Collingwood Maritime History: The Armistice Day Storm 1940 - Captain Russell Elyea

Collingwood Maritime History Remembered

It was several years ago when I "bumped" into this story from my family tree. I remember the discovery vividly. It was around Christmas, my children were all quite young at the time, we were home and I was taking some time out on my computer to do a little Family History Research. I grew up with my great-grandmother Mae Elyea (nee Hall) telling stories and talking about family, but had heard little about her husband Fred Elyea's family. Fred passed away very young, at only 38 years old he left my great grandmother with 11 children under 16 and a farm to run with Fred's parents Silas and Catherine Elyea. My great-grandma lived to be a month short of her 100th birthday and was a force to be reckoned with her whole life. I knew her husband Fred had brothers, and a sister - but had heard few stories of them. In part I believe it was because after Fred's father Silas passed away in 1934, the farm ownership fell to his sons, who promptly sold it. My great grandmother and her flock of children were forced out of their home and livelihood; perhaps the family never forgave the boys (both Russell and Dow) for the eviction and this was the reason this story was never spoken. I don't know for sure. Maybe it is just that no one ever asked?

I was amazed at the stories of both Russell and his brother Dow Elyea and shocked that I had never heard them before. It also saddened me a little that of all the history that I learned as a child growing up in the Collingwood area, this very local story was not taught. As I asked about details of this event, I realized it was a story that had been forgotten.

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the Armistice Day Storm of 1940. While I give my utmost respect to the veterans of the past and present on this day, I think it is time that the tragic story of the crew of the three boats, the Anna C. Minch, the William B. Davock and the Novadoc are brought to light, and remembered.

Captain Russell Elyea 

Captain Russell Elyea was the eldest son of Thomas “Silas” Elyea and Catherine McElroy. The family included two younger sons, Dow and Frederick Silas and a daughter “Frankie” Frankena Gladys May Elyea. Silas’ father Daniel Elyea was one of the original pioneers of the Collingwood area, homesteading at the base of Blue Mountain with his wife Sophia Elizabeth Cade.

Russell Elyea was born 21 February 1885 in Bay City, Michigan. His father Thomas “Silas” Elyea had been working there as a Lumberman prior to 1883 when he married Catherine McElroy in Collingwood, Ontario. The couple returned to Michigan for a short while after marrying but by 1887 the family was back in Collingwood with the birth of Russell’s brother Dow Joseph Elyea on the 5^th of Feb 1887. Sister “Frankie” was born 2 years later on the 15^th of March 1889 and 2 years after that, brother Frederick Silas Elyea was born on the 1^st of June 1891, both in Kirkville near  Collingwood, Ontario. All of the Elyea children went to school at Kirkville; the old school house still stands just east of the corner of the Mountain Road and Grey Road 19. The Elyea farm was located on the north side of the Mountain Road at the base of the south end of Blue Mountain. The farm was sold after Russell’s father Silas passed away in 1934. On the 7^th of June 1945, fire swept through the unoccupied brick farmhouse leaving nothing but smoldering ruins. Today the area is being cleared for a housing development.

Immigration records between Canada and the USA show that Russell started working as a sailor on the Great Lakes when he was about 19 years old and by the time he was in his early 40s, he had ascended to the rank of First Mate (at 42 in 1915 aboard the Mathewston) and Master (by the age of 47 aboard the Oakton). Both the Mathewston and Oakton were owned by the Mathews Steamship Company of Toronto, Ontario plying goods between Port Colborne and Minnesota. Ship records describe Captain Elyea as an Irish Canadian, 5’6” tall with auburn hair and brown eyes. Russell’s brother Dow Elyea also worked on the Great Lakes as a Mariner but left Ontario for Alberta shortly after marriage (after 1915) to join the Hudson’s Bay Company as a ships pilot on the MacKenzie River.

Russell married Zella May Woodhouse on the 7^th of January 1914 in Meaford, Ontario. They had one child, a daughter named Muriel Marguerette Elyea (born 4 June 1915, died 12 Sept 1999). Russell died in 1940 aboard the lake boat, Anna C. Minch that was lost with the entire crew during the Armistice Day Storm on the 11^th of November 1940. At the time of his death, 55 year old Captain Elyea had served as a Mariner on the Great Lakes for 31 years. He left behind his 48 year old wife Zella and 25 year old daughter Muriel.

