D.L. Filer
Ontario waters · lost 1916
- Storm
- Lives lost: 6
- Location withheld
- The Black Friday storm of October 1916
This site's location is withheld. In Ontario waters, where the Ontario Heritage Act requires a licence for any work on a marine archaeological site. Position withheld; general area only. This page shows the general area only.
The 45-year-old schooner D.L. Filer was left at anchor off the mouth of the Detroit River when the Black Friday storm struck on October 20, 1916. She dragged her anchor and sank with her load of coal. Six men died; the lone survivor was not rescued until the next day. Her wreck has never been found.
The story
The D.L. Filer was built in 1871 at Manistee, Michigan, by P. Barlow, a wooden vessel about 156 feet long first enrolled at Grand Haven that July. She began as a barge and was re-rigged as a schooner at Milwaukee in 1881.[1] By 1916 she was, as Wikipedia puts it, a 45-year-old schooner.[2]
In October 1916 she was being towed by the propeller Tempest from Buffalo toward Saugatuck, Michigan, with coal. When the Black Friday storm broke on October 20, she was left at anchor at the mouth of the Detroit River. According to the HCGL vessel record she dragged her anchor and foundered about three miles due east of the Bar Point light; six lives were lost, and one man was saved by the steamer Western States.[1] Wikipedia's storm article says the survivor was her captain, and that he was not rescued until the following day.[2]
The Filer was one of four large vessels the storm sank on Lake Erie that day, with the whaleback James B. Colgate, the lumber carrier Marshall F. Butters and the steel freighter Merida; Wikipedia puts the day's toll at forty-nine, though the counts for the individual ships add up to more.[2] Wikipedia's list of Great Lakes shipwrecks dates her loss to October 19.[3]
Unlike the Colgate, the Butters and the Merida, whose wrecks have been located, the Filer has not been found.[2] The described position lies on the Ontario side of the boundary, so this page gives the general area only.
Sources differ: Wikipedia's list of Lake Erie shipwrecks gives 19 October 1916; the HCGL record and Wikipedia's storm article put the loss on October 20.
Lives lost: One man survived; Wikipedia says it was the captain, rescued the next day.
Questions people ask
How did the D.L. Filer sink?
Left at anchor at the mouth of the Detroit River during the Black Friday storm of October 20, 1916, she dragged her anchor and foundered about three miles east of the Bar Point light.
Has the wreck of the D.L. Filer been found?
No. Wikipedia's account of the Black Friday storm reports that her wreck remains undiscovered.
Learn more
Museums and groups are linked for further reading; they are not connected with this site.
Look, don't take
Look, don't take. Shipwrecks and everything on them are protected by law; removing or disturbing anything can be a crime.
Diving Lake Erie wrecks is dangerous: cold water, poor visibility, depth, entanglement and boat traffic. Nothing here is dive guidance or a dive position. Dive only with proper training, a qualified operator and current information from the groups that maintain moorings.
Nearby lighthouses
- Detroit River Lighthouse View from a boat
- Colchester Reef Lighthouse View from a boat
- Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse View from shore
- West Sister Island Lighthouse No public access
- Toledo Harbor Lighthouse View from shore
Nearby shipwrecks
Nearby · Sponsored
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Sources
- HCGL vessel record: FILER, D.L., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
- 1916 Black Friday storm, Wikipedia. Accessed .
- List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (Lake Erie section), Wikipedia. Accessed .
- law-on-oha-part6, Government of Ontario (e-Laws). Accessed .
- law-on-oreg-11-06, Government of Ontario (e-Laws). Accessed .
- Atlantic (1848 ship), Wikipedia. Accessed .
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