SS ''John A. McGean'' was a steamship that operated on the

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 lak ...

in the early 1900s until she sank in 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 ...

. ''John A. McGean'' was built in 1908 by the

American Shipbuilding Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the World War II, Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed ...

at their shipyard in Lorain, Ohio. She 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 , and measured 5,100 gross register tons. On November 7 or 9, 1913, ''John A. McGean'' was sailing into the Great Storm when she was sighted for the final time off Tawas Point Light. Sometime the following day, she sank with all 23 crew. Her wreckage was not found until 1985, when it was discovered near

Port Hope, Michigan Port Hope is a village in Huron County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 267 at the 2010 census. The village is within Rubicon Township. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , ...

with damage indicating that she had been swamped by a large wave. Portions of the wreckage were found by a local doctor along the shoreline at

Bayfield, Ontario Bayfield is a community in the municipality of Bluewater, Huron County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a 2016 population of 1,112. Bluewater Municipality includes Bayfield, Bruce field, Dashwood, Hensall, Varna, and Zurich This municipal ...

in mid-November 1913. The body of chief engineer Calvin Smith was found near Black's Point, Ontario (just south of

Goderich, Ontario Goderich ( or ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after ...

) in late November 1913. Second cook D.M. Betts' remains were identified at the morgue in Goderich, Ontario via a photograph and details furnished by the Lake Carriers' Association. His remains were sent home to

Girard, Pennsylvania Girard is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,994 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Girard's history began with a petition to "Township Status" in 1832 by r ...

on November 20, 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John A. McGean Maritime incidents in 1913 Shipwrecks of Lake Huron Ships lost with all hands 1908 ships Ships built in Lorain, Ohio Great Lakes freighters