View source for SS Mataafa

You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.242.0.0/16 has been blocked by ‪ST47‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a web host's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: {{unblock|reason=Caught by a web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~}}. You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and they should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 01:06, 24 April 2026. Your current IP address is 54.242.226.141.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
This IP address range has been globally blocked.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

This block affects editing on all Wikimedia wikis.
The IP address or range 54.242.0.0/16 has been globally blocked by ‪Jon Kolbert‬ for the following reason(s):

Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected

This block will expire on 01:29, 13 May 2029. Your current IP address is 54.242.226.141.

Even while globally blocked, you will usually still be able to edit pages on Meta-Wiki.

If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

Other useful links: Global blocks · Help:I have been blocked

You can view and copy the source of this page:

{{Short description|Steam freighter that sank in Lake Superior}}
{| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Mataafa postcard.jpg
| Ship caption = ''Mataafa'' wrecked outside Duluth harbor after the storm of November 28, 1905}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship name = SS ''Mataafa''
| Ship owner = 
| Ship operator = 
| Ship registry = 
| Ship route = 
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = Cleveland Shipbuilding Company
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 
| Ship completed = 1899
| Ship christened = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 1965
| Ship identification = 
| Ship fate = Wrecked 1905, raised and repaired; scrapped 1965
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = 
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|4,840}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|430|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = 
| Ship depth = {{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship decks = 
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship power = {{convert|1,800|hp|abbr=on|lk=in}}
| Ship propulsion = 
| Ship speed = 
| Ship capacity = 
| Ship crew = 24 in 1905
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

'''SS ''Mataafa''''' was an American [[steamship]] that had a lengthy career on the [[Great Lakes]] of North America, first as a [[bulk carrier]] and later as a [[car carrier]]. She was wrecked in 1905 in [[Lake Superior]] just outside the harbor at [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]], Minnesota, during a [[Mataafa Storm|storm that was named after her]]. She was built as '''SS ''Pennsylvania''''' in 1899,<ref name="auto">The Great Lakes Shipwreck File: Total Losses of Great Lakes Ships 1679 - 1999, by Dave Swayze, 2001</ref> and renamed ''Mataafa'' when she was purchased in the same year by the Minnesota Steamship Company. After her 1905 wreck, she was raised and repaired, and served for another sixty years before being scrapped.

==Design==

Built in 1899 as SS ''Pennsylvania'' by the [[Cleveland Shipbuilding Company]],<ref name="auto"/> she was {{convert|430|ft|m}} long and had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|50|ft|m}}.<ref name="auto2">Mariners Weather Log Volume 50 No. 3, December 2006, U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA</ref> She was rated at {{GRT|4,840|disp=long}}, and her engines were capable of producing {{convert|1,800|hp|kW|lk=on}}).<ref>Chapters & Stories, Superior's Shipwrecks, Jim Cordes Publishing, 2009</ref> Like most steel ships on the [[Great Lakes]], her hull was made of large steel plates riveted to steel frames.

==Early career==

The company that built her leased her out as SS ''Pennsylvania'' for a few months, but quickly sold her to the Minnesota Steamship Company (MSC), which renamed her SS ''Mataafa''. Her first season with the MSC was not without difficulties; she struck a rock in the [[Straits of Mackinac]] and arrived at [[Chicago]], Illinois, with a leak, and then ran aground above the [[Soo Locks]] on her way back to Minnesota.<ref name="auto2"/>

In 1901, she became a part of the original Pittsburgh Steamship Division of [[U.S. Steel]] when the division was formed.<ref name="auto2"/> Due to fog, she ran aground again, this time on Knife Island Reef in Lake Superior, on June 2, 1902.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?153495  |title=Mataafa (+1905) |publisher=Wrecksite  |accessdate=20 August 2019}}</ref>

==Wreck==
[[File:Nov291905LifeSavingCrew.jpg|thumb|A [[United States Life-Saving Service]] crew rowing out to rescue survivors from the wreck of SS ''Mataafa'', which is visible in the background, on November&nbsp;29,&nbsp;1905.]]
At three-thirty in the afternoon of November 27, 1905, she was on her way out of Duluth, Minnesota, loaded with iron ore and towing the barge ''James Nasmyth''. According to Captain Richard F. Humble, they were rounding the [[Apostle Islands]] when a [[nor'easter]] hit. After hours of fighting the storm, Humble decided to turn back to safe port in [[Two Harbors, Minnesota|Two Harbors]], Minnesota. After five more hours of struggling with the nor'easter, the ship made it back to Two Harbors, but was unable to enter the harbor due to the darkness. Her only remaining option was to try to make port at Duluth.

