SS Henry B. Smith

The SS Henry B. Smith was a steel-hulled lake freighter built in 1906 by the American Ship Building Company at Lorain, Ohio USA. The steamship was owned by the Acme Transit Company of Lorain, Ohio, under the management of William A. Hawgood. The hull number was 343 and the registration number was US203143.

Henry B. Smith
History
 United States
Name: Henry B. Smith
Operator:
  • Acme Transit Company
  • (William A. Hawgood, Mgr.)
  • Cleveland, Ohio
Builder:
Yard number: 343
Launched: May 2, 1906
Completed: May 20, 1906
Fate: Foundered and sunk November 10, 1913
Notes: United States Registry #203143
General characteristics
Class and type: Bulk freighter
Tonnage:
  • 6631 gross
  • 5229 net
Length:
  • 545 ft (166 m) LOA
  • 525 ft (160 m) LBP
Beam: 55 ft (17 m)
Height: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Installed power: 2 x Scotch marine boilers
Propulsion: Triple expansion steam engine
Crew: 25

The Henry B. Smith was 545 feet in length, 55 feet in width, and 31 feet in height. The gross tonnage for the vessel was 6,631, and the net tonnage was 5,229. The engine was a triple-expansion type. She was named for Henry B. Smith (1849-1918), a prominent lumberman who was managing owner of the Ludington Woodenware Company in Ludington, Michigan.

The ship foundered and was lost in Lake Superior near Marquette, Michigan, on 9 or 10 November 1913 during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. She was carrying a load of iron ore at the time of her sinking. All 25 crew members died in the sinking, and only two bodies were retrieved from the lake.

The wreck was discovered in 2013, one hundred years after she disappeared.

Last voyage

The Smith arrived at Marquette on November 6 to take on iron ore. Over the next two days a southwest gale swept over Lake Superior, dropping the temperature to 24 degrees Fahrenheit. The cold weather caused the ore to freeze inside the hopper cars, requiring men to knock the material loose by hand. This resulted in a loading delay for the Smith. Captain James Owen had been plagued by misfortunes all year that had resulted in the Smith being delayed or late for its destinations. Rumors abounded, then and now, that the owners of the boat made it clear to Owen that he better make this last trip on time, or else.[1]

At approximately 5 p.m. on November, the ship was loaded with the final car of iron ore. Fierce winds picked up after the ship left harbor. It had a total of 32 hatches which would have still been opened when the full force of the storm hit the ship. Observers from shore saw deckhands attempting to close the hatches. The ship turned towards Keweenaw Point for shelter but was lost from view from people on the shore. Debris from the ship was found two days later along the beaches of Chocolay Bay, Shot Point, and Laughing Whitefish Point.[2]

A note in a bottle, allegedly from the Smith, was found in June 1914. In it, the author claimed the ship had broken in two 12 miles east of Marquette. After a long debate, the boat's owners decided the note was a phony; it was dated 12 November, when the Smith sank either on the 9th or the early morning hours of the 10th.

Wreck located in 2013

The wreck was located in May 2013 by shipwreck hunters.[3] The ship lies in 535 feet (163 m) of water off of Marquette.[3] Video the following month confirmed this wreck to be the Henry B. Smith.[4]

References
  1. Stonehouse, Frederick (1977). Went Missing: The Henry B. Smith. Marquette Shipwrecks. Avery Color Studios.
  2. "The freighter SS Henry B. Smith". ABC 10 News. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. Krueger, Andrew (8 June 2013). "100 years after ore boat disappeared in Lake Superior storm, searchers locate wreck". Duluth News Tribune.
  4. Krueger, Andrew (1 July 2013). "Video confirms wreck is freighter Henry B. Smith: New video taken more than 500 feet beneath the surface of Lake Superior confirms that a shipwreck discovered earlier this year is indeed the long-lost freighter Henry B. Smith". Duluth News Tribune.

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