Other Names #
- James Carruthers
History #
James Carruthers (sometimes seen as James C. Carruthers) was a steel bulk freighter that was built in 1913 by Collingwood Shipbuilding in Collingwood, Ontario. It had an official number of C131090. The vessel measured 529 feet in length, 58 feet in beam, and had a depth of 27 feet. It had a gross tonnage of 7,862 and a net tonnage of 5,606.
On November 11, 1913, James Carruthers was lost during a severe storm off Kincardine, Ontario, in Lake Huron. The ship was carrying a cargo of 10,000 tons of wheat. Unfortunately, all 25 crew members on board perished in the storm.
James Carruthers was a brand-new vessel and was considered the largest Canadian laker at the time of its loss. It is believed that the ship was overwhelmed and foundered during the “Big Storm” of 1913, which was the most significant storm ever recorded on the Great Lakes. Speculation later arose that the ship’s wheat cargo made it ride too high for the storm conditions, as it was designed and built for the ore trade rather than carrying grain.
Wreckage of the James Carruthers was reported to have been found in the late 1980s. However, the exact location of the wreckage remains unknown. The ship is one of the eight shipwrecks lost in the 1913 storm in Lake Huron that has never been located.
