AH-WR-0817

George Spencer

Bulk Freighter · United States · Lost 1905 · The Minnesota North Shore

A wooden bulk freighter driven ashore with her towed schooner-barge Amboy during the notorious 1905 Mataafa Storm, both wrecks now sharing one shoreline site.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

George Spencer was a wooden bulk freighter built in 1884, one of the first vessels to load iron ore when the port of Two Harbors opened. On November 28, 1905, while towing the schooner-barge Amboy and running light toward Duluth, she was caught in the historic Mataafa Storm, lost her bearings in the snow, and ran aground near Schroeder, Minnesota. Her entire crew was rescued by local fishermen after a thirteen-hour ordeal. The wreck lies near that of the Amboy.

Vessel

Built: 1884
Registry: U.S. Registry 85849
Builder: Thomas Quayle & Sons
Yard: Cleveland, Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 242 ft
Beam: 37 ft
Tonnage: 1360.75
Propulsion: Steam, compound engine, single screw
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 28, 1905
Cause: Storm
Location: Near Thomasville, Cook County, Minnesota, Lake Superior
Water: Lake Superior
Voyage: Duluth, Minnesota (to load ore)
Cargo: In ballast (running light to load ore)
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Captain Frank Conland

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Remains document basic hull design elements including bilge keelsons and hull strakes; not readily recognizable as a vessel.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1994, jointly with the Amboy.