Muriel married Edward “Ted” Avery on the 6^th of August 1945 at the age of 30. The couple had two children, David and Janice. Muriel lived to the age of 84, outliving her husband by several years, they are buried in the Trinity United Cemetery, Collingwood, Ontario. Zella remarried after the death of her husband Russell. Her second husband, Thomas Skelton (born abt 1885 died bef. 1985) was a local widower and the couple remained in the Collingwood area. Zella died in 1985 at the age of 93 and is buried with her first husband Captain Russell Elyea in the Trinity United Cemetery, Collingwood, Ontario.

S.S. Anna C. Minch (from the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University,  http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/004914)

The Armistice Day Storm 11^th of November 1940: Three Ships Lost on the Lake

The Sinking of the S.S. Anna C. Minch, S.S. William B. Davock and the S.S. Novadoc

Seventy-five years ago on the 11^th of November 1940, my late-grandfather lost his uncle Captain Russell Elyea when a terrible storm blew across the American Midwest and into the Great Lakes Region.  Captain Elyea was acting as first mate to Captain Donald Kennedy, also of Collingwood, aboard the S.S. Anna C. Minch, a steel-hulled lake freighter that was carrying a load of grain from Fort William (now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario) to Chicago, Illinois.  A day that had started with blue skies and unseasonably warm temperatures ended with a record-breaking cyclonic blizzard thought to be responsible for up to 154 deaths, 66 of these onboard three different lake-freighters, including the Minch, and two other smaller boats caught on Lake Michigan in one of the worst storms of the century.

The storm developed from an intense low pressure system that brought moisture from the Gulf of Mexico up over the southern plains into the American Midwest where it merged with a system blowing in from the Pacific Northwest with hurricane-force wind-gusts[1].  The resulting system collided with a cold arctic air mass from the north producing an intense cyclonic blizzard or a “Panhandle hook”[2] winter storm.  The difference between this storm and regular winter storms was the intensity of the system and the speed at which it was moving.  The warm, sunny morning of Nov 11^th 1940 started to turn by mid-day with blowing winds and rain.  It also arrived unannounced, as the Chicago weather office responsible for issuing weather warnings was unmanned in the early hours of Nov 11^th when the system was building.  As the temperatures dropped, rain turned to sleet and by mid-afternoon a raging blizzard was in full swing that lasted until the next day.  Wind speeds were recorded between 80-130 km/hour (50-80mph), snowfalls of up to 69cm (27 inches) that blew into 6m (20ft) snowdrifts.  Temperatures dropped 30C (or up to 50F).  

Transportation and communications were crippled.  Two trains collided in white out conditions in Minnesota, small boats were caught out on Lake Michigan, duck-hunters taking advantage of the beautiful fall conditions were trapped by the storm; many froze to death.  Those taking refuge on several small islands on the Mississippi River were flooded by 1.5m (5ft) waves and 80 km/hour (50mph) winds blowing through their small camps; some tried to make it to shore but drowned[3]. 

There were many boats on the water that day but three big lake boats on Lake Michigan found themselves in a perilous situation. These were the S.S. Anna C. Minch, the S.S. William B. Davock and the S.S. Novadoc.  The Minch was carrying a crew of 24, the Davock 33 and the Novadoc 19 men; with the Minch and Novadoc crews primarily from the Southern Georgian Bay region and the Davock primarily from the Michigan area of the USA.

The S.S. Anna C.  Minch was a 380ft long, 50ft wide, steel-hulled steamer with a capacity of 2,880 tons.   She was built in Cleveland, Ohio by the American Ship Building Company and owned by the Western Navigation Company, Ltd., out of Fort William, Ontario (now known as Thunder Bay).  According to the Collingwood newspaper, the Enterprise Bulletin[4], the Minch was owned by the James Murphy Coal Company of Fort William and Managed by the Sarnia Steamships Ltd, Port Colburne, Ontario.    The S.S. Anna C. Minch was named after the great grandmother of George Steinbrenner (Jr.), owner of the New York Yankees baseball team. The Canadian crew consisted of 23 men, and one woman who was acting as Assistant Steward to her husband who was Chief Steward.

The S.S. William B. Davock was owned by Pickands, Mather and Co. of Cleveland, Ohio[5]; she was carrying a crew of 33 men under the command of Captain Charles William Allen of Detroit, Michigan[6] and a load of coal from Erie, Pennsylvania.  The Davock was built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, St. Clair, Michigan in 1907 and was operated by the Interlake Steamship Company.  The S.S. Willliam B. Davock  was a 420ft (130m) long and 52ft (16m) wide steamship.  It foundered off of Little Sable Point Lighthouse, Pentwater, Michigan on Nov 11^th 1940 but the location of the wreck was a mystery until May 1972, when the hull of the Davock was found by divers not far from the sunken hull of the Minch. 

