Shipwreck: MARTHA HINDMAN

Skip Gillham, Vineland, Ontario, Canada

Many early 20th Century Great Lakes freighters lasted sixty years or more. In that era the vessels only sailed on fresh water and usually put in an eight or nine month navigation season. These factors combined with regular, unhurried, seasonal maintenance kept the ships running much longer than their saltwater cousins.

The Canadian bulk carrier MARTHA HINDMAN was fairly typical of this type of ship. It was built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company and launched at their Wyandotte, Michigan, shipyard on May 27, 1905. The 550 foot long by 55 foot wide vessel was registered at 6,200 gross tons and powered by a triple expansion engine of 1,800 horsepower and a pair of coal-fired scotch boilers.

Originally known as the LYMAN C. SMITH, the ship joined the L.C. Smith Transportation Company in June 1905 and usually carried iron ore or coal. These cargoes rattled into the four cargo holds via the 31 hatches.

LYMAN C. SMITH became an original member of the Great Lakes Steamship Company when it was formed in 1911 and remained in company colors until the fleet was dissolved in 1957. In the interim, it had survived at least a pair of collisions.

Regular upgrading led the installation of new side tanks and tank tops in 1947 and 1956 respectively. The cargo holds and spar deck were rebuilt in 1951 resulting in only 16 hatches with one piece steel hatch covers.

Changing economic times associated with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 gradually made ships of this size less competitive on the American side of the Great Lakes. However, such vessels were in demand in Canada where new hulls could not be built fast enough for the growing commerce. Many were purchased by Canadian shipping companies as a stop gap measure.

MARTHA HINDMAN

Figure 1. MARTHA HINDMAN inbound at Port Colborne on August 14, 1967.

LYMAN C. SMITH had joined Wilson Marine Transit in 1957 and then passed to the Hindman Transportation Company, based in Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1966. It was renamed MARTHA HINDMAN at this time.

The ship saw much of its new service in the grain trade and survived a $5,000 galley fire at Toronto during winter lay-up on December 31, 1974. With the sale of the Hindman fleet to Quebec and Ontario Transportation in 1978, this ship moved under their banner and saw similar work.

MARTHA HINDMAN was inbound for winter lay-up at the Lake Huron port of Goderich on December 22, 1978, when the vessel struck the edge of the breakwall in rough weather. The collision opened an ugly, jagged gash on the starboard side. The ship began taking water and settled on the bottom of the harbor by the dock. The damage was quickly patched and the vessel pumped out so that the cargo could be unloaded. Repairs were undertaken and the bulker was ready to go for the 1979 season. Q. & O. had instituted a wholesale renaming of the Hindman acquisitions that year, and this vessel spent the final two years as LAC DES ILES.

After 75 years of service, the aging laker suffered a grounding in the Detroit River on October 6, 1980, and this time the cost of repairs could not be justified. The ship was tied up at Toronto on November 18, and they shut down steam for the last time.

The following spring the hull was sold for scrap but resold for use as a grain storage barge at Tampico, Mexico. The cabins were stripped off prior to leaving the Great Lakes, and, while under tow south on June 1, 1981, LAC DES ILES got caught in heavy weather and sank 62 miles ESE of Cape Charles, VA at 0140 hours. There was no one on board.

MARTHA HINDMAN

Figure 2. Gashed hull of MARTHA HINDMAN at Goderich in December 1978.