''Minnedosa'' was a four-masted wooden

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

launched in 1890. This was late in the era of sailing ships and it spent its career as a barge, towed by a steam tug. It was lost with its nine crew and passengers and a heavy load of grain in a storm October 20, 1905 on

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

.Constance M. Jerlecki, ''Sailing Into Disaster: Ghost Ships and other Mysterious Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes'', Inland Expressions, 2017 , pages 53-63

Construction and career

The ''Minnedosa'' was constructed by the Montreal Transportation Company and was one of 41 ships ordered for Great Lakes service. It was launched at

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

on April 26, 1890, and was put into commercial service two days later, April 28. At 250 feet long, 36 foot beam and 15 foot depth, it was the largest Canadian-built sailing vessel on the Great Lakes. It had a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of 1315 and a net tonnage of 1041. The ship spent its entire working career as a "consort barge", towed by a steamship or a tug. This practice allowed more cargo to be moved at a slight cost in lowered speed and increased manpower. Consort barges were made obsolete by larger steel freighters. The ''Minnedosa'' was mostly used to move grain across the Great Lakes to Kingston. It was often paired with the . In 1892 while in the

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

the ''Minnedosa'' was damaged when the packet freighter ''Arabian'' struck a lock. Later that year the ''Minnedosa's''

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

was injured by waves on the deck. In 1894 through 1898 the ship was towed by the steamers ''Algonquin'', ''Glengarry'' and . In 1903 the masts were cut down, making ''Minnedosa'' a barge.

Last voyage

''Minnedosa'' took on 75,000 bushels of wheat at

Fort William, Ontario Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since th ...

on October 18, 1905. Along with the steamer ''Westmount'' and the barge ''Melrose'', it departed across

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

in tow for Kingston under the command of Captain John Phillips. The steamer was connected to the ''Minnedosa'' which in turn had a cable towing the ''Melrose''. The three ships passed through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie early on October 19 and passed

De Tour, Michigan DeTour Village ( ) is a village in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 325 at the 2010 census. The village is at the extreme eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Detour Township, at the turning poin ...

that evening, then entered

where a strong wind was blowing with snow falling. The captain of the ''Westmount'', Alexander Milligan, directed the ships across

Saginaw Bay Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area. It is located in part ...

. Late on the evening of October 20, the ''Minnedosa'' abruptly disappeared as the ships neared Harbor Beach. The crew aboard the barge ''Melrose'' recovered the tow cable and observed it had been cut; the ''Melrose'' was adrift. Captain Milligan turned ''Westmount'' and began to search for the two consort barges. The ''Westmount's'' crew discovered the towing post of the ''Minnedosa'' still attached to the cable when they pulled it on board. It was later discovered that there were axe marks on the post, possibly meaning a crew of the doomed vessel chopped it off to save the Melrose. There was no trace found of the ''Minnedosa'' or its occupants, and the ''Melrose'' was taken back in tow at 5 AM October 21, making a safe arrival at Harbor Beach that afternoon. This same storm wrecked at least eleven ships, and damaged about 12 others, on the Great Lakes that day, with loss of several crews. The ''Westmount'' and '' Melrose'' arrived at Kingston on October 26, 1905. Loss of the ''Minnedosa'' was attributed to its heavy load and storm damage, resulting in its taking on water. The wreckage of the ''Minnedosa'' was located in 1993, sixteen miles from Harbor Beach at a depth of . The deep water wreck can be inspected by properly equipped divers.http://michigandiver.blogspot.ca/2014/07/diving-minnedosa-mighty-minnedosa.html ''Diving Mighty Minnedosa'', retrieved August 7, 2017

References

{{Recreational dive sites, wresit 1890 ships Merchant ships of Canada Barges of Canada Maritime incidents in 1905 Shipwrecks of Lake Huron Schooner barges Great Lakes freighters Ships built in Kingston, Ontario Wreck diving sites

Construction and career

Last voyage

See also

References