SS ''Isaac M. Scott'' was an American

Great Lakes freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

that sank during the

Great Lakes Storm of 1913 The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (historically referred to as the "Big Blow", the "Freshwater Fury", and the "White Hurricane") was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and ...

in Lake Huron, northeast of Thunder Bay Island (), while she was traveling from

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with a cargo of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. She is tied with two other vessels ( and ) for the deadliest shipwreck during the

Construction and description

''Isaac M. Scott'' was built in 1909 at the American Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Lorain,

, United States and launched on 12 June 1909. She was completed on 2 July 1909. The vessel was named for the president of the La Belle Iron Works, she served from 12 July 1909 until her demise on 11 November 1913. The ship was long, with a beam of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . The ship was assessed at . She had a

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up ...

driving a single screw propeller. At the time of her completion the ''

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'' called her "One of the handsomest of the large freighters on the great lakes."

Maiden voyage disaster

''Isaac M. Scott''s maiden voyage was marred by tragedy. At 4:00 AM on 12 July 1909, while traveling northwest about off the

Whitefish Point Whitefish Point is a cape of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, United States, marking the entry point of Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of Paradise, Michigan. Whitefish Point is known for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, i ...

lighthouse in a dense fog, ''Isaac M. Scott'' rammed . ''John B. Cowle'' sank within a few minutes taking 14 of her 24 crewmen with her to the bottom. The survivors were picked up by ''Isaac M. Scott'' and taken back to port. ''Isaac M. Scott'' suffered damage to about 25 plates, which cost $30,000 in repairs. In March 1910, the Virginia Steamship Company settled claims filed by relatives of men lost in the sinking of ''John B. Cowle'' in the amount of $20,000. Following an investigation and hearings, the United States Steamboat Inspectors at Marquette suspended Captain Rogers of ''John B. Cowle'', as well as its pilot, Edward E. Carlton, for 30 days. They further ruled that both ships had been sailing too fast for the weather conditions, and that ''John B. Cowle'' had failed to properly signal. F. W. Wertheimer, who had been piloting ''Isaac M. Scott'' that day, was subsequently beached for one year.

Great Lakes Storm of 1913 and sinking

In the pre-dawn hours of 9 November 1913, ''Isaac M. Scott'', loaded with a cargo of coal worth $22,000 bound for

, United States left Port Huron,

, Ohio, United States for the last time. She was one of several big freighters that passed out of the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

into Lake Huron and straight into the path of the deadliest storm in the

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history. Captain A. McArthur had been

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of ''Isaac M. Scott'' since her maiden voyage back in 1909 and sailed with 27 other men on ''Isaac M. Scott''s last voyage. On 9 November 1913 at around 10:30 a.m. ''H. B. Hawgood'' was running before the storm when they spotted ''Isaac M. Scott'', still heading north and making heavy weather of it, off Tawas Point,

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, just hours before the brunt of the storm struck. When communication was restored and newspapers began carrying accounts of the storm ''Isaac M. Scott'' was only listed as missing. The body of Captain McArthur washed up at

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, Canada on 11 December 1913, still wearing his life preserver. One of her

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

was found north of the Chantrey Island lighthouse, off Southampton, Ontario. All 28 crew members perished in the disaster. The sinking of ''Isaac M. Scott'' resulted in increased efforts by the U.S. Weather Bureau toward better weather forecasting and more rapid communication of storm warnings. ''Isaac M. Scott'' was one of twelve vessels lost during the

. A storm described in the book ''Lore of the Lakes'', as "The most disastrous that has ever swept our Great Lakes, both from loss of life and property this unprecedented." The storm of heavy snow, bitter cold winds and frightening high waves took the lives of an estimated 235 mariners, 178 of which were lost on Lake Huron alone. The ''Isaac M. Scott'' was almost identical to the S.S Charles S. Price, another vessel lost in the great storm of 1913. https://libraries.udmercy.edu/archives/special-collections/index.php?collectionCode=bulletins_bul&record_id=402&collectionCode=gls

Wreck

''Isaac M. Scott'' remained missing for 63 years. Located by divers in 1976 about off Northpoint,

, she rests upside down and is half buried in mud under of water with her nose still pointed into the storm. The wreck contains evidence that it was likely swamped by a large

rogue wave Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to lar ...

resulting in the ship rolling over and sinking almost instantly. Her final resting place is now part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve. The wreck lies at ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac M. Scott Great Lakes freighters 1909 ships Maritime incidents in 1913 Shipwrecks of Lake Huron Ships built in Lorain, Ohio Ships lost with all hands Wreck diving sites in the United States November 1913 events Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary