So I just read a fascinating book by Frank Barcus and thought I would share a few thoughts with you. I'm sure the book is available cheaper elsewhere online but do the right thing and buy it direct from the source: Freshwater Fury - Yarns and Reminiscences of the Greatest Storm in Inland Navigation - Frank Barcus
I've read a few divers guides to the Great Lakes and the wrecks that are in them and although they do a reasonable job of prefacing with some history I never really felt like I knew much about what occurred when and why they foundered (how can a 500 behemoth like the Charles Price end up turtled?!). The reviews of the wreck dives are fairly dry in that they provide some factual information but don't really have many personal accounts, primarily I now realize because there aren't any from the ships that sank. It may seem blindingly obvious in retrospect but, especially when it comes to ships involved in the Great Storm of 1913, there was no one left to tell the tale. Oh, but there are...
Barcus book presents eye witness accounts of the storm from the sailors aboard ships that did not sink. We're talking about the same sort of ships that were in the same storm in the same place on the lakes as the ships that sank. Ultimately I guess you could conclude that these voices might be the better ones, these are after all the captains that managed to keep their ships afloat; they "faced the Great Storm and lived"!
First published in 1960, the book contains interviews, excerpts from newspapers, logs, scrapbooks and personal letters mailed home to family. Stories include those from Captain S.A. Lyons of The Sheadle, which entered Lake Huron with the Carruthers and Hydrus but was the only freighter to follow a southward course down the Lake and come through it. In the other direction, the story of the Durston is told, the only ship to make it through following a northerly path. These paragraphs about other ships particularly jumped out at me:
Those who have dove the Regina might be interested to read an observation from one that "The deck the Regina was carrying looked dangerous. She appeared top heavy with a load of sewer and gas pipe which stuck way above the rail".
Seriously, it's a great read and I can't recommend it enough...
Cheers
Rick
I've read a few divers guides to the Great Lakes and the wrecks that are in them and although they do a reasonable job of prefacing with some history I never really felt like I knew much about what occurred when and why they foundered (how can a 500 behemoth like the Charles Price end up turtled?!). The reviews of the wreck dives are fairly dry in that they provide some factual information but don't really have many personal accounts, primarily I now realize because there aren't any from the ships that sank. It may seem blindingly obvious in retrospect but, especially when it comes to ships involved in the Great Storm of 1913, there was no one left to tell the tale. Oh, but there are...
Barcus book presents eye witness accounts of the storm from the sailors aboard ships that did not sink. We're talking about the same sort of ships that were in the same storm in the same place on the lakes as the ships that sank. Ultimately I guess you could conclude that these voices might be the better ones, these are after all the captains that managed to keep their ships afloat; they "faced the Great Storm and lived"!
First published in 1960, the book contains interviews, excerpts from newspapers, logs, scrapbooks and personal letters mailed home to family. Stories include those from Captain S.A. Lyons of The Sheadle, which entered Lake Huron with the Carruthers and Hydrus but was the only freighter to follow a southward course down the Lake and come through it. In the other direction, the story of the Durston is told, the only ship to make it through following a northerly path. These paragraphs about other ships particularly jumped out at me:
The Argus was a 400+ foot freighter with gross tonnage at the time of 4700!!
Those who have dove the Regina might be interested to read an observation from one that "The deck the Regina was carrying looked dangerous. She appeared top heavy with a load of sewer and gas pipe which stuck way above the rail".
Seriously, it's a great read and I can't recommend it enough...
Cheers
Rick
