Ruddy Was a Hero
By James Donahue
Coal passer William “Ruddy” Holloran saved the day for his fellow shipmates when fire broke out on the steamer Germanic. It happened about 3:00 AM on November 6, 1904, while the vessel was hard aground at the head of Stag Island, on the St. Clair River near Marine City, Michigan.
The Germanic, Capt. James Murphy, had dragged her anchor while waiting out a heavy fog and drifted on the island two days earlier. When tugs couldn’t pull the steamer free, men were put to work shoveling the cargo of coal into the Active, a shallow draft barge, or lighter, tied alongside. The idea was to float the Germanic higher in the water.
The fire started from an unknown cause in the engine room while the crew was asleep in their bunks. Fortunately, Holloran was awakened by the crackling of burning wood. He woke three other men, Bob Friedenberg and Henry Flentche, both firemen, and coal passer James Doris, all sleeping with him in quarters below the deck aft.
As the four tried to escape by the narrow stairway leading to the main deck, they found the way filled with smoke and fire. For a while it appeared that they were trapped below deck. But Hollaran remembered a scuttle hatch leading to the fantail. He found it, got it open and led everyone to safety.
Elsewhere on the burning boat, other workers were also finding themselves in grave danger. Chief Engineer Anton Rudd woke to find his bed on fire. He got away but was badly burned. Everybody escaped to the Active, then cut the mooring lines so that the lighter could drift away from the burning steamer.
From shore the tug Colton, operated by Capt. Joseph Hayes, saw the fire and steamed to the island to launch a fight to put it out. Hayes had hoses turned on the Germanic for a while but the fire was by then burning so hot that the flames spread to the tug. Hayes gave up on the Germanic and pulled his command away, with the fire hoses turned on the Colton’s decks instead.
The coal in the Germanic blazed for days before the fire burned itself out. The hull was towed to Midland, Ontario, where it was rebuilt in 1909 as the Reliever. That vessel caught fire later that same year at Methodist Point, on Georgian Bay. This time the registry was closed for good.
By James Donahue
Coal passer William “Ruddy” Holloran saved the day for his fellow shipmates when fire broke out on the steamer Germanic. It happened about 3:00 AM on November 6, 1904, while the vessel was hard aground at the head of Stag Island, on the St. Clair River near Marine City, Michigan.
The Germanic, Capt. James Murphy, had dragged her anchor while waiting out a heavy fog and drifted on the island two days earlier. When tugs couldn’t pull the steamer free, men were put to work shoveling the cargo of coal into the Active, a shallow draft barge, or lighter, tied alongside. The idea was to float the Germanic higher in the water.
The fire started from an unknown cause in the engine room while the crew was asleep in their bunks. Fortunately, Holloran was awakened by the crackling of burning wood. He woke three other men, Bob Friedenberg and Henry Flentche, both firemen, and coal passer James Doris, all sleeping with him in quarters below the deck aft.
As the four tried to escape by the narrow stairway leading to the main deck, they found the way filled with smoke and fire. For a while it appeared that they were trapped below deck. But Hollaran remembered a scuttle hatch leading to the fantail. He found it, got it open and led everyone to safety.
Elsewhere on the burning boat, other workers were also finding themselves in grave danger. Chief Engineer Anton Rudd woke to find his bed on fire. He got away but was badly burned. Everybody escaped to the Active, then cut the mooring lines so that the lighter could drift away from the burning steamer.
From shore the tug Colton, operated by Capt. Joseph Hayes, saw the fire and steamed to the island to launch a fight to put it out. Hayes had hoses turned on the Germanic for a while but the fire was by then burning so hot that the flames spread to the tug. Hayes gave up on the Germanic and pulled his command away, with the fire hoses turned on the Colton’s decks instead.
The coal in the Germanic blazed for days before the fire burned itself out. The hull was towed to Midland, Ontario, where it was rebuilt in 1909 as the Reliever. That vessel caught fire later that same year at Methodist Point, on Georgian Bay. This time the registry was closed for good.