SS William C. Moreland was an American lake freighter that was in service for less than two months in late 1910. At the time of her launching on 27 July 1910, she was among the largest vessels on the Great Lakes and then became the largest to be destroyed there following her grounding on a dangerous reef on Lake Superior's Keweenaw Peninsula a few months later.
She was built between May and July 1910 by the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio for the Interstate Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Less than a decade earlier, compelled by the ever growing demand for iron ore, Jones and Laughlin expanded into the Great Lakes trade to facilitate the transport of raw materials by commissioning several large freighters over a number of years, among them the William C. Moreland. She entered service early in September 1910. She usually carried coal on upbound voyages, and iron ore when downbound.
Early on 18 October 1910, William C. Moreland departed Superior, Wisconsin, on a day of calm weather, laden with of iron ore destined for Ashtabula, Ohio. As a result of smoke from several forest fires on the Keweenaw Peninsula restricting their visibility, the crew misjudged their position, leading to William C. Moreland striking the Sawtooth Reef around 21:00 (EST). As a result of travelling at full speed and the momentum generated by the immense mass of her cargo, she ran far onto the reef. Efforts by the crew to back her off the reef proved unsuccessful.
Within a few days, her hull had broken into three sections. As a result of frequent turbulent weather, attempts by several salvage crews were unsuccessful in raising her wreck, which was eventually abandoned to the underwriters as a total loss. Her stern was subsequently recovered in early September 1911 and was used in the construction of the freighter Sir Trevor Dawson five years later. William C. Moreland bow section eventually slipped off the reef into of water. It has since been flattened by ice and waves, eventually becoming a prominent feature of the Keweenaw Underwater Preserve.
History Background Following her launching in 1843 in Erie, Pennsylvania, the gunship USS Michigan became the first iron-hulled vessel built on the Great Lakes By the mid–1840s, Canadian merchants were importing iron vessels prefabricated in the United Kingdom. The first iron–hulled merchant vessel built on the lakes, the Merchant, was built in 1862, in Buffalo, New York. Despite Merchant 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. Between the early–1870s and the mid–1880s, shipyards around the Great Lakes began to construct iron ships, with the most notable being the freighter Onoko. Built by the Globe Iron Works Company, the Onoko became the largest vessel on the lakes upon her launch in 1882. In 1884, the first steel freighters were built on the Great Lakes. By the 1890s, metal had become a common hull material used on the lakes. The development of the pneumatic rivet gun and the advancement of gantry cranes enabled shipyard employees to work at an increased speed and with greater efficiency. 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. The first freighter was built in 1895 and the first freighter arrived on the Great Lakes five years later.
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. 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. By 1890, 56.95% of the of the iron ore produced by mines in the United States was sourced from the region surrounding Lake Superior. Freighters engaged in the iron ore trade frequently carried coal on upbound voyages to fuel mining equipment and infrastructure, while hauling ore when heading downbound.
With the unprecedented and rapid increase in demand for steel within the United States around the advent of the 20th century, the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sought to facilitate the transport of their raw materials and ventured into the Great Lakes trade in 1906. They began by ordering the construction of two identical freighters, B. F. Jones and James Laughlin, from the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan. Both of the vessels operated for the Interstate Steamship company, a subsidiary of Jones and Laughlin based in Cleveland, Ohio, managed by William Horace Becker, a prominent local fleet manager.
To further meet the expanding demand for steel, Jones and Laughlin commissioned two identical vessels for the Interstate Steamship Company; William C. Moreland, and Willis L. King, the latter of which was constructed by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse.
Design and construction William C. Moreland (US official number 207851) was built on the banks of the Black River by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. She was the third and final vessel constructed at the yard in 1910. Assigned the yard_number 387, her keel was laid down on 10 May 1910. She was named in honour of William C. Moreland (1836 – 1901), a Pittsburgh city lawyer, who additionally held the position of vice president within the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. By the time her construction concluded, William C. Moreland, one of the so-called "standard 600-footer class", was one of the largest vessels on the lakes. Her launching took place at 11:30 on 27 July, in the presence of a large crowd, which contained numerous officials from Jones and Laughlin, including her namesake. She was christened by Moreland's niece, Esther, and cost nearly $450,000 (equivalent to $ in ) to build.
