Daniel J. Morrell
The Daniel J. Morrell passing the Huron Lightship, 1966 - From Robert McGreevy's Lost Legends of the Lakes
"A standard 600-footer with a breadth of 58' and a depth of 27.4', the Daniel J. Morrell was a turn-of-the-century Great Lakes bulk freighter hauling limestone, coal, iron ore, and taconite. The Morrell was built in West Bay City, Michigan, in 1906, and was the first lake ship to have a gyro repeater, a navigational compass that created a record of her course.
The Morrell had radar installed just after World War Il, and more improvements came in 1956 when she acquired new safety devices as well as a new three-cylinder Skinner Uniflow engine. The Morrell's new engine increased her speed and power, resulting in greater profits for her owners. During her sixty-year career she made countless trips.
Owned by Cambria Steamship Company and operated by Bethlehem Steel Company, the Morrell was captained for the last half of the 1966 shipping season by Arthur I. Crawley. Heading downbound on the season's final trip, crewmembers learned they would be making one more run due to another vessel's breakdown. After off-loading her cargo at Buffalo, New York, the Morrell and her crew of twenty-nine traveled in ballast bound for Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, to pick up one last load of iron ore.
With a November storm brewing, Captain Crawley dropped anchor twice, once below Detroit and a second time in the relative safety of the St. Clair River. By 4 p.m., the Morrell's location was a half hour above the Huron Lightship; during good weather she'd likely have been already as far up as Harbor Beach. Though Lake Huron proved choppy and a November snow was falling, the Morrell was making progress.
The watchman on duty, Dennis Hale, followed orders to check for leaks in the side ballast tanks, the cracks often caused by cargo bucket damage. Hale noted the usual minor cracks spurting water. He was unable to enter the aft half of the second cargo hold nor any of the third, however, due to standing water 18" deep. Hale informed the captain.
By 10 p.m. Hale called it a night. Within a few hours he leapt from his bunk to the sound of the general alarm bell. Grabbing his life jacket, he went onto the spar deck. Looking aft, Hale saw the top of the smokestack, but the Morrell was humped in the middle. While the stern was brightly lit, the Morrell's bow was completely dark.
Dressed in boxer shorts and his life jacket and realizing the Morrell would sink, Hale returned to his cabin and grabbed his wool peacoat. He joined shipmates boarding the pontoon raft, which had the capacity to hold fifteen men.
The Morrell couldn't send a distress signal. When the ship's hull cracked, the wire cables powering the bow had been severed. Other ships were in the area. When the raft hit the water they could send a flare. There was hope.
The screeching sound of tearing steel had Hale observing the thick steel decking tear from starboard to port. Sparking and steaming, but still under power, the stern swung around to port, sidling along the bow.
The sailors then found themselves in the icy waters of Lake Huron with gusting winds and 30-35 foot-high seas.
Dennis Hale fought his way to the surface. Along with Hale, three other sailors would make it back to the raft: Art Stojek, Charles Fosbender, and John Cleary. They watched as the stern of the Morrell sailed away from them. Meanwhile, the Morrell's bow pointed upward as that portion made its descent to the lake bottom.
As night fell on November 29, Hale was all alone on the raft with his three dead shipmates. At 4 p.m. on November 30, after spending an excruciating thirty-eight hours on the raft, Hale spotted two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters circling. Hale's survival would be bittersweet: the twenty-six-year-old learned he was the sole survivor.
The Marine Board of Investigation would conclude, "The casualty was caused by a structural failure in the hull girder amidships which resulted in the breakup of the vessel..."
While the Morrell's stern had been located by the Coast Guard after she sank, her location was then lost after a faulty buoy, used to mark the site, sank. The stern was relocated on May 18, 1979, by Michigan shipwreck hunters Larry Coplin and David Trotter. They also found the Morrell's missing bow five miles away from her stern on the same date. Further investigation showed the clocks on the bow and the stern stopped exactly three hours apart, proving the same lapse of time occurred between the sinking of each of the Morrell's two halves.
The Morrell lies in 165' of water off the tip of Michigan's Thumb, about 28 miles northeast of Harbor Beach. Her broken halves are sitting upright, with her bow and stern facing each other."
The Morrell had radar installed just after World War Il, and more improvements came in 1956 when she acquired new safety devices as well as a new three-cylinder Skinner Uniflow engine. The Morrell's new engine increased her speed and power, resulting in greater profits for her owners. During her sixty-year career she made countless trips.
