Great Lakes Shipwrecks: the Burning of the Steamer Phoenix, November 1847

On November 11th, 1847, the propeller driven steamer Phoenix left Buffalo, New York bound for Chicago. The Phoenix was a new ship on the Great Lakes, built in 1845, and used a propeller instead of paddlewheels for propulsion through the water. The ship was 144 feet long and 26 feet wide, and had a wood fired boiler. On this trip, Phoenix carried a cargo of coffee, sugar, molasses, and hardware, plus a full load of passengers. When the ship left Buffalo, it officially listed 186 passengers. With several intermediate stops along the way, the exact number is unknown, but the best estimates put the final passenger count as high as 250. Many of the passengers were immigrants from Holland, headed for new homes in Wisconsin, homes that most would not live to see.

Early in the trip, Captain G.B. Sweet fell on deck injuring his knee so severely he was forced to retire to his cabin and placed the First Mate in charge. Otherwise the trip was uneventful as the Phoenix steamed across Lake Erie, past Detroit on the Detroit River-Lake St. Claire-St. Claire River system and into Lake Huron, making stops at ports along the way. Phoenix then steamed up Lake Huron to the Straits of Mackinac and into Lake Michigan, where stormy conditions and high waves were encountered. Phoenix took shelter at Manitowoc, Wisconsin on the afternoon of November 20th to wait for the lake to calm and to take on more wood.

Fire on Board

By 1:00 A.M. on November 21st, the wood bunkers were full and the lake had calmed. Phoenix left Manitowoc for its next stop at Sheboygan, about 30 miles away. With the ship behind schedule, Captain Sweet ordered "full steam ahead" an order that the crew in the boiler room took too literally. Some of the crew had hit the Manitowoc saloons while in port, and alcohol apparently clouded their judgment. They kept feeding more and more wood into the boiler, causing it to overheat. When some passengers familiar with steam engines noticed this, they were told by the crew in no uncertain terms to mind their own business.

At 4:00 A.M. fire was discovered on the underside of a deck above the overheated boiler. As smoke poured out of the engine room, the fire alarm was sounded and a bucket brigade formed to deal with the fire. Phoenix was headed into Sheboygan--lights in the town were visible--but was still about 5 miles out in the lake. But the fire rapidly spread on the wooden ship, and at 4:45 A.M., the crew and passengers took to the lifeboats. Unfortunately, Phoenix carried only three lifeboats, wholly inadequate for the nearly 300 on board. And one boat sank after being filled with passengers. Just 43 people were on the other two, including the immobile Captain Sweet, who was lowered into one prior to launch.

The burning ship lit up the sky like a torch, and attracted the attention of people on shore. The steamer Delaware prepared to head to the scene, but its boilers were cold and it would take precious time for it to build up sufficient steam to depart.

Desperation , Panic, and a Hero

The situation on the burning Phoenix was becoming desperate, and there was widespread panic as the flames spread. When the overcrowded lifeboats pulled away, people jumped overboard to reach them. One girl in the water managed to get both hands on a lifeboat, but, afraid of being swamped, those on board pounded her fingers until she lost her grip. Furniture, doors, anything that could float was torn off the ship and flung into the water as floatation devices. But the water was extremely cold, and those who jumped in faced a good chance of death by exposure and hypothermia unless help arrived quickly.

One of the passengers on board was a hardware merchant from Southport (now Kenosha) Wisconsin named David Blish, who was returning home from a business trip. Blish had made friends with the immigrants from Holland, and when he was offered a place in a lifeboat, he declined. Blish helped others into the lifeboat, and went down into the smoke filled hold and led terrified passengers up on deck. With the lifeboats filled, he assisted others to the floating objects in the water, and tried to contain the panic on board. Finally, he fashioned a floating raft for himself and two small children. He held on in the icy water for as long as he could, before slipping beneath the waves. Blish gave his life to help others, and left four children of his own at home.

M. W. House, the ship's engineer, remained on board until the flames compelled him to jump overboard. He managed to climb onto a floating stateroom door. Around him were several others who had also taken to the water. Secure for the moment, House looked back at the burning Phoenix.

Death on Lake Michigan

What engineer House and the others in the water saw was a vision of Hell. Flames were completely engulfing the ship. People climbed onto the rigging and mast of the ship to escape the fire, but the flames followed them up. One by one, they fell screaming into the inferno below. One man had tied himself to the crossbar on the mast, but he died from the intense heat, finding relief only after the mast collapsed and his lifeless body crashed into the water.

For those who remained on deck, the scene was one of hopelessness and despair. Mothers with children begged for help, others prayed for deliverance and terrified screams were heard as the flames drew closer. One man had thrown enough floating debris into the water to support himself and his wife and child. The wife would not jump into the water without her husband, so they jumped together, missed the floats, and drowned. With the lights of their hometown in sight, two girls from Sheboygan who were returning home from an eastern school, joined hands, jumped into the water, and sank immediately to their deaths. Finally, the screams from the burning ship ended as the last victims perished.

But the ordeal for those in the water continued. One by one, those who had escaped death by fire succumbed to the cold and slipped below the surface. After about two hours, Engineer House saw the Delaware arriving on the scene. House shouted out the news and implored those left to hold on a little longer. One woman who had survived on a floating bench saw the approaching ship and fell off the bench and disappeared with the Delaware just a couple of hundred yards away.

Delaware rescued just three survivors from the water, including engineer House. With the 43 that had been saved in the lifeboats, the total number of survivors was 46. The exact number of those who perished is unknown, but is probably close to 250. This Phoenix was consumed by the flames, but unlike its mythological namesake, did not rise from them.

Sources:

Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivors by William Ratigan. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977.

Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. Cincinnati, OH: James T. Lloyd & Co., 1856.

Steamship Phoenix

"The Story of the Propeller Phoenix" by William O. Van Eyck. Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 7 No. 3, March 1924.