Merida
Ontario waters · lost 1916
- Storm
- Lives lost: 23
- 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 360-foot steel freighter Merida vanished with all 23 of her crew in the Black Friday storm of October 20, 1916, off the Ontario shore near Wheatley. There were no survivors to say what happened; the bodies that were recovered still wore their life vests.
The story
The Merida was built in 1893 by F.W. Wheeler & Company at West Bay City, Michigan, a steel propeller about 360 feet long and 45 feet wide, first enrolled at Detroit that June. She was remeasured at Cleveland in 1904.[1] The HCGL record lists a succession of owners over her 23 years: D.C. Whitney, the Merida Steamship Company, the Gilchrist Transportation Company, the Edgewater Steamship Company and, from 1915, the Valley Camp Steamship Company.[1]
On Friday, October 20, 1916, a storm described by Wikipedia as a meeting of two high-pressure systems and a minor hurricane swept across western Lake Erie. The Merida was downbound on the Long Point course when she foundered off Wheatley, Ontario, with all hands.[2,1] Twenty-three men died. No one survived to describe the sinking, and the bodies that were later recovered were still wearing life vests.[1,2]
She was one of four large vessels lost on Lake Erie that day, along with the whaleback James B. Colgate, the lumber carrier Marshall F. Butters and the schooner D.L. Filer. Wikipedia gives the storm's toll as forty-nine, although the figures recorded for the individual ships add up to more.[2] Sources differ on small points. Wikipedia's storm article calls the Merida a Canadian steamer, while the HCGL record lists her under U.S. registry, and Wikipedia's list of Great Lakes shipwrecks places her loss off Long Point.[2,1,3] Wikipedia reports that the wreck has since been located. It lies in Ontario waters, so this page gives only the general area.[2]
Lives lost: All hands. Wikipedia reports that the bodies were later found still wearing life vests.
Questions people ask
How many people died on the Merida?
All 23 crew died when she foundered off Wheatley, Ontario, in the Black Friday storm of October 20, 1916, according to the HCGL vessel record.
What ships sank in the 1916 Black Friday storm on Lake Erie?
Four: the Merida, the whaleback James B. Colgate, the Marshall F. Butters and the schooner D.L. Filer. Wikipedia counts forty-nine dead; the ship-by-ship figures add up to 54 or 55.
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
- Southeast Shoal Lighthouse View from a boat
- Pelee Passage Lighthouse View from a boat
- Pelee Island Lighthouse Grounds open
- Middle Island Lighthouse (ruin) Ruin or relocated
- Colchester Reef Lighthouse View from a boat
Nearby shipwrecks
Nearby · Sponsored
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Sources
- HCGL vessel record: MERIDA, 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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