SUNKEN HISTORY — A Diver's Journal
The Wexford, Part 2
by Capt. Ron Burkhard

As we continue our story of the sinking of the Wexford and several SCUBA dives made on her, let's start by looking at the events leading up to the storm, the crew, and the vessel's sinking.

To me, the Great Storm of 1913 was very deceptive and it apparently was so for the many vessel captains who were trying to decide if they were going to venture out of a safe port into the open waters of the Great Lakes. Remember, this was before the days of your television's weather channel, local marine radio weather channel broadcasts and weather faxes. Mariners had to rely on the barometer and their many years of experience to forecast the weather. The storm really started on November 6 with heavy gales and cold weather. It lasted until the 8th and then seemed over. Late in the day on the 8th and early on the 9th the barometer was rising-a sign of good weather coming. Even though the weather service still had heavy gale warning flags flying, captains decided to head out into the lake and make up for lost time. Later, the newspapers were filled with questions and investigations into how the Canadian weather service failed to notify the ships of an approaching storm from the southeast that carried 90-mile-per-hour winds and eventually dumped over 20 inches of snow on the lakeshore areas. Investigations also revealed that the weather service had no flags to warn of hurricane force winds.

Sometime during Saturday, November 8th , Captain Cameron left the Sault Ste. Marie locks and guided the Wexford down the St. Mary's River, through the Detour Passage, and out onto Lake Huron. During this period the Wexford was spotted several times. Making about 10 knots in fairly decent weather, she was last spotted before the storm around 10:30 AM Sunday morning about 35 nautical miles north of Goderich, Ontario. The storm struck so suddenly that before noon the Wexford, and many other ships, would be battling for their lives.

News of the disaster that had befallen many Great Lakes ships on November 9-10, was at first slow to be realized. Newspapers from the time were filled with speculation and sometimes false information. On November 13, 1913, four days after the storm, a Goderich, Ontario, newspaper, The Signal, was headlined "Awful Marine Disaster on the Great Lakes". It listed ships believed to be lost and some local men who were on them. Also noted was the fact that the Wexford was seen outside the Goderich Harbor on Sunday mid-day but could not enter because of the heavy weather - this would become important during following investigations. Several people were critical of the fact that the lighthouse foghorn was not blowing until late Sunday evening-this would also become more important in the following coroner's inquest. Bodies and wreckage were starting to come ashore, and corpses were starting to pile up at the mortuaries. All efforts to identify the bodies were made, but some were never identified.

It is unknown when the Wexford's end came, and for 87 years it was unknown where her end came. A fireman said that at 3:55 AM on Monday morning he heard the Wexford blowing a distress signal outside the harbor. This was the last known contact with the ship.

Several days later, bodies of the crew started to wash ashore along with crewmen from other lost vessels. Many local residents spent their days searching the shore line for bodies and wreckage. Perhaps the $10 reward for each body found made the job a little easier.

Many of the Wexford's crew came from the Goderich and Collingwood area. To date, a crew and passenger list of 19 names has been confirmed. Several interesting facts come to mind while looking over the list. First, it has been reported by several sources that Captain Bruce Cameron was either 24 or 26 years old.

While talking with Mr. Robert McGreevy (who kindly supplied the exceptional paintings he did of the Wexford used with these articles), Bob stated that Bruce was the oldest man on the ship. I know Bob does meticulous research for his painting, model building, and articles and presentations. It is always fun to stop and visit with him. However, while technically correct, I would like to tease Bob with the fact that there was one person on the ship older then the captain. That would be the cook, Mrs. George Wilmott-a woman in her middle-thirties.

This was a young, but experienced crew - the youngest was 16 - on a ship that at 30 years old was older than most of the crew. Incidentally, it was reported that 10 days after the storm, an oar washed ashore with the message "I am with the boat lashed to the wheel, B." Some thought the "B" stood for Wexford's Captain, Bruce Cameron.

As fate would have it, this story would not seem complete without some ironies. Shipwreck stories always seem to have some unique personal story about the tragedy. This one is no different. One man missed the boat and survived and two joined the ship just in time to perish. The first mate, James McCutcheon, had left the boat to visit friends a few days before the storm. He missed his train ride from Detroit to Sarnia and therefore missed the departing Wexford, which saved his life. Also, while loading up for the down bound trip, the captain was approached by two cousins from Goderich, Murdoch and Donald McDonald, looking for a ride back home. By agreeing to take them along, the captain sealed their fate.

The November 20, 1913, issue of Goderich's The Signal stated that the funeral for the 25-year-old Murdoch was a large well-attended one with 22 carriages in the procession. The young man was held in high esteem by everyone, and his burial in the Maitland Cemetery cast a gloom over the whole town. He was survived by his mother, sister, and six brothers. Murdoch was a wheelsman on the Turret Chief.

At 3 PM on November 13 in Goderich, the Huron County, Ontario, coroner opened an inquest over the shipwreck victims. By the time this inquest would conclude four weeks later, the victims had all been buried - either identified or unidentified, memorial services had been held, and disaster relief funds had been established to aid the victims' families. Going over some of the witness's testimony makes for interesting reading. Much was made over the fact that according to some people the foghorn was not blowing during the day of the storm. This lighthouse foghorn was supposed to blow during reduced visibility, and it was thought that this may have aided the Wexford in finding her way into the Goderich Harbor. However, the lighthouse keeper first produced records showing it was blowing and then said his government boss told him it was not the light keeper's responsibility to operate the fog signal. It was not at the lighthouse, but in the city's water works plant. Eventually, it was determined that blowing the signal would not have made any difference because it was not loud enough, and no ship could have entered the harbor in such a storm. This led to the determination that Goderich Harbor was not really adequate as a harbor of refuge.

The inquest panel recommended that the harbor be made adequate with better signals, dredging, and a better break wall. They recommended that a government commission be established concerning placing wireless radio equipment on shore and on lake vessels to improve communications concerning weather. (Some had already been tested within the last decade near Chicago and had a 25 mile range.) They also asked that the lake vessel owners do a better job of keeping track of who was on their vessels at all times. This was because of the 17 bodies recovered from Canadian vessels, only five were identified.

One captain's testimony surprised me when he talked about the Wexford's wheel (propeller). Remember last month's article where I mentioned that the Wexford had a reputation for throwing blades off its prop? He stated he had heard talk of the Wexford missing a prop blade, but that he had been on her six weeks before the sinking and observed she had all four blades. Incredibly, testimony revealed that the ship had traveled with three blades and once had made a trip with only two blades on her prop. I wonder what that trip was like for the wheelsman.

In the end, Coroner Dr. A.C. Hunter summed up the evidence and then stated that the inquest had been called to find out how, and by what means, Thomas Stone, fireman of the steamer John McGean - over whose body the inquest had been called - came to his death. "Unfortunately, he said, there was not a survivor left to tell the tale."

On August 15, 2000, the Wexford was found by Mr. Don Chalmers. He discovered it while trolling for salmon using his sailboat and fish finder. At first he didn't think it was the Wexford. Many professional wreck searchers had spent weeks looking for the wreck between Bayfield and Goderich, Ontario. Although he was a diver and knew the fish finder was indicating some kind of shipwreck, he was 25 miles south of Goderich. Ten days later, Don and some friends made a SCUBA dive on the site and determined that it was indeed the Wexford. I have listened to Don tell of his finding the wreck, and he tells the story in a humorous and exciting way.

Next month I will describe taking our boat across to Canada and SCUBA diving on this fascinating wreck.

Copyright © 2005 Ron Burkhard