his boat.” (U.S. SIS, Report of U.S. Local Inspectors…Foundering…Steamer Pere Marquette No. 18.)

 

Newspapers

 

Sep 9: “Manitowoc, Wis., 3 P.M. Editor Press:

 

“Thirty-three men of the Pere Marquette were saved. All of the officers of the boat were lost. The officers of the carferry were the last to leave the boat. They were all lost, including Captain Peter Kilty and Bursar F. C. Zetenck. The bursar also was the wireless operator. The first message was received at Manitowoc at 5:30 o’clock this morning. It was as follows: ‘C.Q.D.[10] Pere Marquette 18 is sinking in mid lake. For God’s sake send help!’

 

“At 7:30 the last message was received. It said ‘Going Down.’ Number 17 went to the rescue. She was bound for Ludington from Milwaukee. Number Eighteen was bound from Ludington to Milwaukee. She sand twenty miles off Sheboygan at 7:40 Sheboygan Life Saving crew notified. Two men on number 17 lost their lives in attempting to save men on 18. It is thought that the cars on the deck become loose in some way which caused the wreck. The boat has carried excursionists between Chicago and Waukegan, Ill. This was her first trip between Ludington and Milwaukee.

 

“Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 9, 1910 — Thirty-nine members crew of Pere Marquette car ferry, which was an excursion steamer out of Chicago until last Tuesday, were lost and only three saved when boat sank in midlake thirty miles off Sheboygan to-day according to wireless reports. Pere Marquette was largest lake steamer out of Chicago port and was valued at half-million dollars. Boat has been in service all summer plying with excursionist between Chicago and Waukegan. Last trip as passenger craft was on labor day when it carried three thousand pleasure seekers.

 

“The Carferry No. 18 of the Pere Marquette line is sinking about thirty five miles off of this port. The boat is loaded with a full load of freight cars and has about forty men in the crew. It is carrying a large number of passengers.

 

“The carferry left Ludington last night at about 11:40 o’clock for Milwaukee. When the ferry was about half way between Ludington and Milwaukee the boat was disabled in some manner or other. What the nature of the trouble is can not be ascertained at the present time. It is certain however that fire is not the cause as the boat is made of steel….

 

“The Pere Marquette number 18 was built in Cleveland, Ohio, I the year 1902. It is 338 feet in length and has a gross tonnage of 2,909 tons, with a net tonnage of 1,702. The boat is fifty-six feet deep and carries a crew of forty-one men.” (Sheboygan Daily Press. “Ship With Officers Sinks. Carferry No. 18 Sinks off this Port.” 9-9-1910, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Survivors Blame Rescue Boat for Death. Coal Passer Declares Car Ferry No. 17 Could Have Saved All.” Sunday Times-Tribune, Waterloo, IA, 9-11-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/waterloo-times-tribune-sep-11-1910-p-1/

 

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

 

Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac 1911. “Casualties, 1910,” p. 551. Partially digitized by Google.  Accessed at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=nMcWAAAAYAAJ

 

Carferries of Ludington. Remembering the Steamer Pere Marquette 18.  Launched August 28, 1997. Accessed at: http://www.carferries.com/pmcarferries/pm18/

 

La Crosse Tribune, WI. “Steamer Which was Lost in Lake Michigan,” 9-12-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/la-crosse-tribune-sep-12-1910-p-1/

 

Maritime History of the Great Lakes. “Pere Marquette No. 18, (St. S.), 1910, Official No. U208305.” 9-8-2009 at: http://www.hhpl.on.ca/GreatLakes/wrecks/Details.asp?ID=5793&n=14938

 

Michigan Historical Markers. “S.S. Pere Marquette 18.” Stearns Park, Ludington, M, Erected 1977. Accessed at:  http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm

 

New York Times. “Events That Made the History of 1910…” Jan 1, 1911.  Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70A10FC385517738DDDA80894D9405B818DF1D3

 

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

 

Petersen, Dave. “The Pere Marquette 18.” Ludington Daily News, WI. 9-15-2008. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/the-pere-marquette/article_38e561f5-a43f-51a1-97c5-7b8d69da6bec.html

 

Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Captain Breaks Silence. Officer of No. 17 Replies.” 9-13-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sheboygan-daily-press-sep-13-1910-p-1/

 

Sheboygan Daily Press. “Captain Dionne Tells of Disaster.” 9-10-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sheboygan-daily-press-sep-10-1910-p-1/

 

Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Ship With Officers Sinks. Carferry No. 18 Sinks off this Port.” 9-9-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sheboygan-daily-press-sep-09-1910-p-1/

 

Sheboygan Daily Press, WI. “Survivors of the Pere Marquette Interviewed by Press,” 9-14-1910, p. 1. Accessed 7-14-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sheboygan-daily-press-sep-14-1910-p-1/

 

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

 

United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Forty-Third Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1911. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1911. Digitized Google preview accessed 7-14-2018 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=9l0uAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:LCCNsn88028129#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, 1911. Washington, DC:  Government Printing Office, 1911. 383 pages.  Digitized by Google. Accessed at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=ZlgpAAAAYAAJ

 

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Report of United States Local Inspectors, United States Steamboat-Inspection Service, on Foundering of Steamer ‘Pere Marquette No. 18.’  Pp. 516-517 in United States Congress.  House of Representatives, Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries. The Seamen’s Bill (Hearings, on S. 136, an act to promote the welfare of American Seamen in the Merchant Marine of the U.S…., Part 1). Wash.: GPO, 1914. Digitized by Google:  http://books.google.com/books?id=fDkuAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin Historical Society Shipwreck Database. “Pere Marquette 18 (1902).” Accessed 8-9-2009 at: http://www.maritimetrails.org/research_shipwrecks_details.cfm?VESSELID=494

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] The only nailed-down fatality fact is that two crewmembers from Pere Marquette 17 died while trying to rescue people from Pere Marquette 18. Many sources, including two U.S. government sources note 27 Pere Marquette 18 deaths. Thus at least 29 people died in this incident. A number of other sources, including many press stories at the time note 28 or 29 (some even more) Pere Marquette 18 deaths. Thus, if there were 28 P.M. 18 deaths there would be 30 total, and if there were 29, there would be 31 total. Thus our range of 29-31 total, reflecting this uncertainty.

[2] Blanchard number. The article notes 33 deaths from the Pere Marquette 18, as well as two from P.M. 17.

[3] “The official inquiry into the wreck of Per Marquette carferry 18, which sank thirty miles east of Sheboygan with a loss of thirty-three lives was resumed on Monday by United States Steamboat Inspectors Van Patten and Collins…” Notes that they had visited Ludington MI, where ten of the dead Pere Marquette 18 crew lived.

[4] In a passage relating to Pere Marquette 18 it is written there were 29 fatalities. We know that two others from Pere Marquette 17 died while trying to rescue people from P.M. 18. The passage, under the sub-heading, “Many Crushed to Death,” is: “As the boat went down, the roof of the cabin gave way under the force of the terrific air pressure, and with a crash and a roar the cabins and smokestacks shot into the air in every direction, causing death to many who might have escaped drowning. In this manner, it is said, the majority of the twenty-nine victims lost their lives.”

[5] “Twenty-Nine Drowned When Boat Sinks” is the subtitle. However, in the narrative of the article it is written that twenty-eight from Pere Marquette No. 17 died, as did two rescuers from Pere Marquette No. 17 — for total of 30. Additionally, under the subtitle “The Dead,” are listed the names of twenty-eight fatalities from P.M. 18, including one female, a cabin made.

[6] “Twenty-Nine Drowned When Boat Sinks” is the subtitle. However, in the narrative of the article it is written that twenty-eight from Pere Marquette No. 17 died, as did two rescuers from Pere Marquette No. 17 — for total of 30.

[7] Notes, as well, the deaths of two crewmembers from Pere Marquette No. 17.

[8] Railroad cars.

[9] Deadlight:  “Nautical  a. A strong shutter or plate fastened over a ship’s porthole or cabin window in stormy weather. B. A thick window set in a ship’s side or deck.”  (The Free Dictionary)

[10] Come Quick Distress. (Sheboygan Daily Press. “Captain Dionne Tells of Disaster.” 9-10-1910, p. 1.)