View source for SS Myron

{{Short description|Wooden steamship that sank in Lake Superior}}
{{other uses|Myron (disambiguation)}}

{| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Mark Hopkins ship.jpg
|Ship caption=SS ''Myron'' underway
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States}}
|Ship name=''Myron''
|Ship owner=Captain Harris Baker, original owner
|Ship operator=O.W. Blodgett Lumber Company
|Ship registry=Grand Haven, Michigan
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=Mechanics Dry Dock Company
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship completed=1888
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=Official No.  91993 
|Ship fate=Foundered {{convert|1.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} west of Whitefish Point in [[Lake Superior]] on 23 November 1919  while her tow, schooner ''Miztec'', survived the gale.
|Ship notes=}} 
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=Steamer, [[propeller]], barge
|Ship tonnage= 732 [[Gross Register Tonnage]]
               493.7 [[Net Register Tonnage]]
|Ship length={{convert|186|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth={{convert|13|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=steam
|Ship propulsion=Screw
|Ship speed=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew=18
|Ship notes=17 lives lost, the Captain was rescued
}}
|}

'''SS ''Myron''''' was a wooden [[steamship]] built in 1888. She spent her 31-year career as [[lumber hooker]], towing [[schooner barge]]s on the [[Great Lakes]]. She sank in 1919, in a [[Lake Superior]] November [[gale]]. All of her 17 crew members were killed but her captain survived. He was found drifting on wreckage near [[Ile Parisienne]]. Her tow, the [[Miztec (schooner barge)|''Miztec'']], survived. ''Myron'' defied the adage that Lake Superior "seldom gives up her dead" when all 17 crewmembers were found frozen to death wearing their [[life jackets]]. Local residents chopped eight of ''Myron''{{'}}s sailors from the ice on the shore of [[Whitefish Bay]] and buried them at the Mission Hill Cemetery in [[Bay Mills Township, Michigan]].

''Myron''{{'}}s steering wheel, [[steam whistle]], and many other artifacts were illegally removed from her wreck site in the 1980s by members of the [[Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum|Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society]]. Her artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of ''Myron'' is protected as part of an underwater museum in the [[Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve]].

==History==

The {{convert|186|ft|m|0|adj=on}} wooden [[steamboat|steamer]] ''Myron'' was built as a [[lumber hooker]] in 1888 in [[Grand Haven, Michigan]].  She was originally named ''Mark Hopkins'' for the son of Captain Harris Baker, the first of a series of owners.  Her name was changed to ''Myron'' in 1902.<ref>Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Vessel Datatbase.</ref>

''Myron'' suffered several major mishaps and rebuilds during her 31-year career on the Great Lakes. She was sunk by ''Vanderbilt'' on 27 September 1895, in Hay Lake, near [[Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan]].  She was raised 19 October 1895, and rebuilt in [[Marine City, Michigan]] in 1896. She was released after she ran ashore on Long Point on [[Lake Erie]] in 1901. She was rebuilt again from 1903-1904 in [[Bay City, Michigan]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Vessel Database.</ref>

''Myron'' averaged 12 trips a year at the end of her career <ref>Stonehouse, p. 30.</ref> and she sailed under the flag of [[O.W. Blodgett Lumber Company]], considered the last of the big lumber companies on the Great Lakes.<ref>Oleszewski, p. 175.</ref> As a lumber hooker, ''Myron'' was designed to tow one or two barges and to carry her own deck load to pay her way. She towed big, old converted schooners stripped of their masts and running gear to carry large cargoes.<ref>Boyer, pp. 139–140.</ref> The schooner barge ''Miztec'' was the last of ''Myron''{{'}}s many [[Consort (nautical)|consorts]] when she foundered.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Gerred, p. 3">Gerred, p. 3.</ref>

==Final voyage==

''Myron'' departed [[Munising, Michigan]] on Lake Superior bound for [[Buffalo, New York]] shortly before dawn on 22 November 1919, towing ''Miztec''. Both vessels were piled high with lumber. A crew of 18 was aboard ''Myron'' and 7 manned ''Miztec''.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 174">Stonehouse, p. 174.</ref>

Two hours after departure from Munising, a severe November gale struck ''Myron'' and ''Miztec'' with northwest winds blowing {{convert|60|mph|0}}, a rapidly dropping temperature, and heavy snow.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Kohl, p. 428">Kohl, p. 428.</ref> When the pounding seas opened the wooden seams on the aged ''Myron'', her pumps could not keep up with below deck water.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 174"/><ref name="Kohl, p. 428"/><ref name="Wolf, p. 163">Wolf, p. 163.</ref> Ice build up on ''Myron'' changed her center of gravity and made her unstable in the heavy seas.<ref>Boyer, pp. 140–141.</ref> Her {{convert|700|hp|kW}} engine could not keep up with the accumulation of water and ice until she was reduced to a speed of {{convert|3|to|4|knots|0}}. Captain Walter Neal, of ''Myron'', decided to drop ''Miztec'' off near [[Vermilion Point]] before he attempted to fight their way to the shelter of [[Whitefish Bay]].<ref name="Wolf, p. 163"/> The battered ''Miztec'' dropped her anchors, swung her [[Bow (ship)|bow]] to the seas, and survived the storm.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 174"/>

