Sea Stories The wreck of the City of Bangor Pt.2

[captrmetz]

We started heading for Keweenaw Point just 15 miles away. When we passed Copper Harbor I said I wish we could anchor in the harbor but with such a big sea and wind we would never make it. I looked at the Copper Harbor Light House as we passed by and I saw two red flags flying. I said 'my God, storm warnings are up.' I looked at the barometer and it dropped like a rock. I thought we are really in for a good blow but I only had 8 more miles to go before we were in the lee of Keweenaw Peninsula and could anchor and wait out the storm. I know we all wanted to get to Duluth so we could go back home but that was not to be. Mother Nature had her own ideas. Then the most terrifying scream I ever heard came from the wheelsman, Hugh Luxton. 'Capt, she is not answering to the rudder." I turned around and grabbed the helm from Hugh and I spun the wheel and she kept on spinning. We have lost our steering! I yelled to Hugh, 'Get below and get Harry Nicholson and go back to the stern and use the emergency steering wheel.' I did not have to tell the wheelsmen what a predicament we were in; they knew. I called the engine room and said 'Chief, we lost our steering!' He said, 'I will check' and a minute later he told me that the shaft between the steering motor and the rudder was broken and could not be fixed. I told him I had sent two wheelsmen back to the emergency wheel and to give them some help! Without steering I put the chadburm on stop engine. The weather was getting worse with higher winds and 18 foot seas hitting our side and coming over the deck with snow and turning to ice. The men on the emergency wheel could not move the wheel; it had not been in use for years maybe since 1896. I ordered the men off the deck and into the windless room to drop the port anchor hoping the head would turn into the wind but we were in about 500 feet of water and with 90 feet of anchor chain she just dragged the anchor. I had the feeling all was lost. I blew the steam whistle hoping someone would hear our distress signal. I ordered the crew on deck to lower the life boats. Hugh was back in the wheelhouse and the ship lost speed and we were in the deadly trough rocking back and forth, beam to beam. Uncontrollable. Hugh said capt the cars are getting loose and the tie downs are beginning to snap. I turned to look and saw one of my shinny cars turn sideways. Another roll and she was half way off the deck then the car fell over the side and plunged into the water. Its front end began to go under as it banged its way along the side of the ship. Finally she sank. Lake Superior claimed her first victim as she would claim 19 more victims then in time claim the City of Bangor. Only the outside cars were tied down and then I saw two more cars go over the side plunging into that wild sea. For a moment they stayed afloat but then they headed for the bottom of Lake Superior 500 feet below to their icy grave forever; never to see the sun again or a highway. But the cars were not my main problem. Nothing I could do about the cars now, it was the safety of the ship and the crew that I had to worry about. I looked at the shore line and thought surely we would land there. At the shoreline it was rocky and the ship was still moving ahead so I rang up slow a stern. I kept moving the ship a head or astern to keep her lined up with the beach. Finally, the gale pushed the ship aground and I heard the dreaded sound of steel against rock. To a captain that sound was a sickening sound. We were about 8 miles from Copper Harbor and within seventy five yards from shore. With the storm raging and waves washing over our decks I decided the crew and I would have to spend the night aboard the ship and wait until morning to try to get a life boat ashore. The next morning the storm abated so I ordered the crew to chop the ice away from the ice encased life boats and lower them into the water and abandon the ship. Once ashore it felt good to be on land again but it was still cold and snowing so we all helped build a huge fire to keep warm and remain together for our rescue. Again the weather turned bad and more snow fell over the Kewneenaw. The chief and I, with a small crew, rowed the life boat back out to the wreck for food and more clothing, Once aboard we found out that the ship was full of water and breaking up fast. I ran to the pilot house and grabbed the ships log book, put it inside my coat and returned to the life boat and rowed back to shore with a few blankets. 'We can't stay here,' I said, 'there might not be a rescue. It is better if we walked out of here and find a trail to Copper Harbor which is only eight miles away.' We started walking in the direction of what I thought was Copper Harbor, mistaking the layout of the land, I realized we were lost so we retraced our steps back to the wreck site. Totally unprepared for this ordeal the crew had now become subjected to hunger and severe frostbite. The blankets we had brought from the wreck, we torn up to wrap our legs and feet to help protect them from the cold. Most of the crew only wore oxford shoes because this trip was only supposed to be a trip of 48 hour so not many men brought with them warm clothing. We got back to the wreck site and rebuilt our fire and all huddled around it for warmth. The next morning with no rescue party in site we once again set out walking to Copper Harbor but this time finding no trail or roads from our last walk I decided we should follow the lake shore around to Copper Harbor. The snow was so deep, three feet in places, it was very hard going. I stopped and took out the log book because it was weighing me down. I looked for a spot and I found a hugh fallen tree stump so I laid the log book under the stump and covered it with logs and left it there. The officers and I had to keep the men going. We helped those who had fallen get back up and spoke encouragement to them, saying it was only around the next bend - you can make it. That next bend was Horseshoe Harbor still five miles to go. I almost gave up hope and let the strongest continue the journey on foot to Copper Harbor and them to bring back a rescue crew.