Saving The Crew of the Charles Hebard
By James Donahue
The wooden lumber steamer Charles Hebard made nautical history when it wrecked on Lake Superior’s Point Mamainse during a winter gale in December, 1902. It reportedly was the first time a Great Lake vessel’s crew was brought to safety by way of a boatswain’s chair. The device used ropes and pulleys to carried sailors to shore one at a time.
The Hebard, a 24-year-old lumber carrier, was on its way from West Superior with three barges in tow, the Aloha, Warmington and Francome, bound for Lake Erie ports when it was caught in a furious winter gale on Lake Superior. The storm parted the line connecting the three consorts and their crews raised sail and found their way to safe anchorage. The Hebard’s crew fought against the storm, attempting to reach Whitefish Bay, but the ship was driven aground.
There were 13 men and a female cook on the Hebard when it wrecked. How those people managed to save themselves was a story that was passed from newspaper to newspaper all along the coast once it was told.
Two officers on the Hebard, First Mate P. F. Burrell of Detroit and Second Mate Arthur Jackson of Buffalo, dropped a yawl over the side of the wreck and braved the storm, making their way to the rocky shore. They carried with them a line and the devices needed to rig up a boatswain’s chair.
Once it was in place, with a cable stretching from the shore to the deck of the Hebard, crew members began coming ashore one-at-a-time.
The cook, identified as Jennie Barnes, was the first to ride the little chair as the men pulled on the ropes. Then the other men followed. Captain George D. Ryan was the last to leave the ship and he almost didn’t make it. They said the line to shore fouled and the chair became stuck. In the struggle Ryan fell through an open hatch and landed in a water-filled hold. He then crawled out and brought himself to shore, hand-over-hand, on the still attached rope.
The wet and cold sailors might yet have perished but for the help of Oscar Carleson and his sons. The Carlesons, Ontario farmers, had been watching the disaster from shore. As soon as the crew got safely ashore, Carleson was there to guide them to a warm dry house.
By James Donahue
The wooden lumber steamer Charles Hebard made nautical history when it wrecked on Lake Superior’s Point Mamainse during a winter gale in December, 1902. It reportedly was the first time a Great Lake vessel’s crew was brought to safety by way of a boatswain’s chair. The device used ropes and pulleys to carried sailors to shore one at a time.
The Hebard, a 24-year-old lumber carrier, was on its way from West Superior with three barges in tow, the Aloha, Warmington and Francome, bound for Lake Erie ports when it was caught in a furious winter gale on Lake Superior. The storm parted the line connecting the three consorts and their crews raised sail and found their way to safe anchorage. The Hebard’s crew fought against the storm, attempting to reach Whitefish Bay, but the ship was driven aground.
There were 13 men and a female cook on the Hebard when it wrecked. How those people managed to save themselves was a story that was passed from newspaper to newspaper all along the coast once it was told.
Two officers on the Hebard, First Mate P. F. Burrell of Detroit and Second Mate Arthur Jackson of Buffalo, dropped a yawl over the side of the wreck and braved the storm, making their way to the rocky shore. They carried with them a line and the devices needed to rig up a boatswain’s chair.
Once it was in place, with a cable stretching from the shore to the deck of the Hebard, crew members began coming ashore one-at-a-time.
The cook, identified as Jennie Barnes, was the first to ride the little chair as the men pulled on the ropes. Then the other men followed. Captain George D. Ryan was the last to leave the ship and he almost didn’t make it. They said the line to shore fouled and the chair became stuck. In the struggle Ryan fell through an open hatch and landed in a water-filled hold. He then crawled out and brought himself to shore, hand-over-hand, on the still attached rope.
The wet and cold sailors might yet have perished but for the help of Oscar Carleson and his sons. The Carlesons, Ontario farmers, had been watching the disaster from shore. As soon as the crew got safely ashore, Carleson was there to guide them to a warm dry house.