On this day November 12, 1919, the steamer JOHN OWEN was lost with all on board during one of November’s storms with wind gales of 70 miles per hour.  With many of these early vessels “precisely when, where and under what circumstances the vessel met her doom never will be explained.”  The write up below from the Lake Carriers Association’s Annual Report of 1919, explains the conditions at the time of her loss.

         “The storm that whipped Lake Superior for an entire week and caused waves of mountainous size, began with a heavy easterly wind on Monday morning, November 10.  The wind shifted to the west by night and by Tuesday had turned into a full gale from the northwest.  At its height, and covering a period of many hours, the storm reached hurricane proportions.  The thermometer fell rapidly, touching the zero mark, and violent snow storms added to the difficulties of navigation.  Warning of the seriousness of the gale having been sent out such vessels as could be reached were held in port or in the rivers, while others ran into shelter behind the Apostle Islands and other points as far east as Whitefish.  Early on Tuesday morning, before the full storm broke, the steamer John Owen cleared from Duluth with 100,000 bushels of rye.  What occurred on her voyage across Lake Superior will always be shrouded in mystery.  Thursday afternoon, November 13, the steamers Wilpen and Thomas Barlum passed through wreckage that provided the first evidence of a disaster having occurred.  The wreckage was found 50 miles east by southeast of Manitou Island and included was a pilot house that resembled the John Owen’s.  As the hours went by without any information being received as to the whereabouts of the missing steamer, tugs were sent out from Sault Ste. Marie and after two days’ search more wreckage was encountered ten miles southeast of Caribou Island, and with the finding of a sign board marked “John Owen,” all hope for the steamer was abandoned.  The eastern end of Lake Superior and the shores were searched for the recovery of bodies but without a single success. The entire crew of 21 men and one woman had perished when the John Owen went down.  Precisely when, where and under what circumstances the vessel met her doom never will be explained.  The last seen of her was on Wednesday afternoon, when the steamer Edwin N. Ohl, upbound, passed her off Keweenaw Point.  The John Owen was then laboring heavily in the tremendous seas but apparently making good weather of it.”

            The JOHN OWEN was built in 1889 at Wyandotte, Mich., by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. for the Cadillac Transportation Co. of Detroit and was a duplicate of the MANCHESTER, LIVINGSTONE and THOMAS W. PLAMER.  She measured 180 feet in length, 41 feet in beam and 20 feet in depth.

            To end on a lighter note, below is a story that was printed in the Great Lakes News of October 1942 describing an encounter with the JOHN OWEN back in 1893.

           BEWARE OF THE DOG

          It was just 49 years ago this past summer when a lad of 13 lost his job as second cook on the Steamer CHAUNCY HULBERT at Detroit, where she tied up until further orders.  The season of 1893 was a bad one, and many ships were tied to the docks.  The Steamer FRANK L. VANCE of Milwaukee took on a load of hay in Manitowoc or Green Bay for Buffalo.  The lad had two dollars for four days and that soon was gone, and no smoke coming out of the stacks of the galleys.

         One ship looked pretty good, but as we neared the Steamer JOHN OWEN, we saw a big sign, “Beware of the Dog.”  The young fellow from Milwaukee just stared, and as the freight cars passed by, the brakeman would whistle and shout for Prince, but Prince would never show himself.

        Later when I got back to Milwaukee and threw my paper bag over my shoulder, shipping had picked up some, and later in the fall, there were more ships bringing in the hard coal.  One day the Steamer JOHN OWEN came in, and I asked the mate about that sign.  He said that he was keeping ship though never had a dog, but that as the freight cars passed by with the brakemen, he got a kick out of the hollering and whistling they did for the dog that was never there.  “Too bad that sign scared you,” he said, “for the ice box was chuck full.” 

Suzette Lopez

Photo Credit:   Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society

This story was originally posted on November 12, 2023