The Wreck of the Fred B. Hall (1909)

Identification & Site Information

• Name: Fred B. Hall
• Former Name(s): None
• Official Number: 120757
• Type at Loss: Wooden Propeller Steam Tug
• Built: 1883, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Specifications: 50 ft (15.2 m) x 10 ft (3 m) x 5 ft (1.5 m) | 15 gross tons, 7 net tons
• Date of Loss: April 15, 1909
• Place of Loss: Near Susie Island, Lake Superior
• Lake: Superior
• Type of Loss: Ice Damage
• Loss of Life: Unknown
• Cargo: None

Vessel Type

The Fred B. Hall was a small wooden steam Tug, a vessel designed primarily for towing and harbour assistance. Steam tugs were essential workhorses on the Great Lakes, guiding larger ships into harbours, towing rafts of logs, and assisting in icebreaking efforts.

Built in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Fred B. Hall was compact but powerful, making it an ideal choice for navigating tight spaces and performing demanding tasks in extreme conditions.

Description

Constructed in 1883, the Fred B. Hall served as a Towboat and general-purpose Tug on the Great Lakes. Over its 26-year career, it operated in various roles, including assisting freighters, maneuvering barges, and breaking ice in harbors.

The Tug was small but durable, equipped with a single steam engine that drove a propeller. Tugs of this era were critical for the growing Great Lakes economy, particularly in industrial ports where large vessels required assistance to dock and maneuver.

Given the extreme winters on Lake Superior, the Fred B. Hall likely saw service clearing ice for shipping lanes and assisting stranded vessels during storms.

Final Disposition

On April 15, 1909, the Fred B. Hall was operating near Susie Island, located in the northernmost part of Lake Superior, close to the Minnesota-Ontario border.

The ice-covered waters proved too much for the small wooden Hull, and the Tug sustained severe damage from ice floes. Unable to stay afloat, the vessel sank beneath the frigid waters of Lake Superior.

The exact circumstances surrounding the crew’s fate remain unknown, as reports do not indicate whether any lives were lost. However, given the brutal cold of Lake Superior in April, any survivors would have faced extreme exposure and a high risk of hypothermia.

Located By & Date Found

There are no known records of the wreck being located, and the Fred B. Hall’s final resting place remains a mystery.

Given the depth and remoteness of the waters around Susie Island, locating the wreck would be a challenging task, requiring modern sonar scanning and deep-water exploration.

NOTMARs & Advisories

There are no current navigational warnings related to the Fred B. Hall, as the wreck is not a known obstruction to shipping. However, Lake Superior remains a treacherous waterway, especially in ice conditions, where modern vessels must still take precautions against ice damage.

Resources & Links

• Great Lakes Shipwreck Research
• Maritime History of the Great Lakes
• David Swayze Shipwreck File
• Wisconsin Shipwrecks Database

Conclusion

The Fred B. Hall is a reminder of the dangers of early Great Lakes shipping, where even small work vessels were at the mercy of ice and unpredictable weather.

Though its final resting place remains unknown, its loss highlights the constant struggle between man and nature in one of the harshest freshwater environments in the world.

Keywords & Categories

Keywords: Fred B. Hall shipwreck, Great Lakes tugboats, Susie Island wreck, Lake Superior shipwrecks, steam Tug disasters, ice damage shipwrecks, wooden tugs, Great Lakes maritime history.
Categories: Great Lakes shipwrecks, Wooden steam tugs, Shipwrecks of Lake Superior, Maritime disasters, Ice-related shipwrecks, 19th-century workboats.