CHESTER A. CONGDON: HISTORY
Construction
CHESTER A. CONGDON was built as “SALT LAKE CITY” for the Holmes Steamship Company of Cleveland, then managed by W.A. Hawgood. The new steamer was of the 10,000-ton capacity class and measured 532 feet in length, 56 feet in beam with a depth of 26 feet. The gross registered tonnage was 6371.48, and net tonnage was 4,843. While under construction, the Chicago Ship Building Company numbered the hull 74. The steel bulk freighter had 32 telescoping hatches 9 feet wide, on 12-ft. centers, with three compartments of 3,700, 3,100, and 3,400 tons, for a total capacity of 10,200 tons. The ship carried a crew estimated at 19.
The Chicago Ship Building Company departed from its tradition of launching its vessels on Saturdays when SALT LAKE CITY slid down the ways; it splashed into the Calumet River on Thursday, August 29, 1907. The new bulk freighter was given U.S. Registry Number 204526 when it was enrolled September 11, in Cleveland.
The huge, steel bulk freighter was powered by a triple-expansion engine with cylinders of 23.5, 38, and 63 inches on a 42-inch stroke. The engine received its steam from two induced-draft Scotch boilers 14 feet 6 inches x 11 feet 6 inches. Both the engine and boilers were built by the American Shipbuilding Company of Cleveland. The engine produced 1765 indicated horsepower.
Operational History
The first owner of SALT LAKE CITY was the company that had it built: the Holmes Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The Holmes Company operated the boat until 1911, when it was sold to the Acme Transit Company of Ohio, managed by H.B. Hawgood (May 13, 1911 Certificate of Enrollment).
On February 2, 1912, SALT LAKE CITY ownership was transferred to the Continental Steamship Company of Duluth, G.A. Tomlinson, President. A change of name to CHESTER A. CONGDON was registered by D.W. Stocking, Secretary of the Continental Steamship Company, on April 1, 1912. Chester A. Congdon was a prominent Duluth lawyer and financier who had made a fortune in mining and grain interests.
On August 10, 1912, CHESTER A. CONGDON ran aground while waiting for fog to clear. The ship drifted onto a shoal about 4 miles north of Cana Island on Lake Michigan, and damaged several plates (Lake Carriers’ Association 1913:18; 1914:29).
CONGDON ran aground again in October 1915. The ship was drawing 19 feet 6 inches of water, and it rubbed both bilges hard while going through Grosse Pointe channel during a period of low water. The grounding sheared several rivets, which opened some seams and the vessel began leaking (Bulletin of Lake Carriers Association Nov. 1915:62; May 1915:18).
Wreck Event
The newspaper that contained the first report of the wreck of CHESTER A. CONGDON carried the news on page 10; the headlines and front pages that day were devoted to the news that World War I had ended (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 7, 1918).
The voyage that would end with one of the most costly marine disasters on the Lakes began on November 6, 1918. At 2:28 a.m., CONGDON left Fort William, Ontario, downbound to Port McNicoll with a cargo of 380,000 bushels of wheat (Lake Carriers Association 1918:142). Other sources list the cargo as 400,000 bushels (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 7, 1918), and 750,000 bushels (Cleveland Plain Dealer Nov. 8, 1918). The grain had been loaded at the Ogilvie and Pacific elevators (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918). CONGDON had done a 1-day turnaround. The ship arrived on November 4 and cleared downbound on the 6th (Duluth News Tribune Nov. 6, 1918).
CONGDON proceeded on her way past Thunder Cape, where the ship encountered a heavy sea whipped up by a southwest gale. At 4:00 a.m., Capt. Anderson turned his ship and retreated 7 or 8 miles to calmer water, anchoring until 10:15 a.m. By then the wind had abated, although the sea was still running. The captain ventured out again, but after passing Thunder Cape, a thick fog set in. A course was set for Passage Island at 10:40 a.m., and the ship held a speed of 9 knots. The captain’s intention was to run for 2.5 hours at that speed and stop if the fog held (Lake Carriers Association 1918:143). “I figured on stopping on account of fog until we could locate something.” At 3 minutes after 1:00 in the afternoon she fetched up—grounded (from the captain’s account, Fort William Daily Times Journal, Nov. 12, 1918).
The ship’s officers had not heard the Passage Island fog signal before they struck the southerly reef of Canoe Rocks (Lake Carriers Association 1918:143). Captain Anderson described the events:
“We immediately lowered boats and sent one boat over to Passage Island, about 7 miles, to try and secure some assistance from the lighthouse keeper, if possible. We were on Canoe Rocks. Then the second mate took another boat, a fisherman’s launch, from Canoe Rocks into Fort William. A gale was blowing with him. The launch became disabled, and they did not reach Fort William until 6:00 Thursday morning (Nov. 7)” (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918).
The second mate brought the first news of the wreck to Fort William. Apparently, CONGDON had no wireless aboard, or it was disabled when the ship struck. The historical accounts indicate no messages were transmitted from CONGDON.
As soon as word of the disaster reached Fort William, J. Wolvin, manager of the Canadian Towing and Wrecking Company, dispatched the wrecking barge EMPIRE and the tug A.B. CONNER to the site. The tug SARNIA, with additional equipment, was being prepared to follow soon (Fort William Daily Times Journal, Nov. 7, 1918).
First reports of damage to the sunken ship indicated that the vessel, although grounded, might be saved. The steeple, Nos. 1 and 2 starboard tanks and No. 1 port tank were still dry (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 8, 1918). It was hoped that lightening would be all that was necessary to re-float the vessel. The lightened grain was to be placed aboard the barge OREL (Cleveland Plain Dealer Nov. 9, 1918).