Her hull was designed with an arched frame system meant to create an unobstructed cargo hold, while offering the strength provided by the stanchions of earlier lake freighters. She was built with 35 cargo hatches spaced apart to optimally accommodate loading at the cargo docks. The hatches provided access to her three cargo holds, which were located within the confines of three watertight bulkheads, and allowed her to carry loads of up to . Additionally, William C. Moreland featured side-ballast tanks located between the hull plating and the cargo hold beneath the deck arches. Her side tanks sloped inward from the cargo deck so that the bottom of her cargo hold lined up almost precisely with the outer edges of her hatch covers. This tapered "hopper" configuration allowed unloading rigs to more efficiently discharge almost all cargo from the hold, significantly reducing the reliance on manual unloading. These innovative features became universal on lake freighters around the turn of the century.
The hull of William C. Moreland had an overall length of , a length between perpendiculars of , as well as a beam in width. The moulded depth (roughly speaking, the vertical height of William C. Morelands hull) was . The measurements of her register tonnage were calculated as 7,514 gross register tons and 5,803 net register tons, respectively.
William C. Moreland was powered by a 85 rpm triple-expansion steam engine; the cylinders of the engine were , and in diameter, and had a stroke of . Steam was provided by two coal–fired, single–ended Scotch marine boilers in diameter, in length, with a working pressure of . The boilers were each fitted with 6 furnaces, accounting for a combined grate surface of , and a total heating surface of . Both the engine and boilers were manufactured by William C. Moreland builder.
Service history and final voyage
Following the successful completion of her sea trials, William C. Moreland was accepted by and delivered to her owners. She was temporarily enrolled at Cleveland, on 23 August 1910, receiving her permanent registration in Duluth, Minnesota, on 6 September. She entered service on 1 September under Captain Claude M. Ennes, undertaking her maiden voyage in light trim for Superior, Wisconsin, where she loaded a cargo of iron ore. By mid-October, William C. Moreland had completed four voyages, usually shuttling coal on upbound voyages, and iron ore when travelling downbound. The Toronto Marine Historical Society, which extensively covered the career of William C. Moreland in a 1998 article, surmised that her lack of completed voyages was likely as a result of her return to Lorain for adjustments. She was set to be equipped with a wireless system following the completion of her fifth voyage.
William C. Moreland departed Superior, on what was to be her fifth round trip, at 03:55 (EST) on the morning of 18 October 1910, under the command of Ennes. She was laden with of iron ore valued at $43,000 (equivalent to $ in ), destined for Ashtabula, Ohio. Weather conditions on Lake Superior were clement, lacking in notable wind or waves. As she passed Devils Island within the Apostles at 10:00, her course was altered to E × N ¼ N, placing her from shore, mirroring the route of her previous voyages. Around this time, her crew's visibility became partially (albeit not severely) obscured by a shroud of smoke originating from several large forest fires burning on the Keweenaw Peninsula, resulting from the prevailing drought-like conditions on the Upper Peninsula at the time. Ennes instructed his crew to report to him once Eagle Harbor Light was within sight. Shortly before 21:00, Ennes was summoned to the bridge by the mate, who, unsure of William C. Moreland position, had sighted an unidentified flashing white light. Shortly after his arrival, William C. Moreland ran full steam onto Sawtooth Reef, from Eagle River, Michigan, and northeast of the life–saving station at the Portage Canal. Owing to her speed and extreme inertia resulting from the immense mass of her cargo, William C. Moreland struck and practically bounced over the first ridges of the reef, coming to a halt over the second ridges. Her bow and the aft end of her mid section came to rest on the reef, with her bow in of water, her stern in , while her mid section (around the 22nd cargo hatch) lay above the lake bottom. Her crew attempted to back her off the reef, to no avail. Both of her first compartments on both port and starboard sides, as well as her forepeak filled with water as a result of damage sustained.
Ennes and two crewmen took a yawl ashore by 23:30 to notify both Becker and the surfboat crew from the Portage Life–Saving Station of the grounding by wire and telephone respectively. The surfboat crew and Ennes both arrived on the scene at roughly 03:00 on 19 October. At roughly 07:00, the beginnings of a storm encroached upon the wrecked William C. Moreland from the north-northeast, gradually worsening until achieving gale force winds by 12:00. The severe weather conditions necessitated the evacuation of the 25 stranded crewmen over the course of two trips to the shore, removing 12 on the first, and 13 on the second. Prior to departing William C. Moreland wreck, her crew filled her ballast tanks to prevent her from suffering possible further damage through her hull pounding on the reef during the storm.