Forgotten Souls

A new investigation on the forgotten shipwrecks of the Great Storm of 1913

There are many sad and tragic stories from the Great Storm of 1913. The storm left incredible carnage across all the Great Lakes. Lake Huron took the greatest toll when it came to the shipping industry, with the sinking of eight giant steamers and many more left on the reefs and beaches. Some of the ships were recently discovered or remain to be discovered and several of them have been extensively documented and are popular dive sites. But a few were discovered many years ago and lie on the lake floor, in deep water, with the ships and their stories largely forgotten. Join us as we visit the two of the forgotten Steamers Argus and John McGean and explore the breathtaking toll that Mother Nature inflicted on these two massive ships, during the greatest storm to ever hit the Great Lakes!

Argus
The SS Argus was a steel-hulled Great Lakes freighter, that was constructed as the SS Lewis Woodruff by the American Ship Building Company, and was launched on 5 August 1905. Its original owner was the Gilchrist Transportation Company, based in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1913, the ship was sold to the Interlake Steamship Company, and was renamed the Argus.

The ship was lost on Lake Huron on November 9, 1913 during the Great Lakes storm of 1913. Under the commander of captain Paul Dutch, the Argus headed north into Lake Huron, with a load of coal. A little over 13 miles north of Point Aux Barques, the ship with the loss of all 25 hands.

John McGean
The John A. McGean was built in 1908 by the American Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Lorain, Ohio. She was 432 feet (132 m) long, with a beam of 52 feet (16 m) and a draft of 28 feet (8.5 m), and measured 5,100 gross register tons.

On November 7 or 9, 1913, John A. McGean was sailing into the Great Storm when she was sighted for the final time. Sometime the following day, she sank with all 23 crew. Her wreckage was not found until 1985, when it was discovered near Port Hope, Michigan.

The body of chief engineer Calvin Smith was found near Black's Point, Ontario (just south of Goderich, Ontario) in late November 1913. Second cook D.M. Betts' remains were identified at the morgue in Goderich, Ontario via a photograph and details furnished by the Lake Carriers' Association. His remains were sent home to Girard, Pennsylvania on November 20, 1913.

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