JOHN A MCGEAN

BY: Capt. Ron Burkhard

When ships sink on the Great Lakes, it is a disaster. When sailors lose their lives during these sinkings, it is a tragedy. There have been many tragic disasters on Lake Huron off Michigan’s Thumb. Although they are all unique in their own way, they become special when they have a local connection. The John A. McGean had that local connection with the village of Port Hope. We will explore this ship’s history, her disappearance, and also make a SCUBA dive to see what she now looks like resting on the lake bottom.

The John A. McGean was launched on February 22, 1908 in Lorain, Ohio, as a steel-hulled propeller by the American Ship Building Company, hull # 00359. She was built for the Pioneer Steamship Company under U.S. registry and her official # was 205032. The vessel was 432’ long, 52’ wide, and 28’ high, with a gross tonnage of 5,100 and net tonnage of 3,777.

When she sank, the McGean was in her fifth season on the lakes and her captain was enjoying his second season in command of this new vessel. Captain Chauncey R. Nye was a well-know captain around the great lakes and had been master of many ships. This was the second vessel he commanded for the Pioneer Steamship Company, which was managed by Hutchinson & Co. The reason Captain Nye was so well known was because of his nickname “Dancing Chauncey”. Dancing was his passion and he acquired this name kicking up his heels while in port.

At 2:10 am Sunday, November 9, 1913 the McGean cleared Port Huron loaded with coal from Sandusky, Ohio, bound for Lake Superior. Much has been written about the Great Storm of 1913 and the incredible toll it took in lives and ships so we will not go into great detail here. But, at the time, the McGean did not know it was headed into danger. Other boats were passing up into Lake Huron at the same time, as they had done in Novembers past. Captain Ney may have been thinking of his wife’s yearly inquiry about being home for their wedding anniversary on December 16th. A later newspaper story quoted Eve as saying “when I asked my husband if he would be here on that day, he jested like he always did about my ‘solitary dinner’, for he never returned before Christmas. ‘Have a nice anniversary dinner and play I am sitting opposite’ he said”. We will never know what his final thoughts were. The McGean was last sighted 14 miles north of Tawas Point and was not seen again for over 70 years.

At first, the great storm was reported as just that-- “ a disastrous blizzard” The November 10, 1913 issue of the Port Huron Times-Herald was headlined “Many ships at mercy of wind and seas”. It went on to say “Never in marine history have lakes been lashed into such fury and anxiety is felt for many vessels which have not yet reported. No loss of life has been recorded”. However, by November 15th the Times-Herald was headlined “Vessels and Lives Lost in Big Lake Disaster”. A list followed containing the names of the vessels lost, their number of crew, the number of crew missing, and the number of the crew’s bodies recovered. The list totaled 14 ships with 250 crewmen missing and 48 bodies recovered. The John A. McGean was 8th on the list with 28 crewmen missing and 20 bodies found.

When intrepid wreck hunter Mr. David Trotter found the wreck of the John A. McGean, it created a sensation. Other ships that had disappeared during the Storm of 1913 had recently been discovered, but this one seemed special to me for a couple of reasons. First, Captain Ney was born and raised in Port Hope, Mi. and attended school there. According to Port Hope historian Jim Hunter, the Ney family lived in a house on North Main Street (which is still standing) and was related to the Bill Hunter family, which is no relation to his family. When his ship was last sighted above Tawas it was assumed it had sunk in that area. Ney’s death actually came within sight of his hometown and this fact was unknown until Trotter’s discovery. Second, the ship also sank within sight of the Harbor Beach lighthouse. If you pass by the Harbor Beach Community House, you will see several murals painted on the west wall. One of them is a beautiful depiction of the tragic sinking of the Regina in the storm of 1913. To me it is ironic that the Regina was chosen for this painting when it sank about 40 miles south of Harbor Beach and the McGean sank within sight of the Community House.

To SCUBA dive the wreck of the McGean, leave from the Harbor Beach Marina and travel out the main gap past the beautifully maintained Harbor Beach Lighthouse. It is about a 9.5 statute mile trip on approximately a 37 deg. true heading to the wreck site. I have made only one dive on this wreck and have lost my logbook, which recorded the depth. I recall going down to 185’ and being near the bottom. A look at NOAA Lake Chart # 14862 reveals an interesting fact. The wreck is almost straight east of the Port Hope chimney and about the same distance out—9.5 statute miles.

