Steam Barge of 1880 Period
Sinking of the East Saginaw
By James Donahue
It was for the lack of a tugboat that the steam barge East Saginaw was lost on Lake Huron. The trouble began about 10:30 PM on September, 25, 1883, when the steamer, with four barges in tow, ran up on Craine’s Point about a mile south of the Harbor Beach, Michigan breakwater.
Capt. Harry Richardson said he was running the boat against a northwesterly gale and trying to make the harbor when the vessel hit the rocks. The crash broke the boat’s rudder and the subsequent pounding put holes in the wooden hull.
Richardson sent the first mate and two other sailors ashore in a yawl to get help. The plan was to pull the East Saginaw off the reef and then bring it into port. The tug Adams got up steam and went out to take-a-look. But the skipper said he was afraid to get too close in the storm for fear of putting his own boat on the reef. He turned the Adams around the steamed back into port.
In the meantime, the crew was working frantically to save the East Saginaw. While the barges remained anchored offshore, waiting out the night’s drama, Richardson’s crew hoisted sail and let the strong offshore winds work the vessel off the rocks and into deeper water.
The steamer pulled free at about 2:00 AM but for lack of a rudder and with the engine room flooded, she was then a helpless derelict on the stormy lake. The wind blew her southeast and away from shore. Richardson said he didn’t realize there would be no tug that night.
Nobody thought of dropping anchor because they were expecting help to arrive at any moment. Richardson set the fourteen crew members to work pumping and bailing, just keeping the boat afloat until a tug arrived. But no tug came and conditions on the East Saginaw went from bad to worse.
One unidentified sailor said: “Everybody bailed with might and main, while the captain kept a lookout for a tug from the pilot house. The yawl boat was made ready and was hanging from the davits so that no time would be lost if it came to the worst. From about 2:00 AM, when the steam barge got off the point, until about 7:00 AM, we kept it afloat. At seven o’clock the water was up level with the deck and all hope was abandoned. It was now about eight miles from land, having drifted in the night.”
That was when Richardson gave the order to abandon ship. The men tumbled into the little boat and kept on the lea side of the East Saginaw, out of the force of the gale until the very end.
They said the vessel remained upright as it sank. A large black cloud of smoke burped from the stack as it settled, and then it was over. After that the men struggled to keep the yawl headed into the gale and baled. They were still battling the storm a few hours later when the propeller Conemaugh stopped to pick them up.
During the rescue the yawl struck the steamer’s propeller guard and capsized, throwing seaman William Eccles Jr. into the water. There were some anxious moments, but Eccles was pulled to safety. The East Saginaw lies somewhere off White Rock and southeast of Harbor Beach.
By James Donahue
It was for the lack of a tugboat that the steam barge East Saginaw was lost on Lake Huron. The trouble began about 10:30 PM on September, 25, 1883, when the steamer, with four barges in tow, ran up on Craine’s Point about a mile south of the Harbor Beach, Michigan breakwater.
Capt. Harry Richardson said he was running the boat against a northwesterly gale and trying to make the harbor when the vessel hit the rocks. The crash broke the boat’s rudder and the subsequent pounding put holes in the wooden hull.
Richardson sent the first mate and two other sailors ashore in a yawl to get help. The plan was to pull the East Saginaw off the reef and then bring it into port. The tug Adams got up steam and went out to take-a-look. But the skipper said he was afraid to get too close in the storm for fear of putting his own boat on the reef. He turned the Adams around the steamed back into port.
In the meantime, the crew was working frantically to save the East Saginaw. While the barges remained anchored offshore, waiting out the night’s drama, Richardson’s crew hoisted sail and let the strong offshore winds work the vessel off the rocks and into deeper water.
The steamer pulled free at about 2:00 AM but for lack of a rudder and with the engine room flooded, she was then a helpless derelict on the stormy lake. The wind blew her southeast and away from shore. Richardson said he didn’t realize there would be no tug that night.
Nobody thought of dropping anchor because they were expecting help to arrive at any moment. Richardson set the fourteen crew members to work pumping and bailing, just keeping the boat afloat until a tug arrived. But no tug came and conditions on the East Saginaw went from bad to worse.
One unidentified sailor said: “Everybody bailed with might and main, while the captain kept a lookout for a tug from the pilot house. The yawl boat was made ready and was hanging from the davits so that no time would be lost if it came to the worst. From about 2:00 AM, when the steam barge got off the point, until about 7:00 AM, we kept it afloat. At seven o’clock the water was up level with the deck and all hope was abandoned. It was now about eight miles from land, having drifted in the night.”
That was when Richardson gave the order to abandon ship. The men tumbled into the little boat and kept on the lea side of the East Saginaw, out of the force of the gale until the very end.
They said the vessel remained upright as it sank. A large black cloud of smoke burped from the stack as it settled, and then it was over. After that the men struggled to keep the yawl headed into the gale and baled. They were still battling the storm a few hours later when the propeller Conemaugh stopped to pick them up.
During the rescue the yawl struck the steamer’s propeller guard and capsized, throwing seaman William Eccles Jr. into the water. There were some anxious moments, but Eccles was pulled to safety. The East Saginaw lies somewhere off White Rock and southeast of Harbor Beach.