Easily over looked in the Great Lakes White Oak Graveyard the wreck of the Shenandoah
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- One shipyard on the Great Lakes constructed the largest wooden bulk freighters in the world. That was the yard of Captain James Davidson and when the Great Depression of the 1930s struck a fleet of those huge wooden vessels were abandon in the Saginaw River. Within the next two decades every single one of those freighters was burned to the waterline by a serial arsonist. In this video we'll look at the remains of the Shenandoah, which can only be seen at low water.
Thanks for the history i walleye fish there alot have seen the wreck many times always wondered why it was there now i know
Thank you Wes,
Very nicely done and informative. Boe
Glad you enjoyed it
My great grandfather was a machinist at the Davidson shipyard and lived within walking distance. We’ve had family reunions at the park, but the historical significance of the wrecks was never mentioned. A shame I didn’t know back then to ask family members more info, but they’ve long since passed now. Great video!
Thanks for adding that!
Would be neat to see the engine raised and mounted on a base in the park.
All that history sitting feet from the shore and very few are the wiser! Great video!
Yes they are!
Awesome. Southfield, Michigan.
Nicely narrated
Thank you kindly!
Super info and photos
Thanks for watching
Really cool. Really interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it
Like her story and the stories of the wooden Lakers of yesterday
I sure hope the lee a tregurtha is gonna be turned to a museum once she retires she is one of the last T tankers built durning ww2!
Great story, Wes! Thanks for your continued efforts to preserve some history for all of us!
Glad you enjoyed it
Another awesome video. I’m going to look at old wood on beaches differently.
Please do!
Thanks Wes! I remember a large (for Missouri River in landlocked North Dakota) wooden wreck in the early 70s drug up on shore, but half in the water. In 1976, they pulled it out, and did a cosmetic restoration, and today it’s on display at the park in my hometown, Washburn! If you ever are in the area, I’ll give you a tour and all the history. Maybe that’s why a North Dakota farm boy is fascinated by wooden boats, wrecked or new.
Thanks!!
Cool video! At first I'd guessed the engine went during the scrap drives of WWII, but photo at 1945...hmm.
Probably scrapped, but makes a boat nerd wonder.
Thanks!
Yep
Very nice. Since "Bay City" is mentioned Wes, I commend to you Bay City by Raymond Chandler. But I've guessed you've read it already I always love your stories. Bay City by Chandler is not exactly your "cup of tea" but I believe you'll like it. If not, I am willing to get scorched. Best from me.
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in Bay City this June, soaking in American Great Lakes History after living all 27 years of my life on the Canadian side of the lakes.
I will try to see this all for myself
Maybe not... the water is really high in the river right now. All I saw in the water was a little bit of the turning mech. of the Montezuma's rudder. However, the Sacramento's rudder is still standing tall.
@@authorwes Same here on Lake Superior. its risen at least 2 feet at this point.
well at least I'll see the old drydock. your videos are always enjoyable and informative
I wish I could go there
keep watching this channel... I'll take you there. More stories to come.
Interesting history. Better than The History Guy.
Thanks
I always enjoy watching a new Great Lakes video from your channel, and always find the subjects interesting.
But would you possibly do a video on the David Dows, the largest schooner to ever ply the waters of Lake Michigan?
Great suggestion!
Interesting.
Glad you think so!
Interesting story. Sad they burned. Wes how much of the hull remains underwater? You see groups salvaging old wood hulls. The old growth used to build these beautiful ships isn't available anymore. Do you see people doing that in the great lakes? Thanks.
Some ships are protected as nautical history, unless they pose a threat to navagation.
@@jasonborn2598 I understand. A burned out hulk that is blocking and a danger to mariners in high water might not qualify, but then again it might.
Good question! What you see in the burned away drawing is what remains of all of those hulls. BUT, the sediment in the Saginaw River is highly toxic (PBBs and PBCs etc. that came down stream from the Saginaw factories and Dow up in Midland) so no one would pull any of that up. Just disturbing the sediment can have huge environmental consequences.
@@authorwes thanks Wes, I wasn't aware of that. You could probably guestimate what's left by comparing the pictures and comparing the shear.
Very nice video, I've watched a few of your videos and they are very informative! Have you ever done a video of the Western Reserve?
Not yet!
Okay If I get a time machine I’m going back to try and buy one of those wooden freighters very early into their abandonment.
We've all had that same daydream I guess.
Wes what are the little boats in the first part of video?
Maybe cocktail class racers?
No idea- it was some sort of a river race in the 1930s... I've yet to pin it down.
My dad used to build and race “hydroplanes” in the Detroit River in (I’m guessing) the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The pictures I saw looked like these boats, made me smile. The races were a big deal back in the day
I wanted to say those were her boilers, but assumed they would have been salvaged entirely from the wreck
Someone cut a zig-zag in the tops (faces) of each... no idea why or when, but it was after April 1945. That surprised me- they should have been salvaged for the WWII scrap effort.
Did they ever catch the arsonist? Could he have been on Davidson’s daughter’s payroll? Always great videos!
Most people of that era would not have used the term serial arsonist, let along try and catch the person.
I have a question. Did the SS Carl D Bradley have any sister ships or was she the only ship in her class
At the time of her launching she was one of a kind, and remained so for a couple of decades.
@@authorwes ok thank you 😊
They ever catch the arsonist?
No. In fact no one in that era would admit that there was a serial arsonist, however, each vessel was torched in a methodical manner and it all began right after WWII.
Stupid could have been firewood for the poor
Lovely look at what was and is now. Wonder how many people even know what is there just off shore? Thanks for an interesting video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Therissomecoolstuff. The way I was brought up, if it ain't yours leave it alone. Someone owns the hull, if not a private individual then the state owns it, it's in the water. You got to have a permit before you take a chainsaw out and removing trees from land that goes for sunken boats.
These were privately owned by Davidson's daughter... until the city made it public that they would track down the owner and make that person remove all of the wreck... then she had all of the shipyard records burned. No proof of ownership=no responsibility to clean it up.
@@authorwes Yeah, that's how things happened sometimes, but my goodness what a waste of (now)valuable shipping information.
Surely not the only case of it either.