The Hydrus
Steamer Hydrus - November 1913 - From Robert McGreevy's Lost Legends of the Lakes
"The steamer Hydrus was originally christened the R.E. Schuck and was owned by the Gilchrest Transportation Company when she launched at the American Shipbuilding yards in Lorain, Ohio, on September 12, 1903. Measuring 436' in length with a 50-foot beam and a gross tonnage of 4,713, the Hydrus plied her way back and forth across the Great Lakes.
In 1913, Interlake Steamship Company purchased the ship, with Pickands, Mather & Company acting as managers, and they renamed her Hydrus. Her sister ship, renamed the Argus, was also purchased at the same time. The painting depicts the Hydrus in the standard fleet colors of Pickands, Mather & Company.
During Interlake's first year of ownership the Hydrus would meet tragedy. Saturday, November 8, 1913, the ten-year-old steamer Hydrus, captained by Los Angeles, California, native, John H. Lowe, battled hurricane winds and struggled to find a safe haven as the Great Storm strengthened in its intensity. By early Saturday evening, the Hydrus, laden with iron ore and bound for Cleveland, Ohio, snaked her way through the St. Mary's River.
Though tired from battling Lake Superior for two days and despite (he storm warnings posted, Captain Lowe continued onward. The Hydrus was in good company as she followed the Carruthers and the Sheadle down from the Soo. During the early hours of Sunday morning, the ships had passed DeTour Village, but the Great Storm would show no mercy, sustaining winds at 60 mph. Just past noon on Sunday, November 9, the Hydrus had made it as far as central Lake Huron. Before the ordeal ended, two of these three ships would disappear.
Two brothers, hailing from Marine City, Michigan, had worked diligently aboard the Hydrus throughout the 1913 season. Kernol Christy, aged twenty-four and the elder of the two, worked as an oiler, while his brother, Leslie, three years his junior, worked as a fireman.
On Sunday afternoon of November 9, the steamer Hydrus and the Durston exchanged passing signals while both ships pressed onward. As the Hydrus fought her way downbound, her twin sister ship, the Argus, made her way upbound with a captain equal in determination to make it to port on schedule.
After the storm finally blew its last, The Leader, a Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper, published an extra edition on Friday, November 14, 1913, updating its readers on the status of ships and their crews. The paper listed the Hydrus and her crew of at least twenty as missing. The newspaper stated the Hydrus and the Argus are "...long overdue on Lake Huron and while the owners admit that the chances of the boats turning up are not very good, they are still hopeful and will not give out any information regarding the crews until some definite information is received."
Confirmed reports of wreckage settling along the Canadian shoreline did little to ease the minds of those onshore awaiting word about the safety of their sailors. The Leader continued, "Dispatches yesterday stated that wreckage from both boats was washed ashore in the vicinity of Goderich...The Hydrus... was down bound with ore...The fact that the boats are long overdue looks bad but the owners say that the wreckage found may have been washed overboard and they have not abandoned hope that they will not show up."
Then, along with the wreckage, bodies began to gather along the shore. Among the dead were five crewmembers belonging to the Hydrus, who came ashore in their lifeboat near the Kincardine beach. Dickenson Christy of Marine City, Michigan, came to identify two of his sons, Kernol and Leslie Christy.
Also among the dead were the ship's captain, John Lowe, and the lone woman, Mrs. William Walker, who had worked aboard the Hydrus as the second cook. All bodies within the lifeboat wore a life belt with the exception of the captain, for he had likely been gallant until the very end. The back of Mrs. Walker's life belt bore the stenciled word, Captain.
On November 26, 1913, Lake Huron released one more of her dead. Reports indicated the body of R.A. Somerville, who worked as a porter aboard the Hydrus, drifted ashore near Stokes Bay, Ontario.
The location of the Hydrus wreck remains a mystery. Laden with iron ore, the ten-year-old Hydrus plunged to the bottom of Lake Huron's waters and remains one of two vessels still considered missing from the 1913 storm. As with all of her counterparts with the exception of the Wexford, should the Hydrus one day be found, it's likely she'll be discovered lying upside down.
I Despite the use of modern technology the Hydrus has remained elusive. However, a recent computer study of the courses taken by both the Hydrus and her sister, the Argus, has shown that the latter could indeed be the missing ship. It may be the only way to positively identify either ship will be to examine their cargos. The upbound Argus was loaded with soft coal; the downbound Hydrus carried grain. "
UPDATE … The Hydrus was found by URA in 2015!
In 1913, Interlake Steamship Company purchased the ship, with Pickands, Mather & Company acting as managers, and they renamed her Hydrus. Her sister ship, renamed the Argus, was also purchased at the same time. The painting depicts the Hydrus in the standard fleet colors of Pickands, Mather & Company.
During Interlake's first year of ownership the Hydrus would meet tragedy. Saturday, November 8, 1913, the ten-year-old steamer Hydrus, captained by Los Angeles, California, native, John H. Lowe, battled hurricane winds and struggled to find a safe haven as the Great Storm strengthened in its intensity. By early Saturday evening, the Hydrus, laden with iron ore and bound for Cleveland, Ohio, snaked her way through the St. Mary's River.
Though tired from battling Lake Superior for two days and despite (he storm warnings posted, Captain Lowe continued onward. The Hydrus was in good company as she followed the Carruthers and the Sheadle down from the Soo. During the early hours of Sunday morning, the ships had passed DeTour Village, but the Great Storm would show no mercy, sustaining winds at 60 mph. Just past noon on Sunday, November 9, the Hydrus had made it as far as central Lake Huron. Before the ordeal ended, two of these three ships would disappear.
Two brothers, hailing from Marine City, Michigan, had worked diligently aboard the Hydrus throughout the 1913 season. Kernol Christy, aged twenty-four and the elder of the two, worked as an oiler, while his brother, Leslie, three years his junior, worked as a fireman.
On Sunday afternoon of November 9, the steamer Hydrus and the Durston exchanged passing signals while both ships pressed onward. As the Hydrus fought her way downbound, her twin sister ship, the Argus, made her way upbound with a captain equal in determination to make it to port on schedule.
After the storm finally blew its last, The Leader, a Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper, published an extra edition on Friday, November 14, 1913, updating its readers on the status of ships and their crews. The paper listed the Hydrus and her crew of at least twenty as missing. The newspaper stated the Hydrus and the Argus are "...long overdue on Lake Huron and while the owners admit that the chances of the boats turning up are not very good, they are still hopeful and will not give out any information regarding the crews until some definite information is received."
Confirmed reports of wreckage settling along the Canadian shoreline did little to ease the minds of those onshore awaiting word about the safety of their sailors. The Leader continued, "Dispatches yesterday stated that wreckage from both boats was washed ashore in the vicinity of Goderich...The Hydrus... was down bound with ore...The fact that the boats are long overdue looks bad but the owners say that the wreckage found may have been washed overboard and they have not abandoned hope that they will not show up."
Then, along with the wreckage, bodies began to gather along the shore. Among the dead were five crewmembers belonging to the Hydrus, who came ashore in their lifeboat near the Kincardine beach. Dickenson Christy of Marine City, Michigan, came to identify two of his sons, Kernol and Leslie Christy.
Also among the dead were the ship's captain, John Lowe, and the lone woman, Mrs. William Walker, who had worked aboard the Hydrus as the second cook. All bodies within the lifeboat wore a life belt with the exception of the captain, for he had likely been gallant until the very end. The back of Mrs. Walker's life belt bore the stenciled word, Captain.
On November 26, 1913, Lake Huron released one more of her dead. Reports indicated the body of R.A. Somerville, who worked as a porter aboard the Hydrus, drifted ashore near Stokes Bay, Ontario.
The location of the Hydrus wreck remains a mystery. Laden with iron ore, the ten-year-old Hydrus plunged to the bottom of Lake Huron's waters and remains one of two vessels still considered missing from the 1913 storm. As with all of her counterparts with the exception of the Wexford, should the Hydrus one day be found, it's likely she'll be discovered lying upside down.
I Despite the use of modern technology the Hydrus has remained elusive. However, a recent computer study of the courses taken by both the Hydrus and her sister, the Argus, has shown that the latter could indeed be the missing ship. It may be the only way to positively identify either ship will be to examine their cargos. The upbound Argus was loaded with soft coal; the downbound Hydrus carried grain. "
UPDATE … The Hydrus was found by URA in 2015!
The SS Hydrus was an American steel-hulled Great Lakes bulk freighter, constructed in 1903 and launched as the R.E. Schuck. She was following the SS James Carruthers heading south on Lake Huron while carrying a load of iron ore when she and the Carruthers were caught in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.
The Hydrus foundered and sank with a crew of twenty-four aboard on or around 8 November 1913 while heading for the St. Clair River. During the storm, waves were said to be 35 feet high along with wind gusts of 90 miles per hour. Five of the crew were found frozen to death in a lifeboat that washed ashore in Canada. The James Carruthers was also lost in the storm as well as the SS Argus, which was the sister ship of the Hydrus. The wreck of the Hydrus was located in the summer of 2015 by a team of shipwreck hunters led by David Trotter. |
SS Hydrus History Name: Launched as: R.E. Schuck Owner: Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio Port of registry: United States Builder: American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio Yard number: 327 Launched: 1903 Identification: United States registry number 200315 Fate: Sold to the Interlake Steamship Company in 1913 Name: Hydrus Owner: Interlake Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio Port of registry: United States Acquired: 1913 Identification: United States registry number 200315 Fate: Foundered and sank during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. General characteristics Class and type: Bulk freighter Tonnage:
Beam: 50 ft 0 in (15.2 m) Height: 28 ft 0 in (8.5 m) Installed power:
Propulsion: Propeller |