Steamer Nashua’s Strange End
By James Donahue
In the 24 years that the Nashua plied the Great Lakes, no one would have expected the sturdy little steam barge to come to the strange ending it did. After the boat went missing in the fall of 1892 an extensive search of Lake Huron was conducted. The remains of the 144-foot wooden vessel were found by the tugboat Howard, out of Harbor Beach. The wreck was floating upside down, eight miles off Bayfield, Ontario. The entire crew was lost.
It was concluded that the ship’s engine and boiler broke through the bottom of the ship causing the unexpected disaster. When the wreck washed ashore on the Ontario coast it was found that a large hole, from 50 feet aft of amidships to the stern was missing. It was determined that the boiler broke loose as the vessel tossed in a storm, and it dropped through the side of the steamer.
Among the lost were Captain Richard Miller and his wife and pilot Archie Muir, all of Port Huron; Mate Charles Brockway of Brockway, Michigan, and First Engineer John Putnam of Detroit. All 15 members of the crew were lost and no trace of them ever found.
Details of the wreck were told after the barge Ryan arrived in Buffalo and the crew told what they knew. The Ryan was in tow behind the Nashua, both vessels laden with lumber, when they were caught in a northwest gale about 10 miles off Goderich, Ontario. The Nashua was not weathering the storm well and let go of the tow line. The crew of the barge noted that the Nashua was last seen rolling in the trough of the sea, had lost its deck load of lumber, and was flying a flag signal of distress.
The Ryan set sail for the safety of the St. Clair River. On its way the crew encountered the steam barge Gratwick and signaled it for assistance. The Gratwick conducted a search but was unable to find any sign of the Nashua.
At the time of the wreck the Nashua was owned by the Sturtevand Lumber Company of Cleveland. She had been built in Cleveland in 1868 for the Northern Transportation Company. The home port was Detroit.
By James Donahue
In the 24 years that the Nashua plied the Great Lakes, no one would have expected the sturdy little steam barge to come to the strange ending it did. After the boat went missing in the fall of 1892 an extensive search of Lake Huron was conducted. The remains of the 144-foot wooden vessel were found by the tugboat Howard, out of Harbor Beach. The wreck was floating upside down, eight miles off Bayfield, Ontario. The entire crew was lost.
It was concluded that the ship’s engine and boiler broke through the bottom of the ship causing the unexpected disaster. When the wreck washed ashore on the Ontario coast it was found that a large hole, from 50 feet aft of amidships to the stern was missing. It was determined that the boiler broke loose as the vessel tossed in a storm, and it dropped through the side of the steamer.
Among the lost were Captain Richard Miller and his wife and pilot Archie Muir, all of Port Huron; Mate Charles Brockway of Brockway, Michigan, and First Engineer John Putnam of Detroit. All 15 members of the crew were lost and no trace of them ever found.
Details of the wreck were told after the barge Ryan arrived in Buffalo and the crew told what they knew. The Ryan was in tow behind the Nashua, both vessels laden with lumber, when they were caught in a northwest gale about 10 miles off Goderich, Ontario. The Nashua was not weathering the storm well and let go of the tow line. The crew of the barge noted that the Nashua was last seen rolling in the trough of the sea, had lost its deck load of lumber, and was flying a flag signal of distress.
The Ryan set sail for the safety of the St. Clair River. On its way the crew encountered the steam barge Gratwick and signaled it for assistance. The Gratwick conducted a search but was unable to find any sign of the Nashua.
At the time of the wreck the Nashua was owned by the Sturtevand Lumber Company of Cleveland. She had been built in Cleveland in 1868 for the Northern Transportation Company. The home port was Detroit.