The Mataafa Storm of 1905, was a storm that occurred on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

on November 27–28, 1905. The system moved across the Great Basin with moderate depth on November 26 and November 27, then east-northeastward across the

on November 28. Fresh east winds were forecast for the afternoon and evening of November 27, with storm warnings in effect by the morning of November 28. Storm-force winds and heavy snows accompanied the cyclone's passage. The storm, named after the steamship , ended up destroying or damaging about 29 vessels, killing 36 seamen, and causing shipping losses of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

3.567 million (1905 dollars) on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

Weather and forecast

A storm system moving through the Great Basin on November 26 and 27 was forecast to bring "fresh easterly winds" to the Great Lakes during the afternoon and evening on November 27 by the

United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

. At 6 p.m., winds at

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, had reached . Storm warning flags were flying by the morning of November 28 as the cyclone moved into southern Minnesota. At this time, easterly gales and heavy snows had spread across

, Lake Huron, and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. Five-minute winds reached at Duluth during the early morning of November 28, before dropping below

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ). At Duluth Harbor, lake levels peaked at above normal during the storm. The system brought heavy snows within its northern and western side across the northern Great Lakes on November 28 and November 29, with storm warnings continuing for the lower Great Lakes on the morning of November 29.

The wreck of SS ''Mataafa''

At five o'clock in the afternoon on November 27, 1905, the

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, eco ...

was on her way out of Duluth, loaded with iron ore and towing the

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

''James Nasmyth''. She was hit by the storm, and though she struggled on for a short time, by the time she had reached Two Harbors, Minnesota, at 4:00 p.m. the next day, it was clear to her master, Captain R. F. Humble, that she could not make the run. He gave the order to turn about, and she turned her prow toward Duluth. As she approached the port, it became clear that it was useless to try to bring both steamer and barge through the narrow

Duluth Ship Canal The Duluth Ship Canal is an artificial canal cut through Minnesota Point, providing direct access to Duluth harbor from Lake Superior. Begun privately in 1871, it was put under federal supervision and maintenance several years later. It is still ...

into the harbor, so the Captain Humble gave the order to cut ''James Nasmyth'' loose. Then ''Mataafa'' attempted to make it into safe harbor alone. She made it about half-way between the twin concrete piers when a backwater surged out. Heavy water struck her stern, driving her prow down to the muddy bottom, and then slammed her stern against the north pier. Her rudder tore off and the water pulled her prow out toward the open lake, then smashed her stern against the south pier. She grounded in the shallow water outside the north pier, where she broke in two, her stern settling slowly into the water. When the ship broke in two, twelve men were in the aft portion; three of them struggled to the forward portion. The remaining nine remained aboard the after portion and died of exposure during the night; one of the bodies in the after half had to be chopped out of solid ice. The fifteen men in the fore half fared better; although rescue attempts were futile during the stormy night, the next day a small boat made it out, and all fifteen were taken off in two boatloads.GenDisasters: Duluth, MN Steamer MATAAFA Disaster, Nov 1905, by Stu Beitler

Other shipping impact

By noon on Sunday, November 26, 1905, the steamer ''Butler'' emerged from the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

into Lake Huron. The sky was gray and overcast. For the rest of the day, ''Butler'' steamed north across Lake Huron. On the morning of Monday, November 27, the steamer Joseph G. Butler, Jr.'' passed

Detour Reef Light The DeTour Reef Light is a non-profit-operated lighthouse marking the southern entrance of the DeTour Passage between the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island. The light is an automated active aid to navigation. It mark ...

and entered the Saint Marys River. Monday afternoon, ''Butler'' cleared the

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...

, just behind the steamer ''Bransford''. That afternoon, the temperature was 28 degrees F (-2 degrees C). As the two steamers headed across

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield o ...

, the barometer started downward, then plummeted, and the snow thickened. By dusk, the lookouts could barely make out the light at

Whitefish Point Whitefish Point is a cape of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, United States, marking the entry point of Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of Paradise, Michigan. Whitefish Point is known for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, i ...

as they cleared the bay into the body of Lake Superior. Here ''Bransford'' turned northward to follow the Canadian shore to stay north of the storm. ''Butler'' turned southwestward to take the shorter distance and pressed through the storm.Bowen, Dana Thomas, ''Lore of the Lakes''; Freshwater Press, Inc.; Cleveland, Ohio; 1940, pp. 216-229 As ''Butler'' sighted the Caribou Island Light, the shuddering of the ship changed. The continuous pounding of the waves on the side of the ship became interspersed with a violent shaking. Down in the

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into var ...

, the chief engineer knew that the vibration was from the propellers rising out of the water as a trough between waves running up to 10 and 20 feet (3 and 6.5 meters). First the propeller would rise out of the water, and then the spinning blades would crash back into the water. This kind of pounding could open every seam in the vessel. It became his job to stop the blades every time they rose out of the water and get them going again once they were below the surface. If the ship were to lose headway, it would be at the mercy of the storm, but if the vibrations weren’t stopped, the ship would come apart on its own. The next obstacle was Keweenaw Point jutting out into the open lake. The steward reported that the windows were out in the mess and there was 2 feet (61 cm) of water rushing back and forth. All day Tuesday the 28th, ''Butler'' fought the boiling seas. At one point, with land not seen and fear of approaching a point of land, ''Butler'' turned to run with the storm, hoping to clear any unseen shoreline. Late that day, the storm began to abate, and when the captain could once again see across the lake, the light at Outer Island in the Apostles was spotted. Now a new course was set to make for Duluth. The seas were still high, but the wind had let up and the snow had stopped. Some fifty hours out of Lorain, ''Butler'' was once again on a steady course for Duluth. As she came abreast of Two Harbors, Minnesota, she spotted ''Bransford'' making for Duluth. Further ahead she sighted another steamer, which turned out to be ''Perry G. Walker'', which had sailed from Duluth just two days earlier. Approaching Duluth, ''Butler'' sighted more freighters. ''James Nasmyth'' was anchored out from

Minnesota Point Minnesota Point, also known as the Park Point neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota, United States; is a long, narrow sand spit that extends out from the Canal Park tourist recreation-oriented district of the city of Duluth. The Point separates La ...

, sitting low in the water with a load of iron ore and a thick coating of ice. Then ''Butler'' sighted ''Mataafa'', sitting in the shallows of Minnesota Point and split into several parts. It was noon as ''Butler'' steamed through the canal into St. Louis Bay, sighting ''R. W. England'' lying beached on the backside of Minnesota Point, a victim of the high winds the day before.

The wrecks of November 28

Aftermath

Split Rock Lighthouse Split Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located southwest of Silver Bay, Minnesota, USA on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The structure was designed by lighthouse engineer Ralph Russell Tinkham and was completed in 1910 by the United States Ligh ...

was built on Lake Superior, off Silver Bay, Minnesota, because of the storm. The Mataafa storm also spawned Vincent v. Erie, a case which has remained a staple of first year torts classes

References

External links

chroniclingamerica.loc.gov ''Mataafa''
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Mataafa'' Storm History of Minnesota Great Lakes 1905 meteorology 1905 in Minnesota 1905 natural disasters in the United States Maritime incidents in 1905 November 1905 events