Owned by Cambria Steamship Company and operated by Bethlehem Steel Company, the Morrell was captained for the last half of the 1966 shipping season by Arthur I. Crawley. Heading downbound on the season's final trip, crewmembers learned they would be making one more run due to another vessel's breakdown. After off-loading her cargo at Buffalo, New York, the Morrell and her crew of twenty-nine traveled in ballast bound for Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, to pick up one last load of iron ore.
With a November storm brewing, Captain Crawley dropped anchor twice, once below Detroit and a second time in the relative safety of the St. Clair River. By 4 p.m., the Morrell's location was a half hour above the Huron Lightship; during good weather she'd likely have been already as far up as Harbor Beach. Though Lake Huron proved choppy and a November snow was falling, the Morrell was making progress.
The watchman on duty, Dennis Hale, followed orders to check for leaks in the side ballast tanks, the cracks often caused by cargo bucket damage. Hale noted the usual minor cracks spurting water. He was unable to enter the aft half of the second cargo hold nor any of the third, however, due to standing water 18" deep. Hale informed the captain.
By 10 p.m. Hale called it a night. Within a few hours he leapt from his bunk to the sound of the general alarm bell. Grabbing his life jacket, he went onto the spar deck. Looking aft, Hale saw the top of the smokestack, but the Morrell was humped in the middle. While the stern was brightly lit, the Morrell's bow was completely dark.
Dressed in boxer shorts and his life jacket and realizing the Morrell would sink, Hale returned to his cabin and grabbed his wool peacoat. He joined shipmates boarding the pontoon raft, which had the capacity to hold fifteen men.
The Morrell couldn't send a distress signal. When the ship's hull cracked, the wire cables powering the bow had been severed. Other ships were in the area. When the raft hit the water they could send a flare. There was hope.
The screeching sound of tearing steel had Hale observing the thick steel decking tear from starboard to port. Sparking and steaming, but still under power, the stern swung around to port, sidling along the bow.
The sailors then found themselves in the icy waters of Lake Huron with gusting winds and 30-35 foot-high seas.
Dennis Hale fought his way to the surface. Along with Hale, three other sailors would make it back to the raft: Art Stojek, Charles Fosbender, and John Cleary. They watched as the stern of the Morrell sailed away from them. Meanwhile, the Morrell's bow pointed upward as that portion made its descent to the lake bottom.
As night fell on November 29, Hale was all alone on the raft with his three dead shipmates. At 4 p.m. on November 30, after spending an excruciating thirty-eight hours on the raft, Hale spotted two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters circling. Hale's survival would be bittersweet: the twenty-six-year-old learned he was the sole survivor.
The Marine Board of Investigation would conclude, "The casualty was caused by a structural failure in the hull girder amidships which resulted in the breakup of the vessel..."
While the Morrell's stern had been located by the Coast Guard after she sank, her location was then lost after a faulty buoy, used to mark the site, sank. The stern was relocated on May 18, 1979, by Michigan shipwreck hunters Larry Coplin and David Trotter. They also found the Morrell's missing bow five miles away from her stern on the same date. Further investigation showed the clocks on the bow and the stern stopped exactly three hours apart, proving the same lapse of time occurred between the sinking of each of the Morrell's two halves.
The Morrell lies in 165' of water off the tip of Michigan's Thumb, about 28 miles northeast of Harbor Beach. Her broken halves are sitting upright, with her bow and stern facing each other."
From Kris Kohl's book: The Great Lakes Diving Guide (V2)
Great Lakes Highlight No11 The 60-year-old steel freighter, Daniel J. Morrell (586'5" x 58'2" x 27'9"), is another of the tragic yet legendary modern losses on the Great Lakes. She broke in half in a furious storm on Nov. 29, 1966, and from her crew of 29 men, there was but one survivor, Dennis Hale, who spent 36 hours on a life raft before the Coast Guard finally found him. The wreck's bow half begins at 100', with the top of the mast; the pilot house is at 142', and from there, it's another 70' of massive shipwreck before one reaches the lake bottom. This site is definitely for trained, experienced, cautious deep divers only. After the Morrell broke in two, the stern half steamed off into the night for an incredible five miles before sinking! It lies slightly deeper than the bow, but is not quite as interesting. Clockwise, from upper left: (See image below to right & blow up in slide show below)
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THE DANIEL J. MORRELL:
THE SHIP WHICH BROKE IN HALF Bow HALF: LORAN: 30761.4/49068.4 DEPTH: 205 feet GPS: 440 18.320'/0820 45.161' LEVEL: Technical STERN HALF: LORAN: 30803.7/49086.3 DEPTH: 218 feet GPS: 440 15.478'/0820 50.088' LEVEL: Technical LOCATION: This wreck lies about 12 miles north of Grindstone City, Michigan. |