Noquebay (shipwreck)
Coordinates: 46°55.568′N 90°32.717′W / 46.926133°N 90.545283°W
 The Noquebay, loaded with lumber. | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Noquebay |
| Owner: | T.H. Madden, of Bay City, Michigan |
| Port of registry: |
 United States |
| Builder: | Built in Trenton, Michigan in 1872 |
| Laid down: | October 9, 1905 |
| Launched: | 1872 |
| Fate: | Caught fire while off the shore of Stockton Island on October 9, 1905 |
| Status: | The burned wreckage remains at the bottom of Julian Bay, off the coast of Stockton Island. |
| Notes: | Location: 46°55.568′N 90°32.717′W / 46.926133°N 90.545283°W [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Originally built as a Schooner, later converted to a towable barge |
| Tonnage: | 684 tons |
| Length: | 205 feet (62 m) |
| Propulsion: | Pulled by a Tugboat |
The Noquebay was a wooden modified schooner that sank in Lake Superior off the coast of Stockton Island, in Chequamegon Bay. The wreckage site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[2]
History
Noquebay was built in 1872.[3] Although originally built as a schooner, it was later modified for use as a towable barge for hauling lumber. The Noquebay, along with another ship named Mautenee, was pulled by a Steamship named Lizzie Madden. All three boats were owned by T.H. Madden, operator of the Madden Company.[4]
On October 3, 1905, the Comstock and Wilcox Company of Ashland, Wisconsin loaded the Noquebay with 600,000 feet of hemlock lumber.[4] There she waited six days for the Mautenee and Lizzie Madden to return from Duluth, Minnesota. On the morning of October 9, the three boats pulled away from nearby Bayfield, heading to Buffalo, New York to deliver their cargo. Shortly after their departure, a fire was discovered on the Noquebay. The fire apparently started in the room containing the donkey boiler.[4]
Because the fire was too severe to extinguish, the crew threw some cargo overboard to save it, and jumped from the burning ship. Everyone successfully climbed safely aboard the Madden. There was nothing the Madden could do but abandon the burning ship, and continue on the journey with the Mautenee. When they reached the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, they wired ahead to Buffalo, then contacted Ashland with the news.[4]
References
- ↑ "Great Lakes Shipwrecks". Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- ↑ "Noquebay (Schooner-Barge) Shipwreck Site". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
- ↑ "Service History". Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Keller, James M. The Unholy Apostles. pp. 91–93. ISBN 0-933577-001.
