SUNKEN HISTORY—A DIVER'S JOURNAL
The Wreck of the W.H. Sawyer
by Captain Deb Biniecki

A late summer storm in August of 1928 battered Port Hope, flooding the small town. Diamond Creek, which at the time crossed the concrete highway, overflowed making it impossible for automobiles to pass. The low land between the main road and the lake was transformed into a huge pond, isolating the Port Hope Lumber Co. and surrounding the P. M. Depot with rushing water. Bridges were washed out, gardens ruined, businesses flooded. Many crop fields were ruined. One elderly man was found standing in waist deep water in his living room when finally rescued by row boat. Harbor Beaach reported only an ordinary shower that day. While the residents of Port Hope battled the effects of Mother Nature, another battle was raging a few miles away out on the lake.

The steamer W. H. Sawyer, in tow of the barges A. B. King and Peshtigo, was being buffeted by a fierce northeaster. The Sawyer was 201 feet in length with a 37-foot beam. She was built by F. W. Wheeler & Co. in West Bay City in 1890. She carried a crew of 13. The King, built in 1881 was 177 feet in length. She carried a crew of six men and a woman cook. The Peshtigo, built in Milwaukee in 1889 and was 201 feet in length, had a crew of seven.

The Sawyer and her consorts were loaded with bulk salt in Toledo earlier in the week and were headed for Lake Superior. They were delayed for a day in Port Huron because of a dense fog. Captain August Galonbisky was likely anxious to make up for this lost time when he decided to press on despite the weather. He headed the worn steamer north from the St. Clair River into the wind. The Sawyer and her barges continued up the lake, passing Harbor Beach that evening.

As the gale continued to build, reaching an estimated 50 mph, Captain Galonbisky reconsidered his earlier decision to bypass the safety of the Harbor Beach breakwater. When they were off Port Hope he cast the two barges adrift to fend for themselves, and headed back to the south with the wind at his stern. By this time, the steams of the steamer were leaking so badly that the load of bulk salt was mixing with the water in the hold and clogging the pumps. When the Sawyer was about 300 yards from the entrance of the harbor, it became clear that she would not make it. The Coast Guard had been observing the foundering steamer and already had taken action to assist the distressed vessel.

Six members of the crew were able to launch a yawl just as the Sawyer sank from under them. The captain, mate and wheelsman were tossed into the water and later rescued by Coast Guard Captain Davidson and his crew. Three other crew members rode wreckage to the shore and landed just south of the Harbor Beach Resort. One crew member, who was just taken on the steamer a few days prior, drowned. The cook, John J. Buckely, reportedly became violently seasick during the storm and crawled into his bunk, where he was presumed to be when the steamer sank. His body washed ashore the next week. The barges were blown on to the rocks off of Port Hope.

The crews of both barges survived the ordeal and were taken off by the Coast Guard the next morning. All three vessels, owned by the Blodgett Steamship Co. of Bay City, were damaged, but only the Peshtigo was worth salvaging. The Sawyer was considered a threat to navigation and was later blown up.

The Sawyer rests in approximately 1,240 feet northeast of the Harbor Beach break wall. She is a silent testament of a story long forgotten. Her broken bones contain no treasure and she is not glamorous to dive. Today, as small pleasure craft, jets skis or fishing boats glide over her grave site, hopefully, some will eye the dark hulk of her remains, and recall the life and death drama that unfolded on that spot 79 years ago.

If you would like to contact Capt. Deb with any ideas, feedback, or information regarding shipwreck stories, please contact her through Huron Explorations at 810-648-4638 or e-mail at fathoms@greatlakes.net. SCUBA diving charters can also be arranged through the above contact information.