The Cook Who Commandeered Her Ship
By James Donahue
In the old days women never played leadership roles on Great Lakes ships. But they were always on the boats and once in a while they proved their seamanship abilities. Such was the case of Martha Hart, cook aboard the steamer Hastings, who brought the boat and its passengers safely home to Oswego, New York, from an Independence Day trip across Lake Ontario in 1878, after the officers abandoned the bridge and the wheelman lost his bearings.
The Hastings was making regular trips between Oswego and Kingston, Ontario, and business was apparently good. The boat left Oswego that morning with from three to four hundred passengers for a six-hour excursion across the lake. It was due back at nine o’clock that evening. Hart said the Hastings left Kingston at 5:30 PM. For some unexplained reason, the officers left the wheelhouse that night and a wheelman was left in command of the steamer. “No captain or mate was giving any orders,” she said. The vessel was apparently wandering for a while. Hart sensed something was wrong when the boat didn’t make Oswego’s dock by the scheduled time. When she felt the vessel make an unexpected turn, she decided to go to the wheelhouse and investigate.
Hart, a twelve-year veteran sailor, found the wheelman operating on his own. She also learned, to her horror, that this man had mistaken a light from the steamer City of Toledo, bound for Kingston, to be the Oswego light and was following the steamer northeast toward Duck Islands. She said she tried to convince him that he was going in the wrong direction. She even spotted the real Oswego light. “I pointed it out, but the wheelman thought he knew better and refused to steer for it,” she said.
When the Hastings was getting dangerously close to the islands, Hart said she went to the engine room and explained the situation to the chief engineer. He believed her and stopped the engines, leaving the ship adrift with several hundred alarmed passengers aboard. Because the Hastings was designed to be a short excursion boat, there were no staterooms or beds aboard. Thus everyone spent an uncomfortable night.
Fortunately the night was clear and the lake was smooth. The ship drifted until the North Star appeared around 2:30 AM. Once she saw it and got her bearings, Hart took charge of the wheelhouse. “I told them they were near Sackett’s Harbor, below the Galloup, and told them to point south, and pointed out the direction to Oswego,” she said.
Hart apparently enjoyed her brief role in command of the boat. She told how she abandoned the kitchen and remained on the bridge until the Hastings arrived safely in Oswego at 7:00 AM. She said she used some marine glasses that she borrowed to help her spot important landmarks. “I told the passengers if they set the table to go for it. They didn’t set any table and we didn’t have a bite to eat.”
The newspapers said the incident excited “both ridicule and indignation,” but nobody explained what happened to the captain or officers on that trip. In fact, they were never mentioned.
By James Donahue
In the old days women never played leadership roles on Great Lakes ships. But they were always on the boats and once in a while they proved their seamanship abilities. Such was the case of Martha Hart, cook aboard the steamer Hastings, who brought the boat and its passengers safely home to Oswego, New York, from an Independence Day trip across Lake Ontario in 1878, after the officers abandoned the bridge and the wheelman lost his bearings.
The Hastings was making regular trips between Oswego and Kingston, Ontario, and business was apparently good. The boat left Oswego that morning with from three to four hundred passengers for a six-hour excursion across the lake. It was due back at nine o’clock that evening. Hart said the Hastings left Kingston at 5:30 PM. For some unexplained reason, the officers left the wheelhouse that night and a wheelman was left in command of the steamer. “No captain or mate was giving any orders,” she said. The vessel was apparently wandering for a while. Hart sensed something was wrong when the boat didn’t make Oswego’s dock by the scheduled time. When she felt the vessel make an unexpected turn, she decided to go to the wheelhouse and investigate.
Hart, a twelve-year veteran sailor, found the wheelman operating on his own. She also learned, to her horror, that this man had mistaken a light from the steamer City of Toledo, bound for Kingston, to be the Oswego light and was following the steamer northeast toward Duck Islands. She said she tried to convince him that he was going in the wrong direction. She even spotted the real Oswego light. “I pointed it out, but the wheelman thought he knew better and refused to steer for it,” she said.
When the Hastings was getting dangerously close to the islands, Hart said she went to the engine room and explained the situation to the chief engineer. He believed her and stopped the engines, leaving the ship adrift with several hundred alarmed passengers aboard. Because the Hastings was designed to be a short excursion boat, there were no staterooms or beds aboard. Thus everyone spent an uncomfortable night.
Fortunately the night was clear and the lake was smooth. The ship drifted until the North Star appeared around 2:30 AM. Once she saw it and got her bearings, Hart took charge of the wheelhouse. “I told them they were near Sackett’s Harbor, below the Galloup, and told them to point south, and pointed out the direction to Oswego,” she said.
Hart apparently enjoyed her brief role in command of the boat. She told how she abandoned the kitchen and remained on the bridge until the Hastings arrived safely in Oswego at 7:00 AM. She said she used some marine glasses that she borrowed to help her spot important landmarks. “I told the passengers if they set the table to go for it. They didn’t set any table and we didn’t have a bite to eat.”
The newspapers said the incident excited “both ridicule and indignation,” but nobody explained what happened to the captain or officers on that trip. In fact, they were never mentioned.