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SS Comet (1857)

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Comet - under sail.
History
NameComet
OwnerDean Richmond (New York Central Railroad Company)1875; W. M. Hanna and George W. Chapin, Cleveland, Ohio 1875
Port of registryCleveland, Ohio  United States
BuilderPeck & Masters, Cleveland, Ohio
Completed1857
FateSank in Whitefish Bay 26 August 1875 after colliding with the Manitoba
NotesUnited States Registry # 5683
General characteristics
Class and typePropeller
Tonnage744 Gross Register Tonnage
Length181 ft (55 m)
Beam29 ft (8.8 m)
Depth12.33 ft (3.76 m)
PropulsionPropeller, direct acting vertical engine
Crew19

The Comet was built in 1857 as a wooden hulled propeller workhorse that was soon adapted to carry passengers. She suffered a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875 causing the loss of ten lives. She became known as the only treasure ship of Lake Superior because she carried 70 tons of Montana silver ore when she sank. The first attempts to salvage her cargo in 1876 and 1938 were unsuccessful. The Comet was finally salvaged in the 1980s when artifacts from the wreck were illegally removed. The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The fate of her silver ore cargo is unknown. Her wreck is now protected by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.

History

The 181 feet (55 m), 744 ton wooden propeller Comet along with her sister ship, the Rocket, was launched in 1857 by Peak and Masters of Cleveland, Ohio. Her direct acting vertical engine was manufactured by Cuyahoga Steam Furnace of Cleveland. The Comet was originally built as a pure workhorse. Upper deck cabins for passenger accommodations were not added until the winter layup of 1859–60.[1]

The Comet went through a variety of owners. She was first owned by Dean Richmond (New York Central Railroad). Her last owners were W. M. Hanna and George W. Chapin of Cleveland.[1] The Comet was involved in a series of maritime accidents prior to her final sinking in 1875. In 1863, she sank another boat in a collision in Lake Erie.[2] She was on a reef off Port Washington, Wisconsin in Lake Michigan in 1865. In August of 1869, she rammed and sank the sidewheeler Silver Spray. The Comet sank for the first time in 1869 after a collision with the propeller Hunter below Detroit, Michigan. Both vessels sank, were raised, and returned to service.[1]

Final voyage

Adolf Hitler, after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, became the leader of Germany in 1933. He abolished democracy, espousing a radical racially motivated revision of the world order, and soon began a massive rearming campaign.[9] This worried France and the United Kingdom, who had lost much in the previous war, as well as Italy, which saw its territorial ambitions threatened by those of Germany.[10] To secure its alliance, the French allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia, which Italy desired to conquer. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Saarland was legally reunited with Germany and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, speeding up remilitarisation and introducing conscription. Hoping to contain Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stresa Front. The Soviet Union, concerned due to Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of eastern Europe, concluded a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect though, the Franco-Soviet pact was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, rendering it essentially toothless[11][12] and in June 1935, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany easing prior restrictions. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August.[13] In October, Italy invaded Ethiopia, with Germany the only major European nation supporting her invasion. Italy then revoked objections to Germany's goal of making Austria a satellite state.[14] In direct violation of the Versailles and Locarno treaties, Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland in March 1936. He received little response from other European powers.[15] When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July, Hitler and Mussolini supported fascist Generalísimo Francisco Franco's nationalist forces in his civil war against the Soviet-supported Spanish Republic. Both sides used the conflict to test new weapons and methods of warfare[16] and the nationalists would prove victorious in early 1939. With tensions mounting, efforts to strengthen or consolidate power were made. In October, Germany and Italy formed the Rome-Berlin Axis and a month later Germany and Japan, each believing communism and the Soviet Union in particular to be a threat, signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy would join in the following year. In China, the Kuomintang and communist forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan.[17] 

survivors.[1] Captain Dugat, the master,two mates, two wheelsmen, one fireman, one lookout, and one porter survived.[3]

