On August 15, 1916, the wooden steamer TOPEKA and the steamer CHRISTOPHER collided in heavy fog in the Detroit River opposite the Mullen Coal Dock at Sandwich, Ontario.  The TOPEKA had a cargo of 1,800 tons of soft coal and sank in four minutes in forty feet of water.  Luckily, the crew of the TOPEKA were all rescued by the CHRISTOPHER.

            Years later in February 1950, the Great Lakes News printed the following article describing the collision and the heroic act of first mate Charles Wasch.

“Former First Mate Charles Wasch, hero of the sinking of the TOPEKA in the Detroit River in August, 1916, visited the office of the Great Lakes News on December 31, 1949.  He came in with his nephew, Robert G. Glaeser.

 “A faded clipping from the Cleveland Plain Dealer of August 15, 1916, tells the story of the sinking:

  “Coming up the Detroit river near Mullen’s coal dock at 2:30 o’clock this morning the small wooden steamer TOPEKA was struck by the steel steamer CHRISTOPHER.  The TOPEKA sank in forty feet of water inside of four minutes.

  “Quick work on the part of the crew of the steamer CHRISTOPHER, who put a ladder on the deck of the TOPEKA, and First Mate Charles Wasch of the TOPEKA, saved some of the members of the boat from going down with the boat.

  “Eleven members of the TOPEKA’s crew were asleep when she was struck, and Mate Wasch ran to the sleeping quarters, yelling at the top of his voice for everyone to get to the deck.

 “Seventeen of the crew managed to get up the ladder that had been placed on the deck of the TOPEKA.”  Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Houle from Green Bay, Wisconsin, were the cooks aboard.  Mrs. Houle got off in her nightgown.  Mr. Houle, Chief Engineer Christ Olson of Milwaukee, and Second Assistant Engineer Hunter went down with the boat, came up and got on the wooden hatches and floated down the river where they were picked up in a lifeboat from the CHRISTOPHER.  Capt. David Brownell was the master.

 “The bow of the CHRISTOPHER was caved in, having a hole five feet by eight feet in her bow, a broken stem and an anchor pushed back.  With her forepeak full of water, her bow was down three feet lower than her stern.  After rescuing the crew, she put back to Detroit where temporary repairs were made.  …”

            The TOPEKA was built in 1889 at Milwaukee by the Milwaukee Shipyard Co. for J. B. Merrill, et al.   She measured 228.3 feet in length and 36 feet in beam and was used in the grain, coal and ore trade in her early years and was later fitted up with a belt unloader for the stone and coal trade.

            The wreck of the TOPEKA constituted a menace to navigation but there was ample room for passing vessels.   The spars and cabin of the wreck were above water and the owners had to have it lighted at night by two white lantern lights.  She was salvaged by the Trotter Towing & Wrecking Company.  Unfortunately during the salvaging, the steamer SAMUEL MATHER hit the wrecking outfit in fog.  Work was delayed a day.  It was reported that the remaining wreck was cleared away by dynamite in December of 1916.

            The CHRISTOPHER was a steel steamer that measured 445 feet in length and 48 feet in beam.  She was built in 1901, changed names during her career – THOMAS BRITT, J. E. SAVAGE and finally ROBERT J. PAISLEY both as a US and Canadian vessel – and was scrapped between 1967 and 1970. 

Suzette Lopez

PHOTOS:

TOPEKA dated 1905

TOPEKA loading stone at Grand Haven

TOPEKA sunk off Sandwich, Ontario

CHRISTOPHER at the Soo in 1939

PHOTO CREDIT:  Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.