The Wreck of the Mataafa

The Wreck of the Mataafa. . At three-thirty in the afternoon of Monday, November 27th, 1905, the steamship Mataafa passed under the newly built Duluth Transfer Bridge, and onto Lake Superior. The Mataafa was towing the schooner barge James Nasmyth, bringing their loads of iron ore to the steel mills on Lake Erie. The red storm flag had been raised that day by Duluth's weather forecaster Herbert W. Richardson, yet many captains still felt safe in setting out for possibly their last trip of the season. A recent storm had passed over the lake four days earlier, and according to sailing lore, storms did not follow one another closely on the lake. It would prove a deadly decision., Soon after passing the port town of Two Harbors at seven-thirty, the ships ran headlong into a Nor'easter. After fighting the raging storm for six hours, Captain Richard F. Humble of the Mataafa decided to turn the ships back to safety in Two Harbors or Duluth. Unable to find Two Harbors in the storm, there was no choice left but to return to Duluth. They plodded on through mile after mile of the worst weather they had ever been in. When they approached the piers at noon on Tuesday, Captain Humble knew he could not bring both vessels safely through the canal. He ordered the Nasmyth to be set adrift, to ride out the storm on the lake., After the Nasmyth was set free, the Mataafa aimed for the center of the piers in the violent seas. Only luck and the grace of God would keep them there. As they began entry, a huge wave lifted their stern into the air, driving their bow into the lake bottom. The starboard bow then struck the north pier, before they were turned sideways, and shoved against the north pier., The Mataafa crew realized the rudder and propeller were gone. The gangway had broken, and the boiler room in the stern was flooding. An engineer yelled “it's all up boys,” and ran for the stairs. Eleven men on the stern had no choice but to follow him, even though they would be exposing themselves to the winter storm. The waves turned the Mataafa around from facing Minnesota Point, to facing downtown Duluth. She had settled on the lake bottom only 250 yards from this shoreline, with her stern 100 feet away from the north pier. The twelve sailors on the stern had no place to hide from the huge waves, and seventy mile per hour winds. Four of them would risk going forward to the bow, as the waves crashed over the Mataafa. Three of them succeeded, while one of them turned back. At two o'clock, the Mataafa split amidships, and sealed the fate of the men on the stern. There were now fifteen sailors on the bow, and found shelter in the pilot house and captain's cabin., The captain of the U. S. Lifesaving Service in Duluth was Murdoch McLennan. His crew was rescuing sailors from the steamer R. W. England, two miles from this spot, on Park Point. After learning of the Mataafa, they hurried to the canal, but darkness would foil any attempts at rescue., Thousands of citizens braved the sub-zero temperatures all night on this shoreline, to watch the Mataafa, as her crewmen struggled to survive. Bonfires were built on shore to keep the citizens warm. On the Mataafa, Captain Humble built a fire in the windlass room, and kept his men on the bow from freezing to death. The nine sailors on the stern could do nothing but wait on the deck, and hope for rescue., On Wednesday morning, November 29th, the lifesavers were able to rescue the 15 crewmen on the bow of the Mataafa. The nine men on the stern were not as fortunate. Four of them were found frozen on deck. Their bodies were recovered on Thanksgiving Day, November 30th. The other five could not be found and were presumed dead. The gale of November 27-29, 1905, is often called the “Mataafa Blow,” because so many thousands of witnesses stood on this shore, and watched as they struggled to survive., As a result of this storm, the lighthouse on the north pier was built, as well as Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore. Thirty-six sailors lost their lives, and twenty-nine vessels had sunk, wrecked, or washed ashore on Lake Superior alone.