Lake Erie’s Horrific Black Friday Storm

Music:

Sources:
Great Stories of the Great Lakes by Dwight Boyer
Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals by William Ratigan
Lore of the Lakes by Dana Thomas Bowen

Chapters:
00:00 Lake Erie
1:25 Chapter 1: D.L. Filer
5:42 Chapter 2: Marshall F. Butters
10:29 Chapter 3: Merida
14:18 Chapter 4: James B. Colgate

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[ks]

When I was in the U.S. Coast Guard I went from an east coast duty station to Station Lorain, Ohio, which was a search and rescue station. One night we got our 41 foot UTB underway for a flare sighting. It was so rough that we did a snap roll and broke the mounts of the mast. I never worked so hard as a coxwain to keep us from going over, and a few times I was thinking to myself that we weren't going to make it back. Lake Erie is indeed a cruel and unpredictable body of water.

[michaelsinger]

I feel bad for Captain Grashaw. It must have been horrific to not only survive such a horrific event. But to live the rest of your life knowing that your entire crew did not survive.

[macgeek]

There's a large Great Lakes cargo ship stick in the ice in Lake Erie just off of Buffalo right now, easily visible from downtown. (As of time of writing on 1/25/25; it first appeared on 1/21/25). This video's hitting pretty close to home. Great timing! :D

[fubarmodelyard]

Narrative style and visuals second to none. You are a great storyteller

[catherinehowell]

As a subscriber who grew up on Lake Erie, I appreciate and approve of all of your Great Lakes stories!
Something you ought to know about Lake Erie…the Erie Quadrangle. It runs across the lake, bracketing the Presque Isle peninsula off the city of Erie and the Long Point peninsula in Ontario. The two peninsulas pinch the lake in like a waist, causing the lake’s currents to shift. If you look at a map of shipwrecks in the lake, you’ll see that more have sunk in the Quadrangle than in the rest of Lake Erie combined.

[RR]

I'm always blown away (gale force) by your pairing of evocative footage & narration. Thanks BOB.

[jasonhammond]

My family had a boat growing up, and we spent some time fishing on Lake Erie. I remember there was an underwater ship wreck east of Kelly's Island that we would try to get out to and get some good fishing in. That wreck was what got me hooked on reading and watching these great lakes disaster stories. It still amazes me that the lakes can bring down such massive ships. Later, we watched an ore carrier load up behind Cedar Point in Sandusky Bay.

[BrennaAckerson]

Great episode. I'm always glad to learn of ships and boats I've never heard of. All of the lost deserve to be remembered. Thank you 😊😊

[christopherappleton]

Having a picture of the Butters sinking is pretty incredible. It’s nice to hear of an entire crew getting rescued

[daveblock]

Born and raised Lakefront and have lived there my entire life. I once timed the 'calm before the storm' ahead of a powerful front. It took 20 minutes from mill pond flat to breaking surf after it passed.

[Dakiraun]

I kayak on lake Erie often, and yeah, no matter what time of year, the mood of the lake can change *real* fast. Even today with modern weather forecasting, you still can't be 100% sure what you'll encounter. The Great Lakes are so large that they generate their own weather, and sometimes pretty quickly at that. I can only imagine how much more lonely and hopeless the crews of those ships felt over a century ago without radio or proper safety gear. RIP to those brave souls.

[jaynorris]

Thank you. You work your socks off to keep these peoples story alive.
I love the old ships and hearing about them. The lakers are fascinating to me. So, thank you.

[TheCarnivalguy]

Always excited to see another video from Big Old Boats — one of my favorite channels.

[schadenfreude]

The Great Lakes maritime history is so fascinating. Love it whenever you cover its story

[JohnCompton]

I'd never heard of dropping oil to calm the waters before. Fascinating stories. Thanks so much for sharing. I hope everyone has a great night or day.

[wesrrowlands]

We live about an hour south of lake Erie and there is nothing creepier than seeing dark storm clouds over the lake as they look even more foreboding. Not to mention sometimes the rain storms coming in are surprisingly nasty.

[MrStubob]

I was born in Chicago and when I was 5 years old when the blizzard of 1967 hit Illinois! I remember it like it happened yesterday! My question to you is did any ship's sink on Lake Michigan during the blizzard????

[flapjackfae]

I think you are just completely swell. One of my favorite Youtubers.

[ericreese]

As a testament to how unpredictable and treacherous Lake Erie can still be, as this video debuts a present-day drama is unfolding there with the 660' laker Manitoulin stuck in the ice for three days just off Buffalo after delivering a final load of wheat for the season, with both the American and Canadian Coast Guards working to free her.

[ALCO-C-fan]

Let the names of the forgotten live on.