The Black Friday storm of October 1916
· Lake Erie losses: 4 pages · Lives lost on Lake Erie: 49–55
Also called: Black Friday storm, 1916 Black Friday storm
On Friday, October 20, 1916, a violent storm swept western Lake Erie and sank four large vessels in a single day: the whaleback James B. Colgate, the steel freighter Merida, the lumber carrier Marshall F. Butters and the schooner D.L. Filer. Only the Butters brought her whole crew home.
Sailors remember October 20, 1916, as Black Friday. Wikipedia's account of the storm describes the convergence of two high-pressure systems and a minor hurricane over the western part of the lake, and counts four large ships lost and forty-nine people killed.[1]
The James B. Colgate, a 308-foot whaleback carrying coal from Buffalo to Fort William, Ontario, filled through her cargo hold and sank bow first at about 10 p.m. Her captain, Walter Grashaw, survived on a small raft and was picked up by the car ferry Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 on October 22; the rest of her crew died.[2,3] Her wreck was found off Erieau, Ontario, in 1991.[2]
The Merida, a 360-foot steel freighter downbound on the Long Point course, foundered off Wheatley, Ontario, with all 23 men aboard; their bodies were later found still wearing life vests.[4,1]
The wooden Marshall F. Butters, carrying lumber from Midland, Ontario, also went down, but the steamers Frank Billings and Fred G. Hartwell took off all thirteen of her crew.[5,1] The 45-year-old schooner D.L. Filer had been left at anchor off the mouth of the Detroit River by the steamer towing her. She dragged her anchor and foundered about three miles east of the Bar Point light; six men died, and the one survivor was not rescued until the next day.[6,1]
The death toll depends on the source. Wikipedia's storm article gives forty-nine, but the tolls recorded for the individual ships, 25 or 26 on the Colgate, 23 on the Merida and six on the Filer, add up to 54 or 55.[1,3,4,6,7] The wrecks of the Colgate, the Merida and the Butters have been located; the Filer's has not.[1]
Lives lost: Wikipedia's storm article gives 49; the tolls recorded for the individual ships (Colgate 25–26, Merida 23, Filer 6) add up to 54–55.
Ships lost
Questions people ask
What ships sank in the 1916 Black Friday storm on Lake Erie?
Four: the whaleback James B. Colgate, the steel freighter Merida, the wooden lumber carrier Marshall F. Butters and the schooner D.L. Filer, all on October 20, 1916.
How many people died in the Black Friday storm?
Wikipedia's account says forty-nine. The tolls recorded for the individual ships add up to 54 or 55: 25 or 26 on the Colgate, 23 on the Merida and six on the Filer.
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Sources
- 1916 Black Friday storm, Wikipedia. Accessed .
- James B. Colgate (ship), Wikipedia. Accessed .
- HCGL vessel record: COLGATE, JAMES B., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
- HCGL vessel record: MERIDA, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
- HCGL vessel record: BUTTERS, MARSHALL F., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. Accessed .
- HCGL vessel record: FILER, D.L., Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. 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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