SS Glenlyon: Wreck Event and Survivor Accounts

Diver exploring the SS GLENLYON engine.

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Wreck Event

The last navigation season for Glenlyon was 1924. On the last trip, the boat left Ft William, Ontario on Thursday, October 30 downbound to Port Colborne (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 1, 1924) with a cargo of 145,000 bushels of wheat (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 3, 1924). (The Superior Evening Telegram, Nov. 1, 1924 reported 245,000 bushels; the Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 4, 1924 reported 318,000 bushels.) The last 3 or 4 weeks of the season were very stormy and foggy with gales and snowstorms. Ships in many ports were delayed while seeking shelter from winds and seas (Canadian Railway and Marine World, 1925:642). Glenlyon was one of the vessels delayed. The boat cleared Fort William on Thursday night only to remain at anchor in the shelter of the Welcome Islands all of Friday, October 31 (Superior Evening Telegram, Nov. 4, 1924) while a northeast gale raged (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 1, 1924). The captain was William Taylor, it was his first season as master of Glenlyon. The chief engineer was Edward Hurl (Great Lakes Redbook, 1924:72).

The weather lessened somewhat by Friday afternoon and Capt. Taylor resumed the voyage. The weather worsened, and the wind shifted to the north, then to the southwest, soon reaching a heavy gale (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 1, 1924). Shortly after clearing Passage Island, the course was altered to run down the south shore of Isle Royale to Siskiwit Bay to seek shelter from the storm (Canadian Railway and Marine World, 1924:642). The storm of Friday night and Saturday would be labeled by mariners as one of the worst encountered in years. "Whitefish Light, which stands up some 60 feet out of the water, was deluged by the breaking waves, running mountains high" (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov 3, 1924).

John Collins, wireless operator off G.J. GRAMMER, a vessel crossing Lake Superior Friday and Saturday, made the following comments:

"Rough, I should say it was rough. The waves in Lake Superior on Friday last were mountains high. We had to ballast the boat with water to keep her on some sort of even keel. After a short lull Friday afternoon the wind at midnight reached the hurricane velocity of nearly 60 miles per hour. It came from the southeast to southwest. Our boat was tossing about like a cockle shell. Many of the crew had never been through such an experience before. I never want to go through it again (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 4, 1924)."

Triple Expansion Engine of the SS GLENLYON.

NPS

At about 1:00 am on November 1, (Houghton Mining Gazette, Nov. 2, 1924) Glenlyon reached the entrance of Siskiwit Bay. While entering, the vessel ran hard aground on a submerged reef off Menagerie Island.

The first reports of the disaster were received by wireless in time to be carried in the November 1, 1924, edition of the Port Arthur News Chronicle. The account of the wreck that follows is taken from that source, except where otherwise noted.

As soon as Glenlyon struck the submerged reef, all crew members were ordered to their watch stations and the pumps were manned. The pumps were later abandoned, and the captain scuttled the ship to secure it to the reef (Canadian Railway and Marine World, Dec. 1924). (It is is interesting to note that the captain scuttled the vessel to secure it but did not drop the anchors-they were found still shipped during the site investigations of 1982-84.) During the night Glenlyon communicated with the government wireless station at Port Arthur. John Bell, agent for the Great Lakes Transportation Company, was notified and dispatched the salvage tug Strathmore to the scene at 6:00 that morning. Agent Bell and Strathmore were familiar with shipwrecks at Isle Royale-they were both involved in the events of the wreck of Monarch in 1906.

Mate John McLaughlin and Watchman Wilfred Roy

Shortly after the wreck, two men set out in one of the ship's open lifeboats (referred to as a yawl in some reports). Mate John McLaughlin (reported as Daniel Mclaughlin, Daily Mining Gazette, Nov. 4, 1924 and as Donald in Superior Evening Telegram, Nov. 3, 1924) and Watchman (or wheelsman as reported in Detroit Free Press, Nov. 2, 1924) Wilfred Roy were soon missing and were presumed lost in the first reports to reach Port Arthur. A search for the two men was begun.

It is not known why these two men left the ship. The reasons for their departure has been the subject of some speculation. One source (Wolff 1979:127) stated they launched the lifeboat to seek help. Another account asserted the two crew members launched the boat in a panic against the direct orders of the captain and were blown across the Lake to the Apostle Islands (Stonehouse 1974:9). In his next edition the latter author said the two men lowered the lifeboat in the confusion of stranding (Stonehouse 1977:51). Stonehouse may have confused the account of three sailors from GLENLOCHIE, who were drowned when their lifeboat was crushed against the side of their vessel after it was grounded in Lake Ontario. These men launched the lifeboat against their captains orders (Detroit Free Press, Nov. 18, 1924). It seems most likely that the two men from GLENLYON were sent overboard to carry out a damage inspection and were accidentally swept away. No historical accounts have been located that shed any light on this event of the wreck.

At midnight on Saturday, November 1, the Canal Coast Guard crew arrived at Siskiwit Bay. A light was spotted on shore and the crew investigated. They found McLaughlin and Roy, the two men who had disappeared in a lifeboat. They had been washed ashore further up in Siskiwit Bay (Daily Mining Gazette, Nov. 4, 1924). An earlier account said the men were picked up on the open Lake (Port Arthur News Chronicle Nov. 3, 1924). It is assumed the November 4 report is the accurate account. The two men were transferred to GLENNSANNOX with the rest of the shipwrecked crew. GLENNSSANOX soon left the site and headed east (Port Arthur News Chronicle, Nov. 3, 1924).

At 10:30 a.m. Saturday the steam tug James Whalen and barges Empire and Green River were dispatched to the site. By noon they had not reached the Welcome Islands because of the heavy weather that impeded the progress of the tug and its two tows. The Great Lakes Transportation Company indicated that it would also send the barge Strathbuoy to the wreck as soon as tug Strathmore returned. The plan was to pump out and refloat Glenlyon after she had been lightered of its cargo. The grain was to be removed by Empire, which was equipped with two clams, and then loaded onto Green River.

Strathmore reached the wreck site about 1:00 Saturday afternoon. By 2:00 pm Agent Bell was able to report that he had received radio communication from Capt. Brown of Glennlinnie. Brown was able to pull alongside Glenlyon, remove the crew and transfer them to Glennsannox.

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