Name SS Isaac M. Scott Port of registry Lorain, Ohio, USA Completed 2 July 1909 Launched 12 June 1909 Depth 9.1 m | Owner Virginia Steamship Co. Yard number 369 Maiden voyage 12 July 1909 Length 160 m Beam 16 m | |
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Builder American Ship Building Company | ||
SS Isaac M. Scott was an American Great Lakes Freighter that sunk during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 in Lake Huron, 6 to 7 miles Nord East of Thunder Bay Island (45°03′N 83°02′W), while she was traveling from Cleveland, Ohio, United States to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States with a cargo of Coal.
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Construction
Isaac M. Scott was constructed in 1909 at the American Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Lorain, Ohio, USA where she was also launched on 12 June 1909. She was completed on 2 July 1909 and she was named Isaac M. Scott after the president of the La Belle Iron Works, and served from 12 July 1909 until her demise on 11 November 1913. The ship was 159.7 metres (523 ft 11 in) long, with a beam of 16.5 metres (54 ft 2 in) and a depth of 9.1 metres (29 ft 10 in). The ship was assessed at 6,372 GRT. She had a triple-expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller. At the time of her completion the Toledo Blade called her, One of the handsomest of the large freighters on the great lakes.
Maiden Voyage Disaster
Isaac M. Scotts maiden voyage was marred by tragedy. At 4:00 AM on 12 July 1909, while traveling northwest about 2 miles off the Whitefish Point lighthouse in a dense fog, the Isaac M. Scotts rammed the SS John B. Cowle. The John B. Cowle sank within a few minutes taking 14 of her 24 crewmen with her to the bottom. The survivors were picked up by the Isaac M. Scott and taken back to port. The Isaac M. Scott suffered damage to about 25 plates which costed $30,000 in repairs.
In March 1910, the Virginia Steamship Company settled claims filed by relatives of men lost in the sinking of the John B. Cowle in the amount of $20,000. Following an investigation and hearings, the United States Steamboat Inspectors at Marquette suspended Captain Rogers and Edward E. Carlton, Pilot, of the John B. Cowle for 30 days ruling that the John B. Cowle and the Isaac M. Scott were sailing too fast for the weather conditions and that the John B. Cowle had failed to properly signal. F. W. Wertheimer, Pilot of the Isaac M. Scott. The Isaac M. Scott was subsequently beached for one year.
The Great Lakes Storm Of 1913 And Sinking
In the pre-dawn hours of 9 November 1913, the Isaac M. Scott, loaded with a cargo of coal worth $22,000 bound for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States left Port Huron, Cleveland, Ohio, United States for the last time. She was one of several big freighters that passed out of the St. Clair River into Lake Huron and straight into the path of the deadliest storm in the Great Lakes history. Captain A. McArthur had been master of the Isaac M. Scott since her maiden voyage back in 1909 and sailed with 27 other men on the Isaac M. Scotts last voyage. Had he known how ugly the weather was about to become he surely would have never left port.
On Sunday 9 November 1913 at around 10:30 a.m. the H. B. Hawgood was running before the storm when they spotted the Isaac M. Scott, still heading North and making heavy weather of it, off Tawas Point, Michigan, just hours before the brunt of the storm struck. When communication was restored and newspapers began carrying accounts of the storm the Isaac M. Scott was only listed as missing. The body of Capt. A. McArthur washed up at Southampton, Ontario, Canada on 11 December 1913 while still wearing his life preserver. One of her lifeboats was found 23 miles north of the Chantrey Island lighthouse, off Southampton, Ontario. All 28 crew members perished in the disaster.
The sinking of the Isaac M. Scott resulted in increased efforts by the U.S. Weather Bureau toward better weather forecasting and more rapid communication of storm warnings.
The Isaac M. Scott goes down in maritime history as one of eleven vessels lost during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. A storm described in the book: Lore of the Lakes, as "The most disastrous that has ever swept our Great Lakes, both from loss of life and property this unprecedented.". The storm of heavy snow, bitter cold winds and frightening high waves took the lives of an estimated 235 mariners, 178 of which were lost on Lake Huron alone.
Wreck
The Isaac M. Scott remained missing for 63 years. Located by divers in 1976 about 6 miles off Northpoint, Michigan, she's resting upside down and is half buried in mud under 55 metres (180 ft 5 in) of water with her nose still pointed into the storm. Her final resting place is now part of the 448 square mile Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Undewater Preserve. The wreck lies at (45°03′N 83°02′W).