Buffington wreck

[William Lafferty]

Captain Chambers had a previous incident 8 September 1936 when in command of the Cornell it collided with Interlake's Crete forty miles off Whitefish Point. His master's and pilot's licenses were suspended for three months after investigations by the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. The master of the Crete was assessed a fine.

I find it interesting that Captain Chambers's wife was aboard the Eugene J. Buffington on that fateful trip.

[Russ]

Captain G. C. Chambers never sailed again with Pittsburgh after the Buffington incident. Charles A. Penzenhagen First Mate on the Buffington in 1942, never sailed again with Pittsburgh after the Buffington incident. When some confusion may come from is that there was another individual named Penzenhagen sailing as a Captain with Pittsburgh in 1943. Albert C. Penzenhagen was sailing as Captain of the William B. Dickson in 1942. He retired from sailing after serving three years as Captain of the Philip R. Clarke (1955 - 1957). Second Mate G. E. Brown on the Buffington in 1942 sailed another 11 years with Pittsburgh Steamship. He apparently retired as First Mate off the Alva C. Dinkey in 1953.

[Guest]

This accident was undoubtedly the end of Captain Chambers career with the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, but did he go on to serve on other ships after the accident?

I don't know about Capt. Chambers, but some years ago I gave a talk and afterward an older man approached me and told me he was Mr. Penzenhagen's nephew. He said when he was a boy his uncle had suddenly left the Pittsburgh fleet and become a tugboat master on southern Lake Michigan. The man who spoke to me said he had never understood why his uncle had done that until he read about the grounding in "Tin Stackers."

It's interesting that the mate was named C.A. Penzenhagen and in the mid-1950s a man named A.C. Penzenhagen was master of the Philip Clarke. It's not a common name so I've always wondered whether they were related.

Below is another photo I scanned showing the size of the split in the hull.

[Guest]

This accident was undoubtedly the end of Captain Chambers career with the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, but did he go on to serve on other ships after the accident?

[hayhugh3]

There is quite a contrast between the third and fourth photos as to the (third photo) all the hatch leaves and other plate steel and (fourth photo) where there is not even one hatch leave or any scrap steel of any kind on deck. Did they throw every thing over board to level the boat while placing the patches and making her ready for the trip to Chicago? The Tug Favorite is still along side so she had not headed South yet!

[LTB]

The knowledge and resources of the posters here will never cease to amaze me. Thanks to all who have contributed.

Middle rouge, I haven't had any luck finding photos of the Buffington in Harbor Springs online. I'll be up that way next month, maybe the local historical society has something in their archives.

I did come across this great article about the incident by John Paul and Brent Michaels from the Mackinac Journal, June 2011. Starts on p. 18.

http://media.files.gatehousemedia.com.s3.amazonaws.com/upload%2Ffiles%2Fhome%2Fghm_pubs%2FMJJunepagesweb.pdf

[William Lafferty]

At the risk of sounding fussy and being branded a heretic, I'm going to point out that the Buffington actually grounded on June 21, 1942, not the 23rd as stated on Boatnerd and the BGSU vessel index page, both of which I respect greatly.

Hardly being "fussy!" From Jewell Dean's maritime column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10 November 1942:

The Eugene J. Buffington was in the upper lakes yesterday, on her first trip for ore since June 21, when she ran onto Boulder Reef in northern Lake Michigan and her hull was broken in two places.

As an aside, Dean was not only the marine editor of the leading newspaper in the city that was the center of the American Great Lakes shipping industry, but he also was a maritime historian, publishing in the early days of Inland Seas. A University of Wisconsin journalism graduate, he left the Plain Dealer in 1948 to become publisher of a newspaper in Georgia.

[Middle rouge]

anybody have any pictures of the Buffington in Harbor springs?

[Al]

At the risk of sounding fussy and being branded a heretic, I'm going to point out that the Buffington actually grounded on June 21, 1942, not the 23rd as stated on Boatnerd and the BGSU vessel index page, both of which I respect greatly.

I'd like to cite the LCA Annual Report but don't have access to the 1942 issue. But below are the first two pages of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company's Circular Letter to Masters that gives the date as June 21 and provides a timeline for the accident.

Also, here are two contemporary newspaper accounts I pulled off the web using a Google search. They are wire stories dated June 23 and June 24. Both refer to the wreck occurring Sunday. In 1942, June 21 fell on a Sunday.

Benton Harbor, Mich., News Palladium
CHARLEVOIX, June 23--The ore carrier Eugene J. Buffington, laden with 13,000 tons of Iron ore, lay helpless on a Lake Michigan reef today while salvage operations were projected by the Coast Guard. The Buffington, owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship company of Cleveland, ran aground Sunday night on Boulder reef, 17 miles west of Beaver Island. She had gone off her course on the way 16 Chicago from Duluth. Forty-two members of the crew .were removed yesterday by Coast Guardsmen. Three men stayed aboard to await the arrival of the tug Favorite from Sault Ste. Marie, which will assist in salvage operations. Captain George Chambers and his wife were among' those removed. Vessels from Charlevoix, Frankfort, South Manitou and Beaver Island, as well as a Michigan conservation department patrol boat, participated in the removal. The Buffington cracked amidships after striking the reef.