November 3rd, 1940, the Minch had been in port at Collingwood with a part load of grain from the head of the Great Lakes and had left Fort William Nov 8th and was due in port in Chicago Wednesday at 2am.  On the 11th of November 1940, the Minch was carrying a load of hardwood lumber and commanded by Captain Donald Kennedy, 55, encountered seas that were more likely to be found on the north Atlantic than in the Great Lakes.  Accounts of that day estimated waves to be 30 feet high.  First mate of the ship was Captain Russell Elyea, 50, also an experienced Great Lakes Captain and second mate was Gordon Jeffrey, 31, of Collingwood, who was also a respected Captain.  The port at Pentwater would not have been accessible to the S.S. Anna C. Minch, even on a calm day due to the depth of the channel – it is thought that the good Captain Kennedy likely knew they were going down and hoped to get as close to shore as possible in hopes of rescue.  Due to limited visibility, it is likely that those onshore were unaware of what was going on just offshore with the Minch and the Davock. 

A third boat caught in the storm in the same area was the S.S. Novadoc, a Canadian ship that typically carried pulpwood; her crew included Ontario men from Collingwood, Singhampton, Midland and area.   The Novadoc, was another steelhulled ‘canaller’ that found itself in unmanageable seas.  “Nova” means “new” and “DOC” stood for “Dominion of Canada” a series of boats with the name “DOC” sailed out of the Collingwood harbour, some quite famous in their own right.  Accounts from the survivors of the Novadoc indicated that the weather that day was a bit foggy and the atmospheric pressure was dropping, but nobody knew it was going to get as bad as it did.  Swells were so high that they could not turn the boat and were then driven into the sandy shoals off of Little Sable Point near Pentwater, Michigan.  The only time they could see the lighthouse was when they were on the top of a wave that the crew described as “mountainous”. Once they were run aground the pounding surf broke the ship in half but their crew managed to huddle in cabins in the fore and aft parts of the ship for two days until a brave local captain, Clyde Cross and crew Gustav Fisher and Joe Fountain forged the heavy surf in a little fishing boat the “Three Brothers II” and rescued the crew.  Cold, and nearly hypothermic, they recounted that they had needed to support the remaining cabin walls with any extra wood they could find to keep the surf from destroying their last bit of shelter.  They had burned cabin furniture and anything else they could find to keep warm.  Their rescue had come when they had doubted whether the captain’s cabin would hold.  The heroic little fishing boat braved waters that the coast guard had deemed unsafe and there was an extensive inquiry held afterwards determining if the coast guard had indeed made the right decision to hold off on the rescue. 

Twenty four hours after the sinking of the Anna C. Minch and the William B. Davock, bodies began washing up on the Michigan shoreline along with debris from the wrecks.  My great-uncle was found the following spring, identified through dental records.  At the time he was survived by his wife Zella and a young daughter Muriel.  His brother Dow Elyea, also a ship captain working for the Hudson’s Bay Company in western Canada, acted as a pall bearer at his funeral.   Captain Russell Elyea is buried in Collingwood, Ontario along with his wife, Zella Woodhouse.  The wreck of the Minch was found by Captain J.D. Montgomery who discovered the ship’s wind vane sticking above the surface of the water.  Captain Montgomery had the vane mounted with a plaque stating “Presented to Stan Kennedy by Captain J.D. Montgomery, in memory of his brother Captain D.A. Kennedy, master, who went down with his ship, Nov 11 1940.”  Stan Kennedy of Port Colburne, Ontario received the vane and immediately passed it along to David Williams of the Huron Institute so that it could be used as an exhibit.^[7] This weather vane currently resides in the Collection at the Collingwood Museum in Collingwood, Ontario (Pers. Comm. S. Warner[8]).

Early theories were that the Minch collided with the S.S. William B. Davock as the two boats sank very close to each other in waters 1.5 miles south of Pentwater.  Many continued to theorize and speculate until 1972 when the hull was finally found.  With no evidence of a collision on the hull of the Davock and the rudder locked hard to port, the evidence suggests that the Davock was simply overwhelmed by the storm. In 2014, a dive on the wreck confirmed that the loss of the Davock was a result of a broken rudder that jammed against the propeller breaking of one or more of the propeller blades. This would have left the Davock without steering or propulsion[9] it sunk in 200 feet of water, likely after capsizing in the rough waters. The wreck of the Minch lies in two large pieces over a large area.  Early reports soon after the sinking from Captain Kennedy’s brother Mr. Stanley Kennedy indicated that divers found that the upper works of the vessel had been completely swept away and only the hull of the Minch remained.[10]  Recent dives on the Minch indicated that the boilers were still intact on the wreck which may have indicated that the ship had lost power before it sank. If the boat had gone down under full steam, the change in temperature and pressure would have led to the boilers exploding.  If this was the case, both the Minch and the Davock had lost control of their vessels. They really didn’t stand a chance in the hurricane conditions. All twenty-four of the Minch crewmen and thirty-three on the Davock were lost.

