" Sea Stories" Pt. 2, "City of Bangor Wreck "

rocky · Unread post by **rocky** » January 28, 2016, 12:22 am

Looks like 1939 or 40 ford sedans.

captrmetz · Unread post by **captrmetz** » January 28, 2016, 12:09 am

I talked to a diver friend of mine and he said while diving around Horse Shoe Bay in the Keweenaw he found a car in the rocks about 120 ft of water. From the Bangor

Jon Paul · Unread post by **Jon Paul** » January 27, 2016, 6:01 pm

Here are a few views of lakers from my collection with a deck load of cars that lost some overboard.
The only boat that my photo's identify is the W W. Atterbury which is the third down. The notes on the back of the photo of it indicate that many of the cars were lost the next day on Lake Huron.
Maybe someone with a more extensive research capabilities like William Lafferty can assist us in some more information...please?

captrmetz · Unread post by **captrmetz** » January 26, 2016, 11:04 pm

She carried cars in her cargo holds plus her deck. Mataafa was 430 ft long.

Guest · Unread post by **Guest** » January 26, 2016, 9:31 pm

I can't believe all those cars came off a 450 ft ship though?

Alex · Unread post by **Alex** » January 26, 2016, 8:03 pm

Very well written Captain, a gripping story. You certainly did justice representing the captain, chief and crew.

Scout · Unread post by **Scout** » January 26, 2016, 7:58 pm

I too enjoy "Sea "Stories". Very well done Captain Metz, thank you sir.

Guest · Unread post by **Guest** » January 25, 2016, 9:30 pm

Great story and beautifully written ! Thanks for sharing it with us !

captrmetz · Unread post by **captrmetz** » January 25, 2016, 9:05 pm

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. Then I heard a sound of a motor boat. I could not believe it was a rescue boat because it was coming from the wrong way heading for Copper Harbor. The motor boat had seen us and I said thank God we are saved and just in time. The motor boat came in closer and I noticed a few men in the boat. Finally when the boat got closer a crew member from the USCG shouted over a blow horn that we should make a big bonfire and he would come back for us that he had a crew from another shipwreck aboard. I shouted okay we will be waiting. So we built a huge bonfire; the dead trees were plentiful to make a fire with. I told the crew to settle down around the fire and I figured it world be about a four hour wait for the rescue boat to return to pick us up. We all felt anxious for the boat return but when the four hours were up and no sign of the boat. I wonder where they were. The NW wind started to really pick up and my hopes for a rescue started to fade. The wind changed direction to NE and it started to snow heavily. I sadly told the men we would have to wait till morning to get rescued. Some wanted to start walking but I said no with this heavy snow no one will make it to Copper Harbor. It was a long night. Hours passed like days and we kept the fire going all night finally I saw the faint light of dawn approaching but the snow and cold wind kept blowing. I sadly told the men because of the bad weather we would not be rescued. They all took the news hard. Some men started crying and moaning with pain; there hands and feet were frostbitten and they were hungry. It had been two days since we had food to eat. We tried to make the injured as comfortable as we could by re-tieing the blankets around their legs, feet, and hands. We had to stay another cold and snowy night in the Keweenaw. The next day we waited for rescue with hope we would not have to spend another night in the cold and when our hopes started to dim we heard the motor of the rescue boat. What a pleasant sound. The boat pulled along side of the ice and we helped the frozen crew aboard ready to set off for Copper Harbor. When we saw the houses nestled in the snow it was a great feeling. Copper Harbor was a small village and not to many people stayed the winter. We saw the rescue boat was slowing down in front of a white house. After the boat was tied up, the people in the house came out to help the crew get moved inside to a warm fireplace with food to eat. The house and hospitality belonged to the Burgs. Most of the exhausted fell asleep as soon as they were made comfortable. The Burgs did not have enough food for their unexpected guests but they had two pigs in the barn which they butchered to feed the men. Those two pigs were to be there winter supply of food but they knew the rescued men needed to eat. The Bergs fed and housed the 28 rescued men for nearly two weeks exhausting their entire winter store of food. T. L. Dorocher Shipping Co. paid Mr. Burg a mere $11.16 for his generosity. Dr. Andrew C. Rocher came to Copper Harbor to transport the City Of Banger crew to a hospital in Laurium for medical attention After the hospital visit the company made arrangement for the crew to go back home minus a few toes and fingers from frostbite. Some of the crew were hospitalize for two months because of their injures.
The company sent some of the owners of the City of Bangor out to the wreck site and with one look at the wreck they deemed it a total loss and left. As the winter got colder a salvage company plowed a road to the wreck site on the shore of Lake Superior to reach the wreck. They built a ramp alongside the ship to drive the cars off the ramp on to the lake ice. They put gasoline into the cars and all but a few started right away and were driven, in a line toward Copper Harbor. When all cars were off the ship they drove them on the ice coverd lake to Copper Harbor all but about 23 cars that had fallen over board. When the road was plowed from Copper Harbor to Mohawk they drove the cars to Calumet and when spring came they loaded the automobiles into railroad cars and took them back to Detroit for refurbishing. I quit sailing for one year but then I went back and sailed until my retirement. Each time that I would pass the wreck site I could make out the rusty hull of the once proud City of Bangor and my eyes would turn into slits remembering that terrible suffering and pain that the crew had to endure. The City of Bangor did not fare too good. The wreckage lay there where she ran aground for 18 long years, until WWII when she was scrapped for the war effort. Today there are still pieces of iron and inside boiler insulation pieces laying all over the beach. The beach is quiet now with seagulls trying to find a meal from scraps of left overs that campers may have left behind not knowing what a tragedy happened over eighty years ago.
Captain W.J. Mackin was played by me because I have sailed the same ships as he did the City of Bangor was 445 ft long my ship was 550 ft long with the same steam engine a 1800 HP triple expansion built in 1905, full speed at 8.5 kts with a tail wind. I also experience the many problems he did like losing my steering gear not once but twice. The only difference was I lost mine in good weather. I have turned ships around in heavy winds and seas. I feel we would never know how he felt and exactly what he did but I think I knew what he did because I would have done the same.
Thank you,
Author Capt. R. Metz
City of Bangor crew
all survivors
Captain William Makin
Theodore Dehlin
Glen Goodwin
Harold Hartway
Walter Pesenmecker
Lester Peterson
Robert Olson
Gerald Petty
A.V. Watson
Mike Wenta