When the larger, steel steamer ''Adriatic'' came upon the struggling ''Myron'', she ran alongside ''Myron'' and provided shelter from the smashing waves in the long battle to reach Whitefish Bay. The lookout at the Vermilion Life-saving Station gave the alert when he spotted the laboring ''Myron'' shadowed by ''Adriatic''. Captain McGaw and his Vermilion crew launched their motor powered [[surf boat]] in the raging [[Breaking wave|surf]] and followed ''Myron''.<ref name="Wolf, p. 163"/><ref>Stonehouse, p. 175.</ref>

''Myron'' came to within {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} of [[Whitefish Point Light|Whitefish Point]] when the rising water below deck extinguished her boiler fires. She slipped into a deadly trough and sank to the bottom of Lake Superior within 4 minutes. Although her crew launched her 2 [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]], they were trapped by the surrounding sea boiling with wreckage and lumber. The [[pilothouse]] of ''Myron'' blew off as she sank with Captain Neal still inside. He climbed out the window and clung to the roof.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Wolf, p. 163"/><ref>Stonehouse, pp. 175–176.</ref>

==Rescue efforts==

[[File:Myron crew gravesite.JPG|right|thumb|Gravesite of sailors from the S.S. ''Myron'' at Mission Hill Cemetery]]

''Adriatic'' stayed with ''Myron'' to her end and twice tried to break through the mass of debris to save the [[castaway]]s but was forced to pull away to avoid foundering after touching bottom with both rescue attempts.<ref name="Wolf, p. 163"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 176">Stonehouse, p. 176.</ref>

Captain Lawrence of the {{convert|520|ft|m|0|adj=on}} ''H.P. McIntosh'' decided to try rescuing ''Myron''{{'}}s crew after he witnessed ''Adriatic''{{'}}s failed attempts. He forced his steel steamer through the wreckage field to come close enough to throw lines to ''Myron''{{'}}s crew but they were so numbed by the frigid temperature, they could not grasp the lines with their frozen hands. Captain Lawrence had to pull away for open water to avoid ''H.P. McIntosh''{{'}}s destruction by the mountainous waves in the shallow water.<ref name="Wolf, p. 163"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 176"/>

The Vermilion lifesaving crew arrived at the wreck site after a wild trip but they could not reach ''Myron''{{'}}s crewmen without smashing their small boat in the mass of floating lumber. Captain McGaw calculated that the survivor's lifeboats would be swept down into Whitefish Bay so he rounded Whitefish Point and went {{convert|20|mi|km}} in pitch darkness and heavy seas to Ile Parisienne but found nothing. Lighthouse keeper Robert Carlson reported that the exhausted Vermilion crew arrived at the Whitefish Point dock cut and bleeding from the beating they took by the heavy seas.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref>Wolf, p. 163</ref>

Twenty hours after ''Myron''{{'}}s sinking, Captain Jordon of the steamer ''W.C. Franz'' was upbound out of the [[Soo Locks]] and on the lookout for survivors when he sighted a body moving on wreckage near Ile Parisienne. Captain Jordon launched a lifeboat and rescued a half-dead Captain Neal from the roof of ''Myron''{{'}}s pilothouse. Captain Neal's clothing was frozen to his body and his hands were so swollen that 2 finger rings were not visible but he survived.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 176"/><ref name="Wolff, p. 164">Wolff, p. 164.</ref><ref>Oleszewski, p. 172.</ref>

The rescue of Captain Neal gave hope that others from ''Myron'' survived. [[United States Coast Guard]] [[submarine chaser]] number 438 left Sault Ste. Marie with a double crew searching for survivors but was unsuccessful. Three days after the sinking, a Kingston, Ontario, newspaper cited a Lake Superior adage when it declared, "... Little hope is held out, however that ''Myron'' bodies would wash ashore, unless lashed to wreckage, as the cold lake waters prevent forming of gases, and, it is claimed bodies seldom rise to the surface. It is traditional that 'Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead.'" <ref>Kohl, p. 430.</ref>

