The Raleigh’s Final Voyage: How a Lake Erie Storm Sank the Freighter in 1911

On the night of November 30, 1911, the wooden steamer Raleigh—a 235-foot vessel—was heading toward Erie, Pennsylvania, to deliver cargo to the Hammermill Paper Company. Shortly after clearing the Welland Canal, the ship was hit by severe gale-force winds. Around midnight, disaster struck when its rudder snapped, sending the situation into a downward spiral.

What was meant to be the Raleigh’s final voyage of the year ended up being its last forever. The vessel met its tragic end off Shisler Point, sinking beneath the waves and claiming the lives of three of its 12 crew members.

Battling massive waves and fierce winds, the ship lost all steering capability near midnight when its rudder failed. Water began filling the vessel by sunrise as the hatch covers gave out. Captain Harry Beauvais ordered the anchors dropped to prevent the ship from being driven ashore, but the strategy proved useless. The vessel dragged free, ran aground on the rocks, and left Captain Beauvais with no choice but to deploy the lifeboats.

Seven crew members on the first lifeboat survived when it capsized near the shore, saved by courageous Empire Limestone Company staff standing by to assist. The second lifeboat met a worse fate. When it overturned near the coast, all four occupants were cast into the water, resulting in the drowning of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wise. A local physician, Dr. Laing of Port Colborne, attempted to revive the couple, but could not save them.

Watching from the shores of Shisler Point, local residents looked on as the ship went down and the drama unfolded. The Empire Limestone Company crew, ordered to assist in the emergency response, carried out their mission admirably, saving the majority of the ship’s crew.

Having started his diving career in 1967, Port Colborne photo-diver Geoff Barker didn’t explore the Raleigh until 1977. He recalled how his early dives in ocean environments showed the destructive power of saltwater, which aggressively eats away at sunken freighters until only crumbling, rusted hulls remain.

While no images of the Raleigh exist, the Port Colborne Marine Museum displays one of the vessel’s original anchors on its grounds. The artifact serves as a silent, powerful tribute to the lost lake freighter and its final, fatal struggle against the storm.

Thanks to Matt Mandiuk @ Dan’s Dive Shop for his photo contributions.