''Sevona'' was a steel-hulled

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the ...

that sank in

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

off the coast of

Sand Island A sand island is an island that is mostly made of sand. The largest sand island in the world is K'gari, Australia. Other examples of large sand islands are Moreton, North Stradbroke and Bribie Islands which lie south of K'gari (Fraser Island ...

Bayfield County Bayfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population is 16,220. Its county seat is Washburn. The county was created in 1845 and organized in 1850. The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chipp ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The wreckage site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1993.

History

''Sevona'', originally named ''Emily P. Weed'', was launched in 1890. She was renamed ''Sevona'' in 1897. On September 1, 1905, ''Sevona'' left Allouez, Wisconsin, bound for

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, with a cargo of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and a crew of twenty men and four women. Later that night, an unexpected storm hit the area. By midnight, the wind had reached

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 wind moving at a speed between .

-force strength. At around 6:00 a.m. on September 2, ''Sevona'' ran aground on a

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

and broke in half. No other vessel was in the area to aid ''Sevona'', so crew members on the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

section of the ship boarded the lifeboats. Crew members on the bow section, separated from the lifeboats, were forced to construct a

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

out of hatch covers and doors. All crew members on the makeshift raft later lost their lives in the storm. Three other vessels, including the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

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 ...

''Pretoria'', were lost in the storm. In 1909, the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

, who were concerned about navigation hazards posed by the wreck of ''Sevona'', blew it up with

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

. Several parts of the ship were recovered and brought to shore following the explosion, but what was left became a popular site for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

. The wreck site is managed jointly by the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

, the

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore consisting of 21 islands ( Apostle Islands) and shoreline encompassing on the northern tip of Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Superior. It is known for its collection of histori ...

, and the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set polic ...

. Sam Fifield, a former

Lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, had a summer resort on Sand Island, and salvaged some of the wreckage of ''Sevona''. With this material, he built a house on Sand Island, and named it the ''Sevona Memorial Cottage''. The house still stands today, and has undergone some preservation work over the years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevona 1890 ships Ships built in Bay City, Michigan Apostle Islands Maritime incidents in 1905 Shipwrecks of Lake Superior Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Bayfield County, Wisconsin

History

See also

References