The most serious obstacle to refloating CONGDON would prove to be the weather. When the wrecking tugs and barges initially left for the site, the weather had been “calm and thick” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 8, 1918), but this did not last long. Two days later, by Friday, strong winds had blown up. The crew was removed from—
The wreck sometime that day, November 8, and was placed aboard the barge EMPIRE. As the wind blew from the southeast at gale force, reaching a speed of 55 miles per hour (Lake Carriers Association 1918:143, Cleveland Plain Dealer Nov. 10, 1918), the crew was sheltered on the barge in protected waters at Isle Royale (Port Arthur Daily Chronicle Nov. 8, 1918).
No loss of life resulted from the wreck. One serious injury, however, did occur before the lightering operations were concluded, due to the fierce gale that drove the salvage vessels and crew to shelter at Isle Royale. Wireless operator Thomas Ives of the barge EMPIRE was transported to the hospital in Port Arthur with a mangled thigh, which was smashed when he caught his leg in a hoisting gear. He was taken to port on one of the attending tugs (Port Arthur Daily Chronicle Nov. 7, 1918).
The messages of the wreck that reached land on November 9 relayed the news that CONGDON had broken in two, and that the stern had sunk in deep water. The tugs had stood by as long as possible, but there was nothing they could do, although they stayed at the site until heavy seas were breaking over the wreck (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 9, 1918). The steamer had broken in two aft of the No. 6 hatch sometime Friday night (Nov. 8th). The forward end remained on the reef in 20 feet of water, but was in very bad condition (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918; Lake Carriers Association 1918:143, Cleveland Plain Dealer Nov. 16, 1918).
The 35-man crew of CONGDON returned to Fort William, arriving on the tug COMMIT Saturday morning, November 9 (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918). The captain, along with Superintendent Close, who had arrived from Duluth to investigate the accident, both visited the wreck on Sunday morning and salvaged personal effects from the bow section.
The ship was declared a total loss. The newspapers noted that four-fifths of the cargo would be lost (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918). The crew arrived in port in time to participate in the Nov. 11 Armistice celebrations. The survivors of the CONGDON wreck paraded in the streets carrying the ship’s flag, and a large crowd fell in behind them (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 11, 1918).
“We expected to be somewhere on Lake Huron today,” said one of the crew, “instead of back again at Fort William” (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 12, 1918).
The wreck of CHESTER A. CONGDON was a tremendous financial loss. When declared a constructive total loss, officials placed the value at more than $1.5 million. Although the owners carried insurance of $365,000 on the hull and $369,400 in disbursements, the wheat cargo alone at $2.35 per bushel was worth $393,000 (Lake Carriers Association 1918:143). Contemporary accounts labeled CONGDON the largest loss ever sustained on the Great Lakes, surpassing the loss of HENRY B. SMITH, wrecked in 1913 (Lake Carriers Association 1918:138; Canadian Railway and Marine World 1918:96; Cleveland Plain Dealer Nov. 10, 1918).
CONGDON’s cargo of wheat had been owned by the Wheat Export Company (Canadian Railway and Marine World 1918:567). The lightering operations were only able to remove about one-fifth of the cargo, some 59,000 to 60,000 bushels. The amount remaining was described in the Fort William Daily Times Journal (Nov. 12, 1918):
“What it means in wheat — two-fifths of the whole cargo of 400,000 bushels is unsalvageable, meaning a total loss of 320,000 bushels. In money at $2.24 a bushel, $716,000. In flour — net weight, 97,950
…bushels, or 59,000 bags, made into number 1 pure white flour, allowing 33 percent shrinkage, 160 pounds of wheat equalling about 96 pounds of pure white flour. Fort William Daily Times Journal represented 257,200 bushels, or 1,842,006 bags, with a retail flour value of $373,777.
The bread-number of standard loaves that could be made from this amount of wheat: 14,735,200 loaves. Allowing 8 inches as the length of a standard loaf of bread, the lost wheat on the CONGDON, if converted into loaves, would reach 6,022 miles, or more than twice the distance from Montreal to Vancouver. Computed from a food viewpoint, the amount would be enough to feed the present population of the Dominion for two whole days, or afford sufficient loaves for one meal for the whole of the populations of Great Britain and Ireland.
Salvage
John Bell, an agent for the Great Lakes Transportation Company, and who investigated other Isle Royale wrecks (MONARCH and GILNOYOR), announced on November 28, 1918, that James Playfair, apparently a private investor, had purchased CONGDON and intended to raise the wreck in the spring (Lake Carriers’ Association 1918:143).
By late November, the bow was reported in 50 feet of water (Fort William Daily Times Journal Nov. 29, 1918). The Lake Carriers Association stated that recovery of forward-end equipment had already been made (1918:143). Playfair reportedly paid $16,000 for the wreck, outbidding J. Wolvin, who had done the original salvage work (Port Arthur News Chronicle Dec. 12, 1918). This same report said that when Playfair’s crew arrived at the wreck site (presumably in December), “they found that it had completely disappeared, having washed off the rock on which it rested.”
CHESTER A. CONGDON was one of 44 steel and iron vessels that became total losses on the Great Lakes between 1902 and 1918. CONGDON was the largest of those lost during that time. In 1918 alone, the year of CONGDON’s demise, a total of 21 vessels was lost from all causes on the Great Lakes. These were 10 wooden steamers, 1 steel bulk freighter (CONGDON), 6 barges, the forward end of 1 steel passenger steamer, the forward end of a steel bulk freighter, and 2 new mine sweepers belonging to the French government lost that year (Lake Carriers Association 1918:144).
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