Current naval buffs list the Anna C. Minch and the William B. Davock among the ‘ghost-ships’ of the Great Lakes.  These were ships that disappeared, and sank without a complete explanation of their circumstances.  It is clear, however, that these boats, no matter how large or strong, were no match for the monstrous waves generated by the Armistice Day storm of the 11th of November, 1940.

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[1] This was the same storm that took out the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on 7^th Nov 1940 (the famous “galloping bridge”).

[2] Wikipedia (2010) Armistice Day Blizzard

[3] MPRnews (2010) The Winds of Hell.  Minnesota Public Radio News.

[4] Enterprise Bulletin, Collingwood,  Thursday Nov 14^th, 1940

[5] Sandusky Register, Ohio, Nov 13^th 1940

[6] Enterprise Bulletin, Collingwood, Thursday Nov 14^th, 1940

[7] From a newspaper clipping in the collection “Brookes Scrapbooks, July to Dec. 1941, Jul 1941” page ¹⁰, posted at http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/63084/page/14?q=

[8] Personal communication, S. Warner, Collingwood Museum, October 2015

[9] Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, 2015 Research Report

[10] Enterprise Bulletin, Collingwood Thursday Nov 21, 1940

Further information can be found in a video produced by Ric Mixter, "Safe Ashore: The 1940 Armistice Day Storm" at http://www.lakefury.com/ - the video documents the story of the Novadoc with interviews with surviving crew members. 

Listen to Dan Hall's song "Safe Ashore" with video clips of the documentary:

https://youtu.be/N4uh6aJeDoU

Sailors Lost During the Armistice Day Storm 11^th November 1940

Steamer Anna C. Minch

Captain Donald Kennedy, 55, married, Collingwood, ON, five seasons on the Minch

First Mate – Captain Russell Elyea, 50, married, Collingwood, ON, five seasons on the Minch

Second Mate – Captain Gordon Jeffrey, 31, married, Collingwood, ON, five seasons on the Minch

Chief Engineer – Vincent Reive, 57, married, Lefroy, ON, fourteen seasons on the Minch

2^nd Engineer – James Barker, 48, married, Freeman, ON, one week on the Minch

Steward – Howard Kirton, 35, married, Owen Sound, ON, two seasons on the Minch

Assistant Steward – Mabel Kirton, 34, wife of H. Kirton, two seasons on the Minch

Wheelsman – W. Vollick, 35, married, Midland, ON, two seasons on the Minch

Wheelsman – Lawrence Thompson, 21, single, Midland, ON, six months on the Minch

Lookout – George A. Sovey, 19, single, Midland, ON, six months on the Minch

Lookout – S. MacMath, 19, single, Goderich, ON, six months on the Minch

Fireman – Charles Myers, 26, married, Collingwood, ON, two seasons on the Minch

Fireman – Stanley McNab, 29, single, Collingwood, ON, two seasons on the Minch

Fireman – D. Rose, 24, single, Goderich, ON, six months on the Minch

Fireman – Howard Contois, 28, married, Midland, ON, one month on the Minch

Oiler – M. Dillon, 30, single, Maynooth, ON, four seasons on the Minch

Oiler – James McEachern, 25, single, Collingwood, ON, four seasons on the Minch

Ord. Seaman – R. Vollick, 16, single, Midland, ON, five months on the Minch (son of Wheelsman Vollick)

Ord. Seaman – Russ Thompson, 18, single, Midland, ON, four months on the Minch (son of Wheelsman Thompson)

Ord. Seaman – Clifford Contois, 21, single, Midland, ON, one month on the Minch (brother of Fireman Contois)

Ord. Seaman – J. Galliano, 19, single, Britt, ON, two weeks on the Minch

(List from the records of the Sarnia Steamship Company, crew of the steamer “Anna C. Minch” courtesy of Ric Mixter; confirmed in part by the list published by USGenNet 2013, http://www.us-data.org/mi/glm/storm/1940/news/crew.txt ).