All 17 crewmen of ''Myron'' drowned or froze to death in Whitefish Bay.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/> All were recovered wearing life jackets and covered with ice.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 176"/>  A [[tug]] owned by Frank Weston found a boat load of frozen crewmen in Whitefish Bay several days after the sinking.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/> Some crewmen were frozen into grotesque shapes that had to be thawed out next to a roaring fire at a Sault Ste. Marie funeral home.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 176"/> The bodies of five of the crewman were found encased in ice near Whitefish Point in November 1919, but further search for the lost crew was hampered by a heavy snow and sleet storm.<ref>Staff Author</ref> Local residents found eight bodies of ''Myron''{{'}}s crew frozen in the ice near Salt Point on Whitefish Bay the next spring.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/> Dave Parrish and Jay Johnston chopped the sailors from the ice and Simon Johnston buried them in rough boxes made at Evans mill. The sailors rest at the pine covered Mission Hill Cemetery in Bay Mills Township, Michigan overlooking [[Point Iroquois Light|Iroquois Point]] and Whitefish Bay.  Their graves are enclosed by a white fence with a signboard "Sailors of the Steamer ''Myron''" attached to it.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/>

A large [[stern]] section of ''Myron'' washed ashore on the [[Canada|Canadian]] side of Whitefish Bay.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref>Kohl, p. 429.</ref>  All the lumber on the two vessels was lost. ''Myron'' carried {{convert|700000|board feet|m3}} of lumber and ''Miztec'' carried  {{convert|1050000|board feet|m3}} of lumber.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/> The lumber washed ashore for days west of Whitefish Point and in Whitefish Bay, enough lumber to build two small towns.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref>Boyer, pp. 143–144.</ref> The 31-year-old ''Myron'' was valued at $45,000.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Wolff, p. 164"/>

==Criminal charges==

In press interviews, ''Myron''{{'}}s Captain Neal leveled criminal charges against the captains of ''Adriatic'' and ''H.P. McIntosh'' that prompted an investigation of many months by United States marine inspectors.<ref name="Wolff, p. 164"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 177">Stonehouse, p. 177.</ref> At a special [[Steamboat Inspection Service]] hearing, Captain Neal stated: <blockquote>I was clinging to the roof of the pilothouse when the ''McIntosh'' hailed me shortly after the ''Myron'' went down from under me. The ''McIntosh'' drew alongside me, not more than {{convert|16|ft|m}} away. Although it was dusk, the ship was so close that I had no difficulty in making out her name. I talked to the captain and expected that he would put out a [[yawl]] and pick me up. He did not do so, nor attempt in any way to help me. 'I will have a boat sent for you,' the captain of the ''McIntosh'' called. And he drew away. I have never seen him since, nor do I ever want to see him by the great hokey, pokey.<ref name="Stonehouse, p. 177"/>  </blockquote>

The Steamboat Inspection Service revoked the licenses of the masters of ''Adriatic'' and ''H.P. McIntosh'' for life. The marine community considered the verdict a gross injustice against the masters who risked their lives, their crews, and their vessels in efforts to rescue ''Myron'' in the treacherous shallows off Whitefish Point. It is probable that the verdict was reversed but there are no available records to confirm this.<ref name="Wolff, p. 164"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 177"/>

==Wreck history==

John Steele and Tom Farnquist (Executive Director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS)) discovered ''Myron''{{'}}s wreck in 1972, in {{convert|45|to|50|ft|m}} of water, about {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} from Whitefish Point, at {{coord|46|48.463|N|85|01.646|W}} <ref name="Stonehouse, p. 177"/><ref>Harrington, p. 327.</ref><ref name="Shumbarger, p. 7">Shumbarger, p. 7.</ref> Steel and Farnquist salvaged the anchor from ''Myron'' and donated it to the [[Steamship Valley Camp|Museum Ship Valley Camp]] in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Kohl, p. 432">Kohl, p. 432.</ref> The GLSHS later positively identified the wreck in 1982, when they salvaged the builder's plate and other artifacts from ''Myron'' for display in the [[Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum]] at Whitefish Point.<ref name="Shumbarger, p. 7"/> Michigan's Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands. The ''Evening News'' reported a [[Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment]] 1992 raid on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and its offices that found evidence of 150 artifacts illegally removed from the state-claimed bottomlands, including artifacts from ''Myron''.<ref>Storey, p. A1.</ref> Following a settlement agreement with the GLSHS, an axe, double sheave block, signs, a valve, steering wheel, steam whistle, lumber hook, open-end wrenches, a soup bowl, an oiler, and a block pulley from ''Myron'' are now the property of the State of Michigan. ''Myron''{{'}}s artifacts are on loan to the GLSHS for display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