The Manitoba made every effort to save everyone possible. She took the rescued to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where they were given passage to Cleveland.[3]

The United States maritime investigation absolved Comet’s Captain Dugat of any blame for the collision in 1876. The Canadians absolved the Manitoba’s Captain Symes of any blame.[2]

Treasure ship

The Comet was first dubbed a “true treasure ship” by shipwreck historian Frederick Stonehouse in 1973. When she sank, her vessel was valued at $45,000 and the cargo at $50,000.[4] The Sault Evening News of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan announced in 1980 that the Comet was the “only known treasure ship on the bottom of the lake” when interviewing Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society [GLSHS] spokesperson Tom Farnquist.[2] The Comet carried 500 tons of pig iron, some copper ore, 54 sacks of wool, and 70 tons of Montana silver ore picked up at Duluth and cosigned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2] [5] Efforts to salvage the Comet’s cargo failed in 1876 and again in 1938 when the wreck could not be found. The Comet’s wreck was extensively filmed and salvaged by the GLSHS in the 1980’s.[2] [1]

Wreck discovery and artifacts

The Comet was first located in the 1970s by Great Lakes diver Kent Bellrichard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bob Nicholls and Tom Farnquist of the GLSHS relocated the Comet on 6 June 1980.[4] In July of 1980, Farnquist announced “divers will attempt to salvage as much of the silver as well as other salvageable material or artifacts. All of the process will be filmed. Proceeds will be used by the Shipwreck Society for further exploration and for the Society’s museum work.”[2] Michigan’s Antiquities Act of 1980 prohibited the removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands.[6] The Michigan Department of Natural Resources 1992 raid on the GLSHS offices and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum included seizure of artifacts that were illegally removed from the Comet but her cargo of Montana silver ore was not accounted for in the Affidavit of Search Warrant & Investigation Report .[2][7][8]

Wreck today

Artifacts from the Comet's wreck are on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the State of Michigan by a 1993 settlement agreement with the GLSHS following the DNR raid on the museum in 1992.[2][9]

The Comet lies in 230 feet (70 m) of water at 46°43.02′N 84°52.00′W / 46.71700°N 84.86667°W / 46.71700; -84.86667 in Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior.[10] Scuba diving to the Comet wreck requires advanced technical diving skills. Great Lakes diver Steve Harrington reported that "divers will find much of the hull intact with twin standing arches."[11] The Comet wreck is protected for future generations by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve as part of an underwater museum.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Stonehouse, Frederick (1985, 1998). “Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast: Maritime accidents from Whitefish Bay to Grand Marais, Michigan”, pp. 32 - 36, Avery Color Studios, Gwinn, Michigan, USA. ISBN 0-9332212-43-3.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sundstrom, Shine, (23 July 1980). “Comet only known treasure ship on bottom of lake”. Evening News, p. 4.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gerred was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Stonehouse, Frederick (1973). “The Great Wrecks of the Great Lakes: A directory of the shipwrecks of Lake Superior”, pp. 49 - 50, The Book Concern, Printer, Hancock, Michigan, USA. LCCN 73-75623.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wolff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Michigan DNR 1992 Investigation Report of GLSHS". Whitefish Point Watch. Retrieved 07 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Storey, Jack, (4 December 1992). “Shipwreck artifact dispute simmers”. Evening News, p. A1.
  8. ^ "Michigan DNR 1992 Affidavit of Search Warrant". Whitefish Point Watch. Retrieved 07 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "State of Michigan Settlement Agreement with GLSHS". Whitefish Point Watch. Retrieved 07 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Michigan Preserve". Michigan Underwater Preserves Council. Retrieved 11 January 2009. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Harrington, Steve (1990, 1998), p.p. 321 - 332. Divers Guide to Michigan, p.321, Maritime Press & Great Lakes Diving Council, Inc., St. Ignace, Michigan, U.S.A. ISBN 0-9624629-8-5
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