The steam screw C.B. LOCKWOOD was a wooden freighter that sank in Lake Erie on October 13, 1902, about 15 miles off the port of Ashtabula, Ohio. The vessel was owned by the Gilchrists of Cleveland and commanded by Captain Cassius French. The ship was bound for Buffalo when it encountered a severe storm, causing it to spring a leak and begin to settle shortly before dark.
Nineteen people were on board the C.B. LOCKWOOD at the time of the incident. The captain, his wife, a woman passenger, and six crew members took a yawl, while the first mate and nine crew members took a lifeboat. The steamer sank soon after, and the fate of the crew members in the lifeboat was unknown.
The yawl containing ten crew members managed to survive the storm, but it was found upside down and abandoned about a mile from the shore and half a mile west of Ashtabula pier. One oar and a life preserver were found strapped inside the yawl. Unfortunately, no trace of the ten crew members in the yawl was ever found, and it was presumed that they had all perished in Lake Erie.
The C.B. LOCKWOOD was a steamship of 2323 gross tons and measured 285.2 feet in length, 45 feet in beam, and 21.9 feet in depth. It had a crew of 15 and was powered by 900 indicated horsepower.
The incident was a tragic event, and despite efforts to locate the missing crew members, their bodies were never recovered. The shipwreck of the C.B. LOCKWOOD remains a reminder of the hazards and risks that sailors faced while navigating the Great Lakes during stormy weather.