''Myron''{{'}}s remains are shattered by surf and ice but she is a popular site for [[scuba divers]].<ref name="Gerred, p. 3"/><ref name="Stonehouse, p. 177"/><ref name="Kohl, p. 432"/> Her [[bow (ship)|bow]] sits upright draped with anchor chains. A large [[anchor windlass|windlass]] lies just off her bow. The boiler and engine sit off her port side, a metal [[capstan (nautical)|capstan]] is on the stern, most of her midsection is disintegrated, the [[keel]] is mostly buried, and the enormous, four-bladed propeller sits upright.<ref name="Kohl, p. 432"/><ref>Harrington, p. 328.</ref>

''Myron''{{'}}s wreck site is protected for future generations of [[scuba divers]] by the [[Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve]] as part of an underwater museum. Divers who visit the wreck sites are expected to observe preservation laws and "take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but bubbles".<ref>Michigan Department of Environmental Quality</ref> Great Lakes diver Harrington cautions that "divers must be certain of their abilities and equipment" when diving the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve. ''Miztec'' sank in 1921, and came to rest near her longtime companion, ''Myron'', to be together forever.<ref>Harrington, pp. 321–322.</ref><ref>Wolf, p. 170.</ref>

==See also==

* [[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=26em}} <!-- in other words, "dump the footnotes here" -->

==References==
* {{cite book| last= Boyer | first = Dwight| title= Great Stories of the Great Lakes: Thrilling Tales of Tragedy, Humor, and Heroism| publisher = Freshwater Press, Inc. | year=  1996| location = Cleveland, Ohio| isbn = 0-912514-49-3}}
* {{cite journal | last = Gerred | first = Janice | title = 1919 Storm Sinks the Myron | journal = The Great Lakes Shipwreck Quarterly | volume = 1| issue = 3 | publisher = Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society|date=Winter 1981 | pages = 7 }}
* {{cite book | last= Harrington | first= Steve | title= Divers Guide to Michigan | publisher= Maritime Press & Great Lakes Diving Council, Inc. | orig-year= 1990 | year= 1996 | location= St. Ignace, Michigan  | isbn= 0-9624629-8-5 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/diversguidetomic0000harr }}
* {{cite book| last= Kohl | first = Cris| title= The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks, Volume II | publisher = Seawolf Communications, Inc. | year=  1998| location = West Chicago, Illinois | isbn = 0-9681437-3-3}}
* {{cite web |last = Michigan Department of Environmental Quality |author-link = Michigan Department of Environmental Quality |title=Michigan Shipwrecks|url=http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3313_3677_3701-14514--,00.html |accessdate=2008-04-21}}
* {{cite book| last= Oleszewski | first = Wes| title= Mysteries and Histories: Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes | publisher = Avery Color Studios | year=  1997| location = Marquette, Michigan| isbn = 0-932212-92-1}}
* {{cite journal | last = Shumbarger | first = Gary | title = Wreck Identified | journal = The Great Lakes Shipwreck Quarterly | volume = 2| issue = 2 | publisher = Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society | year=  1982 | pages = 7 }}
* {{cite web |title=Victims of Myron Disaster Picked Up |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/chippewa/newspapers/identify35nnw.txt |publisher=[[Ironwood Daily Globe]]|accessdate=2012-01-12}}
* {{cite book| last= Stonehouse | first = Frederick| title= Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast: Maritime Accidents from Whitefish Point to Grand Marais, Michigan| publisher = Avery Color Studios | year=  1973| location = Gwinn, Michigan| isbn = 0-932212-43-3}}
* {{cite book| last= Stonehouse | first = Frederick| title= The Great Wrecks of the Great Lakes: A directory of the shipwrecks of Lake Superior| publisher = The Book Concern, Printer | year=  1973| location = Hancock, Michigan| lccn = 73-75623}}
* {{cite journal | last = Storey | first = Jack | title = Shipwreck artifact dispute simmers | journal = [[The Evening News (Sault Ste. Marie)|The Evening News]] |location= Sault Ste. Marie, MI | date= 4 December 1992 | url = http://hermes.lssu.edu/~library| pages = Al }}
* {{cite web | last = Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary  | title = Vessel Database – Mark Hopkins| publisher = Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library| year = 2007 | url = http://www.greatlakesships.org/vesselview.aspx?id=67967| accessdate =  2009-08-29}}
* {{cite book| last= Wolff | first = Julius| title= The Shipwrecks of Lake Superior| publisher = Lake Superior Marine Museum Association, Inc. | orig-year=  1979| year=  1990| location = Duluth, Minnesota| id = {{Listed Invalid ISBN|0-932212-18-8}}}}

==External links==
* [http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/tsphoto/chippewa/missionhill.htm Mission Hill Cemetery Sailors of the S.S. ''Myron'']

{{1919 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myron}}
[[Category:1888 ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States]]
[[Category:Lumber schooners]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1919]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Superior]]
[[Category:Ships built in Michigan]]
[[Category:Schooners of the United States]]
[[Category:Steam barges]]
[[Category:Wreck diving sites]]