SS John V. Moran

SS ''John V. Moran'' was a wooden-hulled American package freighter in service between 1888 and 1899. She was built in 1888 in West Bay City, Michigan, by F.W. Wheeler & Company. She was built for Ward's Crescent Transportation Company of Detroit, Michigan, and was operated as part of his Detroit & Lake Superior Line. She was built to haul both bulk, and package freight. Throughout the 1893 shipping season, ''John V. Moran'' ran between Buffalo, New York, and Duluth, Minnesota. She was sold for the first time in 1895 to the Union Transit Line of Buffalo, and once again in 1898 to the Crosby Transportation Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

On February 9, 1899, ''John V. Moran'' was bound from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan, with a cargo of barreled flour and various package goods, when a piece of ice cut a hole in her hull, causing water to leak in on Lake Michigan. Her crew alerted the nearby steamer ''Naomi'' using ''John V. Moran''s whistle. Three of ''John V. Moran''s crew walked across the ice to ''Naomi''. Upon receiving the crew of ''John V. Moran'', ''Naomi'' headed over to ''John V. Moran'' and removed the rest of her crew. On February 10, ''Naomi'' took ''John V. Moran'' in tow, but she was leaking too badly to make it to Muskegon. On the morning of February 11, ''John V. Moran''s crew walked back to her across the ice in order to retrieve everything of value on board. Her crew arrived at Grand Haven, Michigan, the following night. The ''John V. Moran'' was still afloat on February 12, having been sighted by the ferry ''Muskegon'' who was on her way to Muskegon. She sank without loss of life the same day.

The wreck of ''John V. Moran'' was discovered on July 8, 2015, more than 116 years after her sinking, by the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, who called her "the most intact steamship wreck on the bottom of Lake Michigan, if not all of the Great Lakes".

History

Design and construction

''John V. Moran'' (US official number 76748) was built in 1888 in West Bay City, Michigan, by F.W. Wheeler & Company. ''John V. Moran'' was the last of three sister ships built between 1886 and 1888. Her sister ships were ''William H. Stevens'' (1886) and ''Eber Ward'' (1888).

Her wooden hull was long, wide and deep. She had a gross tonnage of 1350.38 tons and a net tonnage of 1035.26 tons.

She was powered by a two- cylinder 82 rpm fore and aft compound steam engine; the cylinders of the engine were and in diameter, and had a stroke of . Steam for the engine was produced by a single × Scotch marine boiler. The engine was manufactured by Samuel F. Hodge & Company in Detroit, Michigan, while the boiler was manufactured by the Lake Erie Boiler Works in Buffalo, New York. She was propelled by a single fixed pitch propeller. It was in diameter, and had an 11 inch (27.9 cm) pitch.

''John V. Moran'' was a combination of a bulk freighter and a package freighter, built to carry both bulk (e.g. iron ore, coal) and package freight (e.g. flour). As such, she had cargo hatches in her deck, and her sides. Her hull was reinforced with iron plates for winter transit.

Service history

Launched on August 16, 1888, she was hull number 44. She was built for Ward's Crescent Transportation Company, and was operated as part of Ward's Detroit & Lake Superior Line, both of Detroit. Detroit was her first home port, where she was enrolled at on the same day she was launched. She entered service later in August. She was retrofitted with double hoists for loading cargo in 1891. ''John V. Moran'' was transferred to the Crescent Transportation Company. During the 1893 shipping season, ''John V. Moran'' ran between Buffalo, New York, and Duluth, Minnesota. She was sold to the Union Transit Company of Buffalo.

On May 7, 1896, ''John V. Moran'' ran aground near Sailors' Encampment in the St. Marys River at about 5:00p.m. Her navigation lights were on, and her crew were endeavouring to free her. ''John V. Moran'' signaled to a tug for assistance, but the signals were mistaken by the downbound bulk freighter ''Maurice B. Grover'' for a "hurry-up signal". ''Maurice B. Grover'' initially tried to pass by ''John V. Moran''s stern, unsuccessfully, and instead tried to head past her bow. However, instead of safely passing ''John V. Moran'', ''Maurice B. Grover'' rammed ''John V. Moran'' amidships at 7:00p.m. ''John V. Moran''s owners libeled ''Maurice B. Grover''. The case was tried at the Utica, New York by the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. Judge Alfred Conkling Coxe Sr. exonerated ''Maurice B. Grover'', claiming that ''John V. Moran'' was at fault, as she did not give any danger signals prior to the collision. ''John V. Moran'' was repaired in Superior, Wisconsin, in June of that year.

In November 1898, ''John V. Moran'' was sold to the Crosby Transportation Company of Milwaukee, and ran between the Wisconsin ports of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and the Michigan ports of Muskegon, and Grand Haven.

Final voyage

''John V. Moran'' left Milwaukee for Muskegon, on February 9, 1899, at 1:00p.m., loaded with barrels of flour and miscellaneous cargo. At around midnight, while travelling through an ice field, a piece of ice punctured her hull, causing a serious leak. Captain John McLeod ordered that a significant amount of her cargo to be jettisoned in an attempt to keep ''John V. Moran'' afloat. ''John V. Moran''s crew used her whistle to alert the nearby steamer ''Naomi''. Three of ''John V. Moran''s crew began walking towards ''Naomi''. ''Naomi''s crew noticed the lights of the three crewmen and picked them up. Afterwards, she headed over to ''John V. Moran'', picking up the remainder of her crew. On the morning of February 10, ''Naomi'' took ''John V. Moran'' in tow, as she was still afloat. Although ''Naomi'' managed to tow ''John V. Moran'' a few miles nearer to Muskegon, she was eventually abandoned as the crew realised that she would not be able to survive the whole journey. ''John V. Moran''s crew walked back over the ice to her, in order to retrieve their belongings. On the morning of February 12, the car ferry ''Muskegon'' which was headed for Muskegon, passed ''John V. Moran'', still afloat.

Ten years after ''John V. Moran'' sank, her sister ship, ''Eber Ward'' was also sunk by ice on Lake Michigan.

Wreck

Discovery

The Michigan Shipwreck Research Association of Holland, Michigan, began searching for ''John V. Moran'' at the beginning of June 2015. Despite the patchy newspaper reports from 1899, they were able to narrow down the search area to a 10 square mile (25.9 km²) grid system. At 3:30 A.M. on June 5, the side-scan sonar picked up a shipwreck. Initially the shipwreck hunters were unsure whether or not the wreck was ''John V. Moran''. Due to the extreme depth of the wreck, sending a diver down to investigate the wreck would have been extremely difficult. On July 8, the team invited Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Unit to investigate the wreck. They sent down a remotely operated vehicle to capture footage in order to identify the wreck. Upon reaching the wreck, the team were able to
quickly identify it as ''John V. Moran'' when they compared the fully intact wreck seen on the footage captured by the remotely operated vehicle to a historic image of ''John V. Moran''.

''John V. Moran'' today

The wreck of ''John V. Moran'' rests upright and remarkably intact in of water. Her pilothouse is intact, her mast, with rigging, is still in place and there is still glass in her windows. Her anchors and all of her railings remain in place. The only piece of her wreck that appears to be missing is her funnel. The remotely operated vehicle also located a hole in the starboard side of ''John V. Moran''s hull, and some minor damage at her port bow. Her discoverers called her "the most intact steamship wreck on the bottom of Lake Michigan, if not all of the Great Lakes".

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:John V. Moran, SS
1888 ships
Maritime incidents in 1899
Shipwrecks of the Michigan coast
2015 archaeological discoveries
Ships built in Bay City, Michigan
Maritime incidents in 1896
Ships sunk with no fatalities
Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan
Package freighters
Wreck diving sites in the United States