Steamer William B. Davock

S.S. William B. Davock (From the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University; http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/001605 ).

Commander, Captain – Charles William Allen, Detroit, MI

First Mate – Charles E. Price, Highland Park, MI

Second Mate – John Weisen, Ashtabula, OH

Third Mate – Leroy Shurkey, Cleveland, OH

Wheelsman – Frank Stonek, Brooklyn, NY

Wheelsman – Andrew Stiffler, Cleveland, OH

Wheelsman – Walter Kiewice, McKean, PA

Watchman – Lawrence Edward Bleshoy, Ashtabula, OH

Watchman – James W. Bowman, Lyndhurst, OH

Watchman/Crewman – Joseph Rakowski (or Rokowski), Cleveland, OH

Deck Watchman – Martin Patrick Chambers (or Chalmers), Cleveland, OH

Deck Watchman/Crewman – Edward E. Becker, St. Clair, MI, 29 years old

Deck Watchman/Crewman – James Gordon, Harrison, MI

Deckhand – Woodring Wilson, Ashtabula, OH

Chief Engineer – John T. Burns, Toledo, OH

1^st Assistant, 3^rd Engineer/Oilman – Jere Collins, Milwaukee, WI

2^nd Assistant to the Engineer – Harold Mullen, Sault Ste. Marie, MI

3^rd Assistant to the Engineer – Arnold Johnson, Lake Carriers, So. Chicago

Oiler/Crewman – Carl Sharrow, Marine City, MI, 31 years old

Oiler/Crewman – Charles W. Findley (or Findlay), Ashtabula, OH

Oiler/Crewman – Jay E. Weber, Fair Haven, MI, 52 years old

Fireman/Crewman – Charles Ferguson, Tipton, IN

Fireman/Crewman – Lyle Doyle, Ashland, WI

Fireman/Crewman – Frank Parker, Conway, MI

Coal Passer/Crewman – Orville J. Shirkey, St. Clair, MI, 21 years old

Coal Passer/Crewman – Godfried E. Lietka Jr., Forest Hills, MI, 22 years old

Coal Passer/Crewman – Floyd Homer Younkins, Marine City, MI, 26 years old

Steward – Lawrence Gonyea, Duluth, MN

Second Cook – Lyle Campbell, Toledo, OH

Porter – Charles Flint, Ashtabula, OH

Porter – John Janatis, Ironwood, MI

2^nd Mate, Wheelman – George Hanson (unconfirmed if he was part of the crew)

(List from the records of the crew of the steamer “William B. Davock” from data published in SAGL (Strange Adventures on the Great Lakes) and the compilation on "boatnerd" The Great Lakes Ship Wreck File (Swayze 2001) http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/ and confirmed in part by the list published by USGenNet 2013, http://www.us-data.org/mi/glm/storm/1940/news/crew.txt ).

Steamer S.S. Novadoc

S.S. Novadoc (From the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University; http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/005348 ).

Men Lost:

Steward/Cook - Joseph Deshaw, Toronto, ON

Second Cook - Phillip Falvin, Halifax, NS

Survivors:

Captain/Master – Donald Steip, Wiarton, ON

Captain – Dick Semple, Midland, ON

Chief Engineer - Ernest LaLonde, Collingwood, ON

2^nd Engineer - Fred Chessell, Collingwood, ON

2^nd Mate – Alarie Blanchette

Wheelsman – Lloyd Belcher (interviewed in the documentary, "Safe Ashore")

Wheelsman – Bill Morrison

Lookout – Douglas Houden

Lookout – Joe Lacasse

Deckhand – Thomas Robinson

Crewman – Walter Marshall

Oiler – Dave Prentice

Oiler - Clifford Goldsmith, Singhampton, ON

Fireman - Howard Goldsmith, Singhampton, ON (interviewed in the documentary, "Safe Ashore")

Fireman – John Peterson

Fireman – James Quin

Deckhand – Everett Turner

Seaman – Tom Robinson

Seaman – Ray King

Deckhand – Bill Semple (son of Captain Dick Semple)

(List from the records of the crew of the steamer “Novadoc” courtesy of Ric Mixter; confirmed in part by the list published by USGenNet 2013, http://www.us-data.org/mi/glm/storm/1940/news/crew.txt ).

Foundering S.S. Novadoc off of Pentwater, Michigan in November 1940. The crew was stranded for three days before rescuers dared to try to get the crew off the boat. (photo: http://www.lakefury.com/ ) 

From the Enterprise Bulletin Thursday 21st November 1940, Collingwood, Ontario.