SS James H. Reed

42°16′10.2″N 80°47′46.2″W / 42.269500°N 80.796167°W / 42.269500; -80.796167

SS James H. Reed was an American lake freighter in service between 1903 and 1944. One of the largest freighters on the lakes at the time of her launching in 1903, she was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Wyandotte, Michigan, for the Provident Steamship Company of Duluth, Minnesota, managed by Augustus B. Wolvin. She served in the iron ore, coal and grain trade, and was involved in a number of accidents.

On 26 April 1944, as James H. Reed was headed from Escanaba, Michigan, for Buffalo, New York, with a cargo of iron ore under the command of Captain Herbert Brightstone, she encountered thick fog over Lake Erie. Despite sounding fog signals, James H. Reed was unexpectedly rammed by the Canadian freighter Ashcroft at 05:30 EST, 42 miles (67.6 km) west of Long Point. James H. Reed was seriously damaged, sinking rapidly, killing 12 of her crew. The 24 survivors were rescued by Ashcroft and a US Coast Guard cutter.

After sinking into 76 feet (23.2 m) of water, James H. Reed's wreck was dynamited as a hazard to navigation in November 1944. She is the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie.

The gunship USS Michigan became the first iron-hulled vessel built on the Great Lakes, upon her launching in 1843, in Erie, Pennsylvania.^[1] By the mid–1840s, Canadian merchants were importing iron vessels prefabricated in the United Kingdom.^[2] The first iron–hulled merchant vessel built on the lakes, Merchant, was built in 1862, in Buffalo, New York.^[3] Despite Merchant's clear success proving the potential of iron hulls, ships built from wood remained preferable until the 1880s, due to their lower cost, as well as the abundance of high quality timber and workers trained in carpentry.^[4] Between the early–1870s and the mid–1880s, shipyards around the Great Lakes began to construct iron ships on a relatively large scale.^[5] The most notable being the freighter Onoko, built by the Globe Iron Works Company, which became the largest vessel on the lakes upon her launch in 1882.^[6] In 1884, the first steel freighters were built on the Great Lakes.^[7] By the 1890s, metal had become a common hull material used on the lakes.^[8] The development of the pneumatic rivet gun and the advancement of gantry cranes enabled shipyard employees to work at an increased speed, with greater efficiency.^[9] This, combined with the rapidly decreasing steel prices, contributed to the rapid increase in the size of lake freighters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[10] The first 400-foot (121.9 m) freighter was built in 1895, the first 500-foot (152.4 m) freighter arrived on the scene five years later.^[11]

Throughout the 1880s, the iron ore trade on the Great Lakes grew significantly, primarily due to the increasing size of the lake freighters, and the rise in the number of trips they made to the ore docks of Lake Superior.^[12] As the railways were unable to keep up with the rapid production of iron ore, bulk freighters became integral to the region's iron ore industry.^[12] By 1890, 56.95% of the 16,036,043 long tons (16,293,372 t) of the iron ore produced by mines in the United States was sourced from the region surrounding Lake Superior.^[12] Freighters engaged in the iron ore trade frequently carried coal on upbound voyages to fuel mining equipment and infrastructure, while hauling ore when downbound.^[13]

Augustus B. Wolvin was a prominent businessman in the Great Lakes shipping industry, based in Duluth, Minnesota.^[14] His first business venture began with a marine insurance agency, founded in 1889.^[15] In 1895, Wolvin became the president and manager of the Zenith Transportation Company, with the freighter Zenith City marking his first shipbuilding venture that same year.^[16] He was appointed general manager of the newly assembled fleet of vessels belonging to the United States Steel Corporation's subsidiary, the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, in 1901.^[17] Shortly thereafter, Wolvin founded the Provident Steamship Company in Duluth, commissioning four large vessels for his new venture.^[a][19]

James H. Reed was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Wyandotte, Michigan, as yard_number 154.^[20] She was named after James Hay Reed, a lawyer and businessman who served as the director of the United States Steel Corporation, and as the president of the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad.^[21] Although customary to launch lake freighters on Saturdays, James H. Reed was launched at 12:00 on 28 May 1903, a Thursday, without a formal christening ceremony.^[22] Her launch was attended by Captain Joseph Kidd, Wolvin's superintendent for shipbuilding, after which she was moved to the Detroit Shipbuilding Company's Orleans Street plant in Detroit, Michigan, where she was completed.^[23] James H. Reed and her sister ships, D. G. Kerr and D. M. Clemson, were among the largest vessels on the Great Lakes in 1903, with the other two being built beside each other by the Superior Shipbuilding Company, in West Superior, Wisconsin.^[24] At the time of her launching, James H. Reed was the largest freighter ever constructed in Wyandotte.^[25]

