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Loss of the Monohansett |
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Loss of the Monohansett |
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| The Monohansett was destroyed by fire after she took shelter behind Thunder Bay Island on November 22, 1907. The 165 foot wooden steamer was typical of the small steamers plying the Great Lakes then. After loading coal at Cleveland, she headed north into Lake Huron, encountering heavy weather. Rather than founder, Captain Joseph Inches brought her into the calmer water of Thunder Bay on the 22nd. | The fish tug Ralph came to assist and poured water on the fire all night, apparently putting it out. But the fire had spread to the coal cargo and re-ignited the next day, burning her to the water line. She sank in only 20 feet of water a few hundred yards from the Island. On a calm day the boiler, propeller, and ribs can be seen from the surface. |
| Around 10 that evening fire was discovered in the engine room. It quickly spread through the tinder dry vessel, forcing everyone to flee forward. On Thunder Bay Island, Captain Person of the Life Saving Station, spotted the burning vessel and had his crew underway within minutes. They took off all 12 men, most with only their barest possessions. | The Monohansett is a very popular dive site because of the shallow water and she has all her machinery intact. The super structures, main deck and cabins are gone of course, but the ribs and planking are still clearly seen. They give a good idea of wooden boat construction of the 19th century. |
Take a dive on the Monohansett She sits 200 yards south of the old Coast Guard boathouse on the west side of Thunder Bay Island. The water is 18 to 22 feet deep, making it an ideal dive for scuba beginners or those with snorkel only. GPS Numbers for Monohansett - 450189/831190 - courtesy of Captain Lee Barnhill, Alpena. |
| Here we see the wooden ribs and bilge strakes of the Monohansett, with the large iron spikes that pinned everything together. After years of twisting at sea and the inevitable rot of wooden timbers, these spikes became loose in their holes, causing leaks that could not be repaired. If a boat lasted more than 20-25 years, it was living on borrowed time. |
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The left photo shows the large boiler used to hold the water and generate steam for the engine. The right photo shows the massive furnace which burned coal to heat the water in the boiler. Steam engines were well developed by the 1870's when this ship was built. Sometimes the boilers blew sky-high, killing crew members. |
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A part of the massive gears and drive train that went down with the ship. Here is one of the steam feed valves that ran high pressure steam to the expansion engine. |
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Two views of the cast iron propeller on the Monohansett. It is a four bladed model with detachable blades in case of damage. Later all propellers were three bladed alloys. |
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Animation of the Monohansett burning
* New Web Page, the Schooner F. T. Barney, fully intact, excellent photos *
Credits, Notes and Links
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