Many a Midnight Ship: True Stories of Great Lakes Shipwrecks

Front Cover
University of Michigan Press, 2005 - 277 pages

Many a Midnight Ship brings to life the powerful history of the greatest northern waterway of the North American continent.

These fourteen stories illustrate the majesty of the Great Lakes and the tragedy bestowed upon its waters. From the "coffin" ship Atlantic, which foundered in 1852 along with some 300 lives, and which salvagers say still has millions of dollars of gold on board, to the burning of the Erie and some 250 Dutch immigrants, to the violent storm that tore the Algoma apart off Isle Royale, where crew and passengers clamored for their lives only twenty yards form shore as treacherous currents prevented most of them from reaching land.

These stories recount not only the calamities the Great Lakes have seen, but the remarkable acts of heroism, courage, and survival that have arisen when humans defy nature.

 

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Many a Midnight Ship: True Stories of Great Lakes Shipwrecks
Mark Bourrie
Snippet view - 2005

Common terms and phrases

American arrived ashore Atlantic Atlantic's Barclay Battle Beaver Island began boat Bond Head Bourrie Bradley bridge British Buffalo built cabin Canada Canadian Captain cargo carried Chicago Christmas tree ship Clark Street Bridge Coast Guard command Confederate crew members crewmen deck Detroit died disaster divers drifted Eastland engine Fenian fire Fitzgerald Hale harbor hull Inland Seas Johnson Island Lady Elgin Lake Erie lake freighter Lake Huron Lake Michigan Lake Superior later lifeboat loaded loss lost Marquette & Bessemer mate McDougall McDougall's miles Morrell Navy Niagara night North November officers Ogdensburg Ohio Ontario owners Parsons passengers Pelée Perry port raft rebels rescue river Rogers City Rouse Simmons sailed sailors salvage Sand Merchant sank schooner Schuenemann ship's shipwreck shore side sinking steamer stern storm Strang survived survivors took Toronto tried trip vessel waves whalebacks wind windmill Wisconsin wounded wreck wreckage York

Popular passages

Page 7 - State, the steamer, and the beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave; they know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew.‎
Appears in 56 books from 1892-2008

About the author (2005)

Mark Bourrie is a contributing editor to Ottaw City magazine and a nine-year member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. He is the author of six books, including Ninety Fathoms Down, a best-selling collection of Great Lakes shipwreck stories.

Bibliographic information

TitleMany a Midnight Ship: True Stories of Great Lakes Shipwrecks
AuthorMark Bourrie
Editionillustrated
PublisherUniversity of Michigan Press, 2005
ISBN0472031368, 9780472031368
Length277 pages
  
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