Jim Hunter had been in contact with Trotter shortly after the wrecks discovery and during their casual conversation, Jim mentioned finding coal along the Port Hope shoreline, east of the present marina. He stated that after a strong northeast storm a couple of pails full of coal could be gathered along the shoreline. This caused Trotter to mention the fact that they had not seen any big piles of coal on the wreck and he speculated that the ship may have turned over closer to shore, dumped its load of coal out on the lake bottom, and then drifted further out into the lake before sinking. A strong storm would not dislodge coal from a deep shipwreck, but it could move coal from shallower water. This may be a clue that would indicated that Captain Nye’s end, and also the McGean’s, came much closer to his hometown then previously thought.

My single dive on this wreck started out normal enough with a boat trip out of Harbor Beach during the summer of 1995. However, before it was over a few problems were encountered. I was aboard a 28’ Carver “Tender Mercy” owned by good friends Capt. Mac and Margie MacDonald. I was planning on diving the wreck of the Dunderburg and they were planning on surprising me by taking me out to the McGean. They had me fooled, even after we passed by a buoy marking the Dunderburg. I was out back assembling my gear when I saw the buoy flash by. When I asked Mac what that was, he said it must be a new wreck. I got pretty excited about that, but he said we would check it out later. That should have tipped me off because he is always looking for something new to dive. Also, was the fact that he didn’t want me on the bridge near the depth finder and LORAN.

Finally we got to a buoy and tied up. That’s when I noticed my first problem. When I hooked my computer up to my double-80’s it showed zero air pressure. The tanks had just been filled so that couldn’t be right. After inspecting them, I discovered that the tanks must have been heated up by the sun while sitting in my car and the over-expansion protection, called a burst disk, had opened and let all the air out of the tanks. I told Mac not to be concerned because I had a single tank with me that I would use on the dive. That’s when Mac told me the joke was over and that we were not on the Dunderburg, but on the deeper McGean and he didn’t think I should dive it with a single tank. I thought it over and told him not to worry. He and Margie should dive first and then I would go down with the camera for a short dive just to get a couple pictures of the wreck. Okay, so we had a plan.

It was a calm pleasant day on the water and I enjoyed helping them suit up and get in the water. I was excited about seeing a new wreck but apprehensive about diving this deep in the Great Lakes. After they went down, I took my time getting ready while my wife, Judy, helped me suit up. I jumped in and swam to the front of the boat and started down the line. About halfway down I passed the MacDonalds coming back up to their decompression stop. We both signaled okay as I kept going.

It sure seemed like a long way down before I finally saw any wreckage. It was darker then I thought and about average visibility. The mooring line was hooked into some railing and grating just above lake bottom. I set and checked my camera controls and then looked around. Below me was what looked to be the railing, decking, and stairs from the pilothouse area of the ship. It was flattened down against the lake bottom. Following this back, it disappeared under an enormous rusty steel wall rising up in front of me. I could see a few portholes above me and noted that they were closed. Suddenly I noticed some letters on the ship’s side. I could just make out part of the ship’s name. Excitedly, I snapped off a few camera shots of this area and started to move on when I noticed the camera was not working. I stopped to examine the camera closely to see what was wrong. Not again, I thought. This was already my second camera housing to fail. I knew it was only rated for 150’ deep, and I was at 185’, but I figured these things had a safety factor built in, just like bridges do. As I was wondering what to tell the camera manufacturer, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I don’t remember if I almost swallowed my regulator or spit it out. I hate it when that happens. I was absolutely sure I was alone down there. To say I was startled is putting it mildly. I whirled around and saw Mac grinning at me. He had noticed there was a lot of small line loosely wrapped and dangling on the mooring line and was worried that I was alone and might become entangled. So, he had come back down to check on me. That was mighty nice of him. I decided to end the dive because of the broken camera, small air supply, and the fact that Mac was doing a bounce dive and should not spend any time at depth. I was disappointed as we started back up the line, but figured there would always be another chance to return to this site. Unfortunately, I have not been back out to the McGean since.

Trotter describes this big wreck as being turned almost upside down. The front cabin area is crushed against the lake bottom. The stern area of the ship is twisted and broken, but at enough of an angle to explore the outside of the collapsed rear cabins. He found an anchor in place, dishes, bottles, and the stern’s wooden emergency steering wheel broken and partially buried in the lake bottom. At the upside down stern, are the raised letters John A. McGean, identifying this wreck.

Next we will explore one of the many shipwrecks in Lake Huron that has a name taken from Greek mythology—The Troy.