As she approached Duluth, it became clear that it was useless to try to bring both the steamer and the barge through the narrow [[Duluth Ship Canal]] into the harbor, so Captain Humble gave the order to cut loose ''James Nasmyth'', after which ''Mataafa'' attempted to make it into the harbor alone. She made it about half-way between the twin concrete piers when a backwater surged out. Heavy water struck her stern, driving her prow down to the muddy bottom, and then slammed her stern against the north pier. Her rudder tore off and the water pulled her prow out toward the open lake, then smashed her stern against the south pier. She grounded in the shallow water outside the north pier,<ref name="auto1">The Infamous Freighter Mataafa, The Mind of James Donahue, by James Donahue</ref> where she broke in two, her stern settling slowly into the water.<ref>''Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals'', William Ratigan, published by Galahad Books, Book IV: ''DOOMED ON SUPERIOR'', November 1905, pg.274</ref>

When the ship broke in two, twelve men were in the after portion. Three of the men struggled out to the forward part of the ship. The nine who remained aboard the after portion died of exposure during the night; one of the bodies in the after half had to be chopped out of solid ice.<ref>''Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals'', William Ratigan, published by Galahad Books, Book IV: DOOMED ON LAKE SUPERIOR, Chapter 8, pg.274</ref> The fifteen men in the fore half fared better; although rescue attempts were futile during the stormy night, the next day a small boat made it out, and all fifteen were taken off in two boatloads.<ref>GenDisasters: Duluth, MN Steamer MATAAFA Disaster, Nov 1905, by Stu Beitler</ref>

==Later career==

''Mataafa'' was [[Marine salvage|refloated]] and repaired. She continued to be accident-prone; On October 14, 1908, she was in a collision that sank {{SS|Sacramento}} in the harbor at [[Duluth, Minnesota]].,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000071882796&view=1up&seq=255 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1909|publisher=Penn State University | accessdate=28 December 2019}}</ref> On 1 October, 1910 she rescued the crew of {{SS|New York|1879|2}} after the ship burned and sank in [[Thunder Bay, Michigan]], [[Lake Huron]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RH7VAAAAMAAJ&dq=Ship:++Goodyear,+1910&pg=PA103 |title=Beeson's Directory of the Northwest Lakes  |year=1911 |publisher=Harvey C. Beeson |via=Google books |access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?297383 |title=New York (+1910)  |publisher=Wrecksite |access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref> and in 1914 she struck another pier.<ref name="auto1"/> She did play the heroic part on a few occasions, however; on July 17, 1912, she rescued 19 men from the sinking wooden steamer ''New York'' in [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake St. Clair]], and on the same day six years later she rescued the entire crew of the barge ''Commodore'' off South East Shoal in [[Lake Erie]].<ref name="auto2"/>

She was rebuilt due to wear in 1926, and in 1946 she was converted from a [[bulk carrier]] to a [[car carrier]], after which she served the [[Nicholson Transit Company]]. She served until 1964, when she was sold to Marine Salvage to be scrapped. She was dismantled in [[Hamburg, Germany|Hamburg]], West Germany, in 1965.<ref name="auto2"/>

==Legacy==

Because the wreck of ''Mataafa'' occurred just outside Duluth, hundreds if not thousands of people were witnesses to the event. This made the wreck of ''Mataafa'' famous enough for the November 1905 storm to become known as the "[[Mataafa Storm|''Mataafa'' Storm]]."<ref name="auto1"/><ref>The "Great Storms" of 195 and 1913, Great Lakes Steamship Society, The 1905 "''Mataafa'' Storm"</ref> The Duluth Cigar Company quickly capitalized on the wreck with the "''Mataafa''" Cigar, which bore a picture of the wrecked bulk carrier.<ref>''Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals'', William Ratigan, published by Galahad Books, Book IV: DOOMED ON LAKE SUPERIOR, Chapter 8, pg.279</ref>

==See also==

* [[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]

