Manasoo

DATE OF LAUNCH: 1888

DATE AND LOCATION OF LOSS: September 15, 1928, Lake Huron, near Griffith Island, Ontario

DATE LOCATED: June 30, 2018

SHIP DETAILS: Originally owned by the S.S. Macassa Hamilton Steamship Company, the Scottish built S.S. Macassa sailed between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, for 14 years. It was sold to the Owen Sound Transportation Company of Ontario in 1928, the same year of its demise. Renamed S.S. Manasoo, its new moniker reflected the primary ports of call, Manitoulin Island and the “Soo,” a nickname for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE LOSS: On September 14, 1928, the Manasoo departed Manitowaning, on Manitoulin Island, with an atypical passenger list: 17 crew, four (human) passengers, and 116 head of cattle. Dr. Art Middlebro was a medical student at the time and served as the ship’s purser, and he recalled the ship’s horrifying final hours in a 1982 interview.

“The weather got very bad, with a strong southeast wind getting up to gale force,” Middlebro said. “It blew so hard (that) it blew chairs right off the deck, up over the rail, and overboard. I opened the door on the top deck and it blew it right off its hinges—blew in the gangway door—and we took a door off the dining room and spiked it up… to keep the water out.

“Some of the crew were terrified; some of them were very calm. As we got farther south… just off Griffith Island about a mile and a half, the boat listed to port into the wind and kept on slowly going over, and most of the crew, including myself, managed to clamor up along the rail. It was dark and miserable and rainy, you couldn’t see very much, although there was some sky glow. I realized the ship was going to sink, and as I saw the stern disappearing slowly, I ran down the side of the ship and dove in, and headed for Griffith Island light.”

In the early hours of September 15, 1928, the Manasoo disappeared beneath the icy waters of Lake Huron, about half a mile from Griffith Island in Georgian Bay.

DISCOVERY AND FINDINGS: In June, 2018, a seasoned Great Lakes shipwreck diving team, Ken Merryman, Jerry Eliason, Cris Kohl and Jared Daniel, found the S.S. Manasoo in 210 feet of water. It had come within a half mile of Griffith Island, near Colpoys Bay.

INTERESTING FACTS: The remains of the Manasoo rest in approximately 210 feet of water. It is upright with the bow angled up from the lake floor, and is remarkably well preserved. The Manasoo is one of only five wrecks in the Great Lakes with a wooden pilot house and one of just four that were found with a car aboard (a 1927 Chevrolet, which is still there). It’s the only Great Lakes shipwreck that has both.