Sandusky Register
CLEVELAND, June 24 {AP) — A board of the U. S. Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation will inquire tomorrow into the stranding and breaking in two of the ore freighter Eugene J. Buffington. The Pittsburgh Steamship Co.'s 600-foot vessel grounded Sunday on Boulder reef at the western end of the Straits of Mackinac. Tugs and lighters now are standing by to begin salvage. Earl B. Hull, Great Lakes supervisor for the bureau, said today the investigation would be made here by a "B" board, set up for marine accidents in which there is considerable property loss but no loss of life. The board will be made up of Hull and Captains Karl Nielsen and David Smith, principal traveling inspectors of the bureau, from Washington.

I'll also point out that other publications have used June 21 as the wreck date, including "Great Lakes Ships We Remember II" (p. 40).

[William Lafferty]

The Eugene J. Buffington was refloated on 16 July 1942 and brought to Harbor Springs alongside fleetmate Clarence A.Black the next day, where additional welding of plates onto the hull was executed. Accompanied by the wrecking tug Favorite, the Black towed the Buffington out of Harbor Springs on 20 July 1942 for South Chicago. It went on the drydock there 23 July 1942 and returned to service 9 November 1942, its repairs delayed by the inability of American Ship Building to acquire enough steel in a timely fashion for the project because of war demand.

[Guest]

Al, many thanks for the fascinating photos and background on this event.

One thing I've always wondered: the BGSU database entry for the incident says that after the Buffington was raised, it was "taken into Harbor Springs, MI, then to American Ship Building Co., South Chicago, IL, for repairs." What work would they have had done in Harbor Springs? It's a small, mostly recreational port. Maybe reinforcing the hull for the trip down to Chicago?

You're welcome. They're fun to post and the kind of boatnerd pix you don't get to see or share very often.

I expect they put in there because it was close and gave them a sheltered area to finish up work before taking the boat to South Chicago. The Buffington was in bad shape and Boulder Reef is a very exposed position for working on a damaged ship. I imagine once they got it refloated they didn't want to stay in such an exposed area.

[LTB]

Al, many thanks for the fascinating photos and background on this event.

One thing I've always wondered: the BGSU database entry for the incident says that after the Buffington was raised, it was "taken into Harbor Springs, MI, then to American Ship Building Co., South Chicago, IL, for repairs." What work would they have had done in Harbor Springs? It's a small, mostly recreational port. Maybe reinforcing the hull for the trip down to Chicago?

[hayhugh3]

The Buffington was my first permanent Wheel'n job back in 1965. The 1st mate was below and when they hit, his reaction was, "Bolder reef on time" or so the story goes.

[Guest]

I remember reading about this several years ago, but I'm away from home right now. Does anyone know what caused the wreck? I doubt that the ship would have been salvaged had it not been wartime.

The company said the captain was cutting corners on his courses to save time. When they got to Boulder Reef, the first mate going off watch reported to the captain that they were uncomfortably close to the reef. But then the first mate figured they'd probably be okay and turned over the pilot house to the third mate. The third mate thought they were cutting it close but would be okay. Everybody got in a lot of trouble.

[Al]

The photo with the wooden hatch boat alongside. Where did all the steel plate come from that is layed on top of the Buffington's hatches? Is there any report telling of how they proceeded? A salvage report or such?

I think the plates you see in that photo are actually the hatch leaves from the forward hatches. Heavy boiler plate was later brought aboard to tie to the two halves of the hull together before the boat was refloated and taken to South Chicago for repairs.

The first crews on the scene cleaned out all the boat's furnishings, probably because it was still uncertain whether the boat would be salvaged. Then over the course of several weeks they lightered some of the ore, built cofferdams in the hold to seal off the break, pumped water out of the hold. At the same time they bolted boiler plates across the break in the hull plating to hold the two halves together. Then they raised steam on the Buffington's boilers and used the Clarence Black tied alongside to take the Buffington to South Chicago.

PSS took quite a few photos of the salvage and rebuilding, and I included a couple in "Tin Stackers." The whole collection is in the LSMMA Collection in Superior.

[KHenry]

The steel sections piled on the deck appears to be the individual hatch cover sections from the Buffington's telescoping hatch covers. I believe that I have read previously that Pittsburgh Steamship originally ordered the boat stripped to be abandoned, but that the U.S. Maritime Commission stepped in and ordered it to be salvaged for the war effort.

[Guest]

I remember reading about this several years ago, but I'm away from home right now. Does anyone know what caused the wreck? I doubt that the ship would have been salvaged had it not been wartime.

[hayhugh3]

The photo with the wooden hatch boat alongside. Where did all the steel plate come from that is layed on top of the Buffington's hatches? Is there any report telling of how they proceeded? A salvage report or such?

[MattJ]

Thanks for the pictures Al! Pretty neat to look at

[Al]

To mark the anniversary of the 1942 Buffington wreck, a few photos of the salvage work: