Great Storms of The North American Great Lakes - Black Friday (1916)

Black Friday (1916)

Friday, October 20, 1916 on Lake Erie. These were the years before there was ship to shore radio. Once out on the lakes, each ship had only itself to depend upon and the chance of meeting another ship. While only four ships were lost, nearly all the men of these crews were lost to the tempest of the storm-tossed lake. In all, Black Friday took the lives of 49 men.

The Jame B. Colgate had just finished loading coal and set sail from Buffalo, New York bound for Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay). It was 1:10 in the morning as the Colgate dropped its hawsers and headed out into the open lake. Dawn found the Colgate off Long Point. All day they moved steadily westward, keeping the bow into the wind, waves crashing over the decks and beating on the hatch coverings. Slowing, water began to enter the cargo holds. The pumps could not keep up with the influx of water and she began to list at about eight o'clock that evening. No other ships had been seen and none could be found. The bow was riding low in the water. As the ten o'clock hour came around, the Colgate slid beneath the waves. The men all had life jackets, but nothing was floating which would help them get out of the cold water. One life raft was found and a coal passer, the engineer and the captain took refuge. In the middle of the night, the raft was flipped and the coal passer did not return. As the 21st dawned, the raft again spilled its occupants and the engineer returned but was too weak to hold on and he was lost. Night came on and Captain Walter J. Grashaw still hung on to the raft. A passenger steamer passed nearby, but he was unnoticed in the dark. As daylight dawned on the 22nd, Sunday, the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 came to his rescue.

Marshall F. Butters, a wooden lumber carrier down bound to Cleveland with a cargo of shingles and lumber, entered Lake Erie from the Detroit River. The wind rose and the waves grew in height. The Butters turned into Lake Erie heading towards the Southeast Shoals Light, off the tip of Point Pelee. The wooden ship could not take the pounding of the waves. Settling into the lake, soon the boilers were extinguished and the Butters was at the mercy of the storm. Ten men set sail in the lifeboat, leaving only the captain and two men on board the sinking vessel. The Pioneer Steamship Company’s Frank R. Billings and the F.G. Hartwell were nearby. The Billings approached to give aid. Pouring ‘storm oil’ on the water, they were able to calm the seas enough to rescue Captain McClure and his two men. Meanwhile, the Hartwell rescued the men in the lifeboat.

A third ship the D.L. Filer, a wooden schooner of 45 years, was headed from Buffalo to Saugatuck, Michigan with a load of coal. For two days, the Filer beat into the wind headed for the Detroit River at the western end of Lake Erie. Just off Bar Point, within sight of the mouth of the Detroit River, the pumps could no longer move the volume of water rushing into the holds, and the seams began to open. In eighteen feet of water, she settled to the bottom. Six men climbed the foremast, while the captain climbed the after mast. It looked like all seven of the crew could cling to the mast and weather the night. But the weight of six men snapped the fore mast and five disappeared. Only one man made it to the after mast and climbed to safety. As dawn broke the horizon, the Western States came into sight and turned towards the two men clinging to the mast protruding from the shallows. As the steamer approached, one man slipped from the mast and was never seen again. Only the Captain John Mattison was rescued.

Meanwhile, the Canadian steamer Merida' disappeared that night. All 23 of her crew were found the next day floating in mid-lake, only identified by their life vests bearing the name Merida.