On this day, November 19, 1887, the PACIFIC became a total wreck. At 7:30 p.m. on November 16th, she cast off after loading lumber at her owner’s dock, Cook & Wilson, near Muskallonge, Lake Superior. With a crew of 14, she was bound for Michigan City with a lady passenger on board. The PACIFIC never made it. She grounded on the bar soon after casting off. It was thought she could have backed off and returned to the dock but the captain thought he could easily work the ship over the bar. Not so.
Photo at the top of page: PACIFIC at S S Marie State Lock
The wooden propeller PACIFIC was launched on April 2, 1864, at Cleveland. She was built by Peck & Masters for the Buffalo & Cleveland Transportation Co. and measured 187.5 feet in length, 28.9 feet in beam and 11 feet in depth. She was fitted up as a first class passenger boat, with all the modern improvements for comfort and convenience of the time. Commanded by Capt. Ed Kelly, she ran between Cleveland and Buffalo in connection with the New York Central Railroad. By all accounts, she had a good career until this stranding.
PACIFIC at Michigan City
Below is the report of her loss that was noted in the US Life-Saving Service Report of 1888. It certainly shows what dedicated men the Life Saving service had.
“November 16-19, 1887 — The steamer PACIFIC, of Detroit, Michigan, having loaded lumber at her owners’ docks near Muskallonge Lake Station, (Tenth District,) Lake Superior, cast off and stood out for an offing. This was at half-past 7 o’clock in the evening of the 16th. She was bound to Michigan City, Indiana, and had a crew of fourteen. There was also one passenger, a lady, on board. The vessel was heavily loaded and grounded on the outside bar some two hundred yards northwest of the station. The life-saving crew launched their surf-boat at once, pulled to the steamer, and ran her hawser to the dock. The vessel was not considered in danger, although the weather looked stormy. She could easily have backed off and returned to the dock, but the captain thought he would be able to work her over the bar as soon as the sea should increase a little. The station crew returned to their post with the understanding that in case the captain should decide to throw over a portion of the lumber he would let them know. At 10 o’clock the wind shifted to the west and freshened. Snow began to fall. The steamer appeared to be making headway over the bar until about midnight, when the gale struck her with new fury, swinging her broadside to the wind, disabling her and leaving her at the mercy of the breakers. The whistle was immediately blown and the station men, who were on the alert, responded at once by launching the surf-boat and putting out for her. The night was pitch-black, the snow whirled in blinding sheets, and the great breakers, which could be seen only when too late to be avoided, half-filled the boat. After a half hour’s struggle the life-savers arrived alongside the steamer, which was almost immediately lifted by the heavy surges and driven in upon the middle bar. Quickly taking advantage of the lee made by the vessel, the surfboat took off and landed her people with comparatively little difficulty. The steamer’s boats were almost worthless, one being stove and the other leaking badly. An attempt to land in them would very probably have ended tragically. The station men, their clothing drenched with water and stiffened with ice, reached home shortly before 4 o’clock in the morning (17th). At this time the seas were sweeping furiously over the vessel, her deck-houses had begun to break up, and she was evidently doomed. By 3 o’clock in the afternoon the after-cabin stood alone on deck. The station crew went out and rescued the captain’s dog, which had been shut up in the cabin and forgotten at the time of abandoning the vessel. On the 18th they boarded her again, and, by several trips of the surf-boat, landed all articles that could be saved. They also worked the following morning (19th), saving some of the lumber, but at noon of this day a northerly gale sprung up which in three hours had spread the wreckage of the steamer along the shore. Vessel and cargo were practically a total loss. The shipwrecked crew subsequently made their way to Sault de Sainte Marie on foot. On the night of the 23d, while en route, eleven of them were entertained at Vermillion Point Station and the other three at Crisp’s Station, both in the Tenth District.”
The PACIFIC was insured in the Buffalo hull pool for $15,000. The reported property loss of the hull was $22,000 and her cargo $9,000.
Suzette Lopez
Photo credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
