On this day September 16, 1901, the steel steamer HUDSON foundered off Eagle Harbor Light in Lake Superior during a furious storm. She was built in 1888 at Wyandotte, Mich., by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. for Western Transit Co. and measured 268 feet in length, 41 feet in beam and 22.7 feet in depth. The HUDSON was in the package freight trade between Chicago and Buffalo in the 1890s but also ran between Duluth and Buffalo as needed.
The loss of the HUDSON was truly tragic as other ships were in the area. One even saw her men clinging to the rail but were unable to assist during the “frightful gale” due to their own severe problems. The following tells the tale in this Special Dispatch to the Milwaukee Sentinel.
HUDSON SINKS; SCORE DROWNED
“SAULT STE MARIE, Mich., Sept. 19.–News of the probable loss of the Western Transit steamer HUDSON with a crew of twenty-five men on Lake Superior last Monday was brought by the steamer NICOL, which reached here from Duluth early today. There does not seem one chance in a hundred that the boat and crew are safe. The HUDSON was bound from Duluth to Buffalo, with a full cargo of flour, grain and eastbound merchandise.
“The story of Captain McLean, in command of the NICOL, solved the mystery of the reports from Eagle River that a ship was seen to founder off the Keweenaw Peninsula early Monday, and that the crew was apparently taken off by another steamer not far away. That steamer was the NICOL, but Captain McLean says he had all he could do to keep his ship afloat in the frightful gale, and he was unable to do anything to save the men then clinging to the rail of the sinking HUDSON. According to Captain McLean’s statement, the HUDSON left Duluth sometime after the NICOL and passed her during Sunday night. At 10 o’clock Monday morning, the NICOL again came up to the HUDSON. A furious storm was then raging, and the seas were sweeping the decks of the NICOL.
“Crew Clings to the Rail.
“The HUDSON was lying about eight miles to the westward of Eagle River, headed out from shore, with a heavy list to starboard. The steam was apparently gone, and the crew were clinging to the port rail. Distress signals were flying, and it seemed that the ship had not long to live in the wild gale sweeping Lake Superior from the west. The NICOL passed within half a mile of the doomed boat, directly on her course. At that time the NICOL had all she could do to keep afloat. Water was pouring into her hold, and all her pumps were hard at work to keep the water down. It was out of the question to stop, however much the calls of humanity might demand it.
“In the distance to the westward another steamer was sighted, and the NICOL kept on her way, leaving the work of rescue to the newcomer, believed to be the GILCHRIST. The NICOL finally succeeded in getting to shelter under the peninsula, where she stayed for forty-eight hours. By the time the NICOL reached Stillwater, under the shelter of the land, there were three feet of water in her hold.
“CARTAGENA Passes Wreck
“In company with the NICOL under the peninsula was the steamer CARTAGENA, which made several attempts to brave the storm on Lake Superior, but was driven back each time. The CARTAGENA passed through some wreckage on the point not far from the place where the HUDSON was last seen by the NICOL. So confident was Captain McLean that the crew of the HUDSON had been taken off by the GILCHRIST that he was greatly moved when he learned here today that the GILCHRIST, which arrived here Tuesday morning, had not seen the doomed boat.
“The first reports of a great disaster off Eagle River were those of people on shore, who claimed they saw a steamer with two stacks go down Monday forenoon, after the crew had apparently been rescued by a steamer nearby. As the NICOL was but half a mile away from the sinking HUDSON, it might easily seem to those on shore that she was assisting the sinking ship. From the fact that the GILCHRIST, which came along the same course not long afterward, saw nothing of the HUDSON, it is likely that the ship went down between the time the NICOL left there and the time of passing by the GILCHRIST.
“So much time has passed since the NICOL saw the HUDSON that it is not deemed possible that the crew could have been taken off by some other ship, which has not yet been heard from. Nearly all the fleet on Lake Superior last Monday has now reached its destination, and from no point has come any news of survivors.
“The HUDSON was one of the strongest ships on the lakes. She was built in 1888 for the Western Transit company of Detroit, and was 2,297 tons measurement. Her value was about $200,000. Her cargo was probably worth $100,000. Her sister boat, the HARLEM, was lost on Lake Superior just across the lake from where the HUDSON is supposed to have foundered. The HARLEM, however, was taken off the reef after remaining through the winter, and the cost of repairs exceeded, when added to the wrecking bills, the value of the steamer.”
In October 1904, a note in a bottle was found on the beach near Bay Mills. It is believed to have been from the HUDSON. The unsigned note written on a telegraph blank stated: “Steering engine on HUDSON broke down. All going down. Goodbye.”
The wreck of the HUDSON was located in September 2019 by shipwreck hunters Jerry Eliason of Cloquet, Minn., and Kraig Smith of Rice Lake, Wis. They used sonar and then a camera to locate and confirm it was the HUDSON as she is in 825 feet of water.
Suzette Lopez
Photo Credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
