A LAKE HURON DISCOVERY
BY THE “HARBOR BEACH EXPLORERS”
Part 2
by Capt. Andy Donato

Join in the conclusion as the Harbor Beach Explorers work together to determine the identity of another of Lake Huron’s sunken mysteries.

We looked into dating small artifacts to help date the site in an effort to identify the vessel. There were china plates scattered about and the porcelain marks on their under side were photographed.

We were able to identify the porcelain mark as Ironstone China, Powell & Bishop. Research showed these were made in England between 1867 and 1872. Although the china markings made for interesting research, those facts didn’t draw us any closer to a confirmed identification. Another clue that needed consideration was the presence of “cable rigging” as opposed to rope rigging on this wreck. More research revealed that cable rigging entered the sailing industry post 1870. Although the dimensional data and cargo were a perfect match, it was this fact that made the A. E. Hart an unlikely candidate with its loss in 1869. That fact forced several other ships from the “potential list,” as well.

It wouldn’t be until the following dive season that continued dedication would pay off. While continuing to survey the wreck, the outlines of numbers were noticed engraved along a hatch combing. Careful removal of zebra muscles exposed the numbers “300.” This brought great excitement to the group as it was first thought that these numbers could be its enrollment. The A. E. Hart had an enrollment of 384. We thought 300 could be in an appropriate range, and if so, an identity shortly awaited. Research revealed the registration number of 300 belonged to the wrong style of vessel, which was retired in the Niagara area. This brought on a more careful review of the video captured from that dive. After close review we felt there was a letter T with some space before the numbers.

Upon seeing this, we took another approach to making the identity of the ship. Our interpretation now of the number “300,” was that these could be the registered net “Tons” the ship was rated for. Using an Internet database and typing in the data at hand; Schooner, two masts, length approximately 140 feet, and net tons of 300, the return was the Charles A. King. The Charles A. King was lost on September 26, 1895, and her cargo on that fateful day was coal, but all records showed the ship had been lost 10 miles northeast of Pointe Aux Barques, many miles from the site of our “Mystery ship.”

The Charles A. King was shown with an enrollment number of “5058.” The Charles A. King definitely satisfied a short list entry, but to be sure, a more definitive identification needed to be made. We suspected the enrollment numbers were carved along the same combing board as the tonnage rating, under the cover of Zebra muscles. If the “5058” enrollment number was confirmed, then we had the Charles A. King. Subsequent dives were spent cleaning the zebra muscles from the entire length of the hatch combing.

The results were successful in exposing more numbers. Revealed finally were the engraved enrollment numbers along side the markings for registered tons. At first the divers were not sure of the numbers they saw due to poor visibility, lighting angle and the texture of the wood. Threes, fives and an eight were seen, but after a search on an Internet enrollment database, no vessels were found to have those enrollment numbers. Another dive was scheduled to record the numbers on video tape for closer analysis. An entire 20 minutes of bottom time were spent, with camera, parked in front of the numbers using various lighting and camera angles. The results were conclusive. Seen on tape were “No 5558.”

A quick log-on to the Internet confirmed an alternate enrollment for the Charles A. King, as “5558.” To complicate discovering its identification, it was discovered that this Great Lakes vessel had two enrollments! Our search was over. The Charles A. King, lost for 114 years, had been found.

With the identification made, the story of our ship sailing the lakes becomes a more meaningful record. The Harbor Beach Explorers team began the second phase of research, gathering information about the history of the Charles A. King.

On her final day on the lake, the Charles A King was up bound from Toledo, on its way to Bay City, with a load of coal. The crew consisted of Captain James Glenn, four men and a woman. Captain James Glenn had just purchased the Charles A. King on Sept. 21, 1895, only five days earlier and this was his first trip with the vessel. Captain James Glenn encountered a strong northwest blow starting at 3 o’clock on September 26. As waves broke over the deck and poured into the ship’s hold, the crew went to man the pumps. The storm’s increasing intensity eventually became too much for the schooner to handle since the pumps couldn’t be kept clear as they became clogged with coal.

The struggling boat was first sighted by the E. C. Pope, passing at 8 o’clock that same evening. The E. C. Pope was to be the largest lake freighter ever built at that time. Captained by John Smith, the E. C. Pope approached and stood by for two hours until the entire crew from the Charles A. King could be retrieved from their yawl boat. Through the effort of Capt. John Smith and the E. C. Pope, there was no loss of life. The Charles A. King was reported as foundering 10 miles off Pointe aux Barques. The E. C. Pope continued north to Sault Ste. Marie that night and dropped off the crew of the Charles A. King. Captain James Glenn had lost all, as he had no insurance on his boat or its cargo.

Since no known photos exist of the Charles A. King, a drawing of a similar vessel, the Grace Whitney, built by the same shipwright Roderick Calkins of Cleveland is included here. The Grace Whitney, was built in 1866, three years after Charles A. King, and is nearly identical in dimension. The drawing serves as a depiction of the typical two-masted lake schooner, under sail. These vessels were the common freight haulers in the Great Lakes region through the development of the coal, grain, and ore trade of the 19th Century.

The plans for the Harbor Beach Explorers (HBE) is to put together a video documentary describing the life of the Charles A. King as she plied the Lakes, the vessel’s history and wreck site as it looks today.

Harbor Beach Explorers:

Captain Andy Donato, Skip Kadar (Harbor Master), Tom Mehringer, Lisa Rittinger, Charlie Unbehaun, Captain Gary Venet, Kerry Whipple

For further information on the HBE or this shipwreck contact Capt. Andy Donato at 810-841-2737 or Capt. Gary Venet at 586-994-7858.