Feb. 14, 2003 The Steamer Cyprus Mysteriously Disappears -- Another Personal Perspective

My look at shipwrecks on the Great Lakes would not be complete without reference to a personal story from my old hometown of Port Colborne, on the south end of the Welland Canal at Lake Erie. Growing up, ships were a part of my life. My grandfather was a diver on the canal for years, and my father was an accountant at the government grain elevator. I visited many huge Great Lakes carriers with him as he did his rounds. I spent the summer I turned seventeen as an assistant light keeper at the Port Colborne lighthouse on a breakwater a mile out in Lake Erie.

The story I want to tell today has to do with an uncle I never met. He was Lee Spencer, my mother's cousin, who lived next door to my grandmother and mother. Lee was a bright young man, an excellent musician and church organist who wanted to be an engineer. In the summer of 1907 he got the opportunity to be a fireman on one of the great lake steamers -- the spanking new 440 foot Cyprus out of Lorain Ohio across Lake Erie. Lee wanted to be an oiler working on the engines but could only get a fireman's job stoking the boilers, one of twenty-three jobs on the ship.

A typical Great Lakes carrier in the canal at Port Colborne. This ship, The Regina, was featured in last week's column. No photo of the Cyprus is available. White Hurricane photo.

The Cyprus was an eight thousand-ton ore carrier, the fifth of eight being built at the Lorain Ohio American Ship Building Company yard. It was launched on August 17, 1907.In a long letter to my grandmother from Lee dated Sept 18, 1907, he tells about his life in his boarding house while waiting for the Cyprus to leave. He mentions that "the boat will fire easy -- she has two large Scotch boilers." Lee goes on to say that he could get a job for his brother George next summer, "if I'm still on her." Lee as a musician complained that the only music he had was on an old gramophone that all the boarders could use, and he expressed the hope that, "we could get a new organ for the church to rival the Methodists." He ended his letter with reference to a friend he met while going to the station to leave for the ship: "he knew nothing of my going away until he met me, and he was somewhat taken by surprise. My address next week will be: Stmr. Cyprus, Marine Delivery, Detroit, Michigan."

Three weeks later, on October 10, 1907, newspapers reported that the shipping season to date was one of the worst in years with over 100 deaths, six ships sunk, and "with the most dangerous part of the season yet to come." The next day, on October 11, the Cyprus was making good progress down bound from Superior Wisconsin with a cargo of iron ore along the south shore of Lake Superior when the winds began to rise. No other ships seemed to be having trouble but the Cyprus began to take on water, and a heavy list developed and water began pouring into the holds. The crew quickly put on life preservers but the lifeboats were not lowered because the captain was confident he could make safe haven in Whitefish Bay, six miles away. He gambled, and lost. Suddenly, without notice, "the freighter rolled on her side, and almost instantly plunged to the bottom."

Newspaper report of the sinking of the Cyprus.

The first and second mate, the watchman, and the wheelsman were close to a lifeboat and cut it loose, "just in time to escape the whirlpool caused by  the Cyprus as she plunged beneath the surface."The lifeboat drifted for  hours, hitting rocks five times before it finally landed on shore.By then  the only man alive was the second mate, who was found by a search team on  shore.Nine drowned men with life preservers were found at the same time. It was the next day before the exhausted survivor could tell his story. Apparently the captain and the crew thought they would soon be in the safety  of Whitefish Bay and were not especially concerned when the cargo shifted  and the boat capsized.With the exception of the one man who survived, all  twenty-two crew died.The bodies of Lee Spencer, another fireman, and the  captain have never been found.Lee's brother George went on to become a  high school principal and his brother John lived a remarkable life and died  at age 100.  

Report in the Port Colborne newspaper announcing Lee Spencer's  death.

During the investigation of the disaster, the captain of a ship that had  passed the Cyprus stated that he was concerned that the ship's protective  canvas covers on the holds were not in place, and that the decks were awash  and pouring into the holds.He was convinced that if they were in place the  Cyprus would have made it safely to port.  

Map of Lake Superior showing route of the Cyprus (1907) and the  Edmund Fitzgerald (1975).

The book The White Hurricane, about the November 1913 disaster that I wrote  about last week, lists eight ships that sank "mysteriously" over the years,  and includes the Cyprus as an example.Another one of these mysterious  disasters was the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest boat on the Great Lakes for  13 years, which sank in November 1975, the largest boat to ever sink  in the Great Lakes.I will tell the story of the "Fitz," which sank near  the Cyprus (see map) next week.