''Francisco Morazan'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

that was built in 1922 as ''Arcadia'' by

Deutsche Werft Deutsche Werft (English: German Shipyard) was a shipbuilding company in Finkenwerder Rüschpark, Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), ''Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) and ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, for

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

owners. She was sold in 1934 and renamed ''Elbing''. She was seized by the Allies in the

River Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, Germany in May 1945, passed to the United Kingdom's

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...

and renamed ''Empire Congress''. In 1946, she was allocated to the Norwegian Government and renamed ''Brunes''. ''Brunes'' was sold into merchant service in 1947 and renamed ''Skuld''. In 1948, another sale saw her renamed ''Ringås''. In 1958, she was sold to

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

and renamed ''Los Mayas'' and then ''Francisco Morazan'' (for

Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a liberal Central American politician and general who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president ...

) the following year. She served until 29 November 1960 when she ran aground in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

and was declared a total loss.

Description

The ship was built in 1922 by Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg, as yard number 19. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of , and a draught of . She had a GRT of 1,141 and a NRT of 747, with a DWT of 2,097. As built, she was propelled by two

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

, double reduction geared, driving a single screw propeller. The turbines were built by Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

History

''Arcadia'' was built for Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt AG, Hamburg. She was launched In June 1922. ''Arcadia'' was operated under the management of Deutsche Levant Linie AG. Her port of registry was Hamburg and the

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

RCSM were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHBK. In 1934, ''Arcadia'' was sold to Kohlen-Import und Poseidon Schiffahrt,

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

and was renamed ''Elbing''. A new four-cylinder

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

was fitted in 1935. The engine had two cylinders of and two cylinders of diameter by stroke. In 1940, ''Elbing'' was requisitioned by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

for use as a coal ship in

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

. In March 1941 she was set on fire after being shelled by during

Operation Claymore Operation Claymore was a British/Norwegian commando raid on the Lofoten Islands of northern Norway during the Second World War. The Lofoten Islands were an important centre for the production of fish oil and glycerine, used in the German war ec ...

and beached at Solvær,

Lofoten Islands Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. There are two towns, ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Subsequently repaired, she saw service in Norwegian waters in 1942 and was returned to Kohlen-Import und Poseidon Schiffahrt in 1943. In 1945, her port of registry was changed to

Nordenham Nordenham () is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth (on the west bank) of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is locat ...

. She was damaged after being shelled by land-based artillery and beached on Schweinesand island. In May 1945, ''Elbing'' was seized in the

. She was passed to the

and renamed ''Empire Congress''. Her port of registry was changed to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The Code Letters GFSV and United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

180691 were allocated. She was placed under the management of Chine Trading Co Ltd,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. In 1946, ''Empire Congress'' was allocated to the

Norwegian government The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power ...

. She was renamed ''Brunes''. She was operated under the management of Kr Jebsen. In 1947, she was sold to R Mithassel, Norway and renamed ''Skuld''. In 1948, Mithassel was taken over by Birger Ekerholt and the ship was renamed ''Ringås''. On 30 June 1952, the Belgian

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

collided with the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

north of

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. ''Ringås'' rescued the 46 crew and three passengers from ''Mahenge'', which sank. ''Granville'' was badly damaged and set on fire. She was towed into

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

, France after the fire had been extinguished. In 1952, ''Ringås'' made her first voyage to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, delivering a cargo of

china clay Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedron, tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen ...

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

. In 1953, she delivered a cargo of

pulpwood Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for Papermaking, paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered ...

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Po ...

. In 1958, ''Ringås'' was sold to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

owner and renamed ''Los Mayos''. She was operated placed under the Panamanian Flag and operated under the management of Moa Navigation SA. ''Los Mayos'' visited the Great Lakes in 1958. She ran aground at Muskegon and was holed. In 1959, she was sold to C T Trapezountios,

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, and was renamed ''Francisco Morazan''. She was operated by the West Indies Transport Company of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and Monrovia and chartered to Interamerican Marine Operators, New York.

Loss

On 21 October 1960, ''Francisco Morazan'' began what was to be her last voyage from

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. She sailed to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where she unloaded a cargo of

phosphates Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphor ...

. ''Francisco Morazan'' then sailed to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, arriving there in mid-November. At Chicago, 1,118

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s, 10 cwt of mixed cargo was loaded, destined for

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and Hamburg, Germany. The cargo included

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, baled

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

, bottle caps, canned

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, castings, chemicals,

Gilsonite Asphaltite (also known as uintahite, asphaltum, gilsonite or oil sands) is a naturally occurring soluble solid hydrocarbon, a form of asphalt (or bitumen) with a relatively high melting temperature. Its large-scale production occurs in the Uinta ...

