Daniel J. Morrell

The Daniel J. Morrell was a standard 600-footer with a breadth of 58 feet and a draft of 27.4 feet, a turn-of-the-century bulk freighter that hauled limestone, coal, iron ore, and taconite. It was one of the few documented Great Lakes vessels to break in two because of a storm, and the loss of life resulted from a lack of distress signals after electrical power was cut off when the ship split apart. Its bow and stern now rest almost five miles apart on the bottom of Lake Huron. The disaster killed crew members Arthur I. Crawley, Phillip E. Kapets, Duncan R. MacLeod, Ernest G. Marcotte, Charles H. Fosbender, Henry Rischmiller, Stuart A. Campbell, Albert P. Whoeme, Norman M. Bragg, Larry G. Davis, John M. Grow, Arthur E. Stoke, John J. Clear Jr., John H. Schmidt, Valor A. Marchildon, Alfred G. Norkunas, George A. Dahl, Wilson E. Simpson, Donald E. Worcester, Chester Konieczka, Arthur S. Fargo, Saver Grippi, Leon R. Truman, David L. Price, Stanley J. Satlawa, Nicholas Homick, Joseph A. Mashem, and Charles J. Sestakaukas; Dennis N. Hale was the sole survivor, and six missing crew members have never been found. In 1922, the Daniel J. Morrell became the first Great Lakes vessel equipped with a gyro compass, which now resides in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.; gyro compasses are now widely used for navigation on all ships because of their advantages over the magnetic compass.

Michigan · United States