Wreck of the Sebastopol
Milwaukee Daily Sentinel - Sept. 19, 1855
Milwaukee Daily Sentinel - Sept. 19, 1855
One of the worst disasters ever to occur on Lake Michigan took place on Monday night as a severe northeast gale set in, rolling huge waves into the bay.
The palace steamer Sebastopol, Capt. Thos. Watts, came on towards her destination, having on board a full crew, some sixty passengers, and a full cargo of merchandise. The night was dark, and there seems to have been no light upon the government piers – at least so it was said by several of those on the boat. A light on the schooner Rockwell was mistaken for the pier light. The captain twice rounded to, then followed the deceitful light, and the steamer struck ground about three miles south of the government piers. She swung around, broadside on, and the storm increased in violence. The scene on board was described as a fearful one, with huge waves striking and dashing clear over the steamer, making her frame quiver throughout. A large portion of the passengers were women and children. About daylight the Sebastopol’s small copper lifeboat was got down, and Capt. Watts, with several of the crew, put off in a dangerous attempt to get ashore. The boat had only reached about half way, (the steamer lay about 500 feet from shore), when it was upset by a wave, and three of its crew were drowned. Capt. Watts and the others got ashore, and with the aid of persons on the bank, carried a line some 50 feet up the steep bank, and hauled out from the steamer a cable, which was made fast to a stump in the field. Messengers were sent to the city for the life-saving boat. Amidst great anxiety and terror on the part of the passengers, one man succeeded in getting to shore by clinging to an oar, and another by the aid of the line, while two or three others drowned. We found it difficult to obtain the names of the lost, as a great number of the crew were too drunk to know their own names, much less to tell those of others. When we arrived at the scene at about 8:30 a.m., no aid had yet come, and we found Capt. Watts in the field, overlooking the wreck, in a state of great anxiety, the more poignant because his wife and four children were still aboard. At his request, we drove back to see if his messengers had succeeded in starting the life-saving boat. Near town we met Capt. Stewart, Capt. Sherwood and others, with the life-saving boat on wheels, urging their horses along as rapidly as possible. By the time the boat reached the site, there were two or three hundred people at hand, ready to render assistance. The boat was speedily lowered down the bank and into the water. An anchor was fixed to steady the cable, and the life-saving boat, with her gallant crew, pushed off on her errand of mercy. Carefully guided by the cable, rising and falling in the heavy seas, the boat proceeded until it reached the steamer. In a few minutes the women and children were being lowered in a sling into their ark. When about a dozen were on board, the lifeboat put off for shore. Much apprehension was felt for its safety as it approached. A hundred men were in the surf up to their arm pits. They lifted the boat and carried it safely to shore, whence the passengers were lifted, from hand to hand, up the steep bank, and taken into houses nearby, where they were kindly cared for. Not a life was lost after the life-saving boat reached the steamer. Steadily and constantly did the gallant crew perform their good work, nor did they cease when every soul was safe on shore, for they next endeavored to save the horses, of which some forty were on board, and they did save seven or eight. They then went to work on the baggage. Some 20 or 30 trunks were put ashore, most of which were taken to the sheriff’s office, awaiting owners. By 12 o’clock all the surviving passengers and crew were ashore in safety. Of the crew, we believe 28 were saved, and five drowned. Of the passengers, 60 were saved, and two German passengers, whose names are not known, are thought to have drowned. We regret to state that a disposition to plunder began to manifest itself in the afternoon. A guard was set during the night to protect such goods as floated ashore. The Sebastopol was finishing her first season on the lakes. The 245-foot palace steamer was launched earlier this year at Cleveland. |