She was built on the channel system, a longitudinal frame style introduced on the Great Lakes in the mid-1890s.^[26] It constituted several rows of flanged steel plates running the entire length of a vessel's bottom, deriving its name from the "channels" between the frames.^[27] This method provided vessels with additional strength, as well as preventing damage sustained in groundings from spreading to other areas of the hull, and increasing cargo capacity.^[28] In spite of rapid advances in shipbuilding technology, the hold of James H. Reed remained reminiscent of those found on wooden lake freighters. Between 1882 and 1904, the cargo holds of all iron and steel freighters contained stanchions, vertical columns designed to support their decks; and steel angles which were the equivalent of the knees used on wooden freighters.^[29] The stanchions in her hull, which supported her deck, were located 12 feet (3.7 m) apart, at the spaces between the 25 hatches, which were 9 feet (2.7 m) in depth.^[b][c][32] Her hull contained three watertight bulkheads.^[33] The cargo hold was divided into six separate compartments, the first of which was 1,600 long tons (1,626 t) in capacity; the second, third, fourth, and fifth were 1,100 long tons (1,118 t), while the sixth was 1,300 long tons (1,321 t). Her overall capacity was listed as 7,300 long tons (7,417 t).^[34]

The hull of James H. Reed had an overall length of 468 feet (142.6 m), a length between perpendiculars of 448 feet (136.6 m), as well as a beam 52 feet (15.8 m) in width.^[35] James H. Reed's hull, was 28 feet (8.5 m) in depth.^[33] The measurements of her register tonnage were calculated as 5,531 gross register tons and 3,991 net register tons, respectively.^[20]

She was powered by a 1,370 ihp (1,020 kW) 90 rpm quadruple expansion steam engine; the cylinders of the engine were 15 inches (38.1 cm), 23.75 inches (60.3 cm), 36.5 inches (92.7 cm) and 56 inches (142.2 cm) in diameter, and had a stroke of 40 inches (101.6 cm).^[33] Steam was provided by two water-tube boilers 13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m) in diameter, 12 feet 2 inches (3.7 m) in length, with a working pressure of 250-pound-per-square-inch (1,700 kPa). The boilers were each fitted with four furnaces, accounting for a combined grate surface of 128 square feet (11.9 m²), and a total heating surface of 5,000 square feet (464.5 m²). The engine was manufactured by the shipyard in Detroit, while the boilers were supplied by Babcock & Wilcox of New York City.^[33]

James H. Reed was the penultimate vessel in the Provident Steamship Company's fleet of four to be completed and enter service, after James H. Hoyt and D. G. Kerr respectively, but before D. M. Clemson.^[36] Her US official number was 77589, while her initial port of registry was Duluth.^[20] By 1914, it had been changed to Fairport, Ohio.^[37]

On 26 April 1944, as James H. Reed was headed from Escanaba, Michigan, for Buffalo, New York, with a cargo of iron ore under the command of Captain Herbert Brightstone, she encountered thick fog over Lake Erie.^[21] Despite sounding fog signals, James H. Reed was unexpectedly rammed by the Canadian freighter Ashcroft at 05:30 EST, 42 miles (67.6 km) west of Long Point. James H. Reed was seriously damaged, sinking rapidly, killing 12 of her crew. The 24 survivors were rescued by Ashcroft and a US Coast Guard cutter.^[21]

The same day James H. Reed sank, the freighter Frank E. Vigor was also lost in a collision on Lake Erie.^[38]

Resting in 76 feet (23.2 m) of water near a shipping lane, James H. Reed's wreck was dynamited as a hazard to navigation to within 45 feet (13.7 m) of the lake's surface, in late–November 1944.^[39] As a result of the dynamiting, her wreck is disarticulated and scattered over a wide area.^[40] She is the largest shipwreck in Lake Erie.^[41]