, hides,

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

, machinery,

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

solder Solder (; North American English, NA: ) is a fusible alloy, fusible metal alloy used to create a permanent bond between metal workpieces. Solder is melted in order to wet the parts of the joint, where it adheres to and connects the pieces aft ...

dross Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on a molten metal or dispersed in the metal, such as in wrought iron. It forms on the surface of low- melting-point metals such as tin, lead, zinc or aluminium or alloys by oxidation of the metal. Fo ...

tinplate Tinplate consists of sheet metal, sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rust, rusting. Before the advent of cheap mild steel, the backing metal (known as "") was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinp ...

, and

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

s. ''Francisco Morazan'' departed Chicago on 28 November.

Fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

slowed her progress and a problem with the feed pump for the boiler required the ship to be stopped while the pump was repaired. This meant ''Francisco Morazan'' was now in a race to leave the Great Lakes before the system closed to navigation on 3 December. During the night of 28/29 November, a snowstorm greatly reduced visibility and the ship was pushed off course. At 18:35 on 29 November, ''Francisco Morazan'' ran aground on the

South Manitou Island South Manitou Island ( ) is located in Lake Michigan, approximately west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is in land area and can be accessed by a fer ...

shoal, passing over the wreck of SS ''Walter L. Frost'' on her way. She ended up just from the shore. The , soon followed by the , arrived to help the next morning, 30 November. With ten- to twelve-foot waves battering the shore of South Manitou, the two ships were unable to send ship's boats to the ''Morazan'' or approach closely so the was sent with a breeches buoy. Before she arrived early on 1 December, the weather moderated and a ship's boat from ''Mackinaw'' was able to take off the two-months-pregnant wife of the Morazan's captain. She was then airlifted from ''Mackinaw'' to

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...

. The

salvage tug A salvage tug, also known historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

''John Roan V'' and its companion

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

''Maintland'' also joined the rescuers on 1 December. They and ''Mackinaw'' remained on scene while ''Sundew'' and ''Mesquite'' departed that night. ''Morazan''s owners dispatched a salvage engineer and an insurance agent from New York who, along with salvage engineers from Roan Salvage of

Sturgeon Bay Sturgeon Bay is an arm of Green Bay extending southeastward approximately 10 miles into the Door Peninsula at the city of Sturgeon Bay, located approximately halfway up the Door Peninsula. The bay is connected to Lake Michigan by the Sturgeo ...

, were airlifted to ''Morazan'' the following day, 2 December, to evaluate the ship's condition. Their conclusion was that although the cargo could perhaps be salvaged by Roan, the solidly grounded ''Morazan'' could not. The captain, twelve crewmen and the two owner's representatives remained on board ''Morazan'' until deteriorating weather started to break up the ship. They were taken off by ''Mackinaw''s ship's boats on 4 December and carried to Traverse City. After some days, Roan Salvage abandoned their intention to salvage the cargo and their ships returned to port.

Aftermath

In January 1961, representatives from the insurers of the cargo awarded a contract to Lake Michigan Hardwood Co. for the salvage of the cargo from ''Francisco Morazan''. Lake Michigan Hardwood Co engaged George Grosvenor of

Leland, Michigan Leland ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Leelanau County, part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula of the state. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 4 ...

to assist in the operation. Grosvenor owned a small

mail boat Mail boats or postal boats are a boat or ship used for the delivery of mail, and sometimes transportation of goods, people and vehicles, in communities where bodies of water commonly separate settlements, towns or cities, often where bridges ar ...

, ''Smiling Thru'' which was able to operate in shallow water. The plan was that the salvaged cargo would be transferred from ''Smiling Thru'' to the Lake Michigan Hardwood Co's ''Glen Shore'' for delivery to Leland, from where it would be taken by road to Chicago. Only about 5 tons of canned chicken and hides were recovered before salvage was abandoned due to storms. Over the years, part of the cargo was salvaged by the islanders for their own use. The Blue Star brand canned chicken was spoken highly of by the islanders. Amongst the cargo of toys were

balsa wood ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as balsa, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma'', and is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the mallow family Malvaceae. The tree is f ...

model aircraft kits made by

Monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

of Chicago, which proved popular with local boys. In August 1967, a local boy drowned while exploring the wreck of ''Francisco Morazan''. In August 1968,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Frank Kelley filed a lawsuit to have the wreck of the ship removed. He claimed that the rotting cargo was a health hazard and the of fuel oil posed a pollution risk. The following day, ''Francisco Morazan'' was found to be on fire and the cargo was entirely consumed. Two of the three defendants in the lawsuit disappeared and the lawsuit was later dropped. The wreck of ''Francisco Morazan'' is now the property of the State of Michigan.

References

External links

Shipwreck of the Francisco Morazan
National Park Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Francisco Morazan 1922 ships Ships built in Hamburg Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in March 1941 Maritime incidents in 1945 Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Norway Merchant ships of Norway Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia Maritime incidents in 1958 Maritime incidents in 1960 Wreck diving sites in the United States Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan