I've always been fascinated with great lakes shipwrecks and i consider this a fascinating tale.
The Marquette & Bessemer No.2 was a 335ft railway ferry that was only 4 years old when it disappeared in 1909.
The ship was under the command of Captain Robert Mcleod when it left Conneaut, Ohio on the morning of December 7 1909, headed for Port Stanley,Ontario with a cargo of 33 railroad car's loaded with coal.
After leaving Conneaut Harbor, she sailed directly into a fierce storm with winds reported in excess of 70 knots, blizzard conditions, and temperatures falling from 40 degrees to a mere 10 degrees above zero.
Residents of Conneaut reported hearing a ship's whistle blowing a distress call around 1 AM on the morning of December 8th. People in Port Stanley reported hearing a ship's whistle blowing distress calls between 3 and 5AM the morning of December 8th. One account says a customs official saw the ship the Port Stanley coast, headed west. Some believe that, due to the poor navigation lights at Port Stanley, McLeod could not see the harbor and had to head back out to the lake.
The ship was never heard from again.
The storm raged on for days and due to the rough sea's no ship's could leave harbour to search for survivors. For weeks after her dissaperanace, pieces of wreckage from the ship washed up on the shores of both the U.S. and Ontario, Canada.
After the storm abated and rescue ship's were able to search, an object was spotted on the horizon approximately 15 miles offshore of Erie, Pa. Upon approach, a gruesome discovery was made. A lifeboat from the missing ship was found half full of water, containing nine frozen crew members from the ship along with the ice-encrusted clothing of a 10th. All were dressed in work clothing, with none wearing any heavy protective clothing, blankets or coats. Some of the bodies bore deep slash wounds.
Other bodies continued to wash up onshore for the next few months at Long Point, Buffalo N.Y., and the Niagara River close to the falls. On October 7, 1910, almost a year from the date of the loss, the body of Captain Robert Mcleod was found along the Canadian shoreline also bearing deep slash wounds.
The ship is considered the holy grail of Lake Erie shipwrecks and to date despite excessive searching by divers has never been found. Adding to the mystery is that the wreck has reportedly been seen from the air on clear days. It has been sighted about eight miles northeast of Conneaut, in about 10 fathoms of water. Yet no one has located it by boat.
Some residents of Conneaut, Ohio claim that, if you're standing by the lakefront late at night, especially during December, and if you listen carefully, you can still hear the distress whistle from the Marquette & Bessemer No.2 piercing the cool night air.