== References ==
<!--- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically -->
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111016120013/http://vos.noaa.gov/MWL/dec_06/shipwreck.shtml The U.S. Dept. of Commerce/NOAA page about the ship]
* [https://www.gendisasters.com/minnesota/15799/duluth-mn-steamer-mataafa-disaster-nov-1905?page=0%2C1/ The GenDisasters page about the wreck]
* [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045366/1905-11-30/ed-1/seq-1.pdf chroniclingamerica.loc.gov ''Mataafa'']
* [http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/ An index of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes]
* [http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships2/id73.html/ An essay about the ship and her career]
* [http://www.jimcordespublishing.com/superiorsshipwrecks.html/ An essay about the storm]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.jbford.org/storms/  A page discussing notable storms on Lake Superior]

{{1901 shipwrecks}}
{{1905 shipwrecks}}
{{1908 shipwrecks}}
{{1914 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Great Lakes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mataafa}}
<!--- Categories --->
[[Category:1899 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Cleveland]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1901]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1905]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Superior]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1908]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1914]]
[[Category:Great Lakes freighters]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Advance (1884) (edit)
Amboy (shipwreck) (edit)
Anjou (ship) (edit)
Blackadder (clipper) (edit)
City of Medicine Hat (sternwheeler) (edit)
Cromartyshire (ship) (edit)
Ellen (1883) (edit)
Emily Reed (ship) (edit)
Favorite (steamboat) (edit)
French cruiser Sully (edit)
French submarine Farfadet (Q7) (edit)
HMS Attentive (1904) (edit)
HMS Berwick (1902) (edit)
HMS Centurion (1892) (edit)
HMS Cobra (1899) (edit)
HMS Gala (edit)
HMS Gladiator (1896) (edit)
HMS Glory (1899) (edit)
HMS Hero (1885) (edit)
HMS Irresistible (1898) (edit)
HMS Repulse (1892) (edit)
HMS Revenge (1892) (edit)
HMS Ribble (1904) (edit)
HMS Royal Sovereign (1891) (edit)
HMS Scorpion (1863) (edit)
HMS Swiftsure (1903) (edit)
HMS Tiger (1900) (edit)
HMS Triumph (1903) (edit)
HMS Vengeance (1899) (edit)
HMS Viper (1899) (edit)
Japanese battleship Mikasa (edit)
Japanese cruiser Matsushima (edit)
Japanese destroyer Yūgiri (1899) (edit)
Madeira (shipwreck) (edit)
Moy (ship) (edit)
Neustria (ship) (edit)
New Jersey (pilot boat) (edit)
Pretoria (ship) (edit)
R. J. Hackett (steamer) (edit)
RMS Arabia (edit)
RMS Etruria (edit)
RMS Orizaba (edit)
Roanoke (ship) (edit)
Russian battleship Borodino (edit)
Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr III (1901) (edit)
Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov (edit)
Russian battleship Navarin (edit)
Russian battleship Oslyabya (edit)
Russian battleship Potemkin (edit)
Russian battleship Sevastopol (1895) (edit)
Russian battleship Sissoi Veliky (edit)
Russian coast defense ship Admiral Ushakov (edit)
Russian cruiser Admiral Nakhimov (1885) (edit)
Russian cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi (edit)
Russian cruiser Izumrud (edit)
Russian cruiser Oleg (edit)
Russian cruiser Svetlana (1896) (edit)
Russian cruiser Vladimir Monomakh (edit)
Russian merchant cruiser Ural (1904) (edit)
SMS Sachsen (edit)
SMS Undine (edit)
SMS Wacht (edit)
SS Aeon (1905) (edit)
SS America (1898) (edit)
SS Appomattox (edit)
SS Bee (1884) (edit)
SS Blanche (1863) (edit)
SS City of Rio de Janeiro (edit)
SS Derwent (1888) (edit)
SS Dunearn (edit)
SS Equity (edit)
SS Etruria (edit)
SS Finland (1902) (edit)
SS George Spencer (edit)
SS George W. Elder (edit)
SS Hebble (1891) (edit)
SS Helsingfors (1903) (edit)
SS Hilda (edit)
SS Iosco (edit)
SS Islander (edit)
SS Karagola (1887) (edit)
SS M.M. Drake (1882) (edit)
SS New York (1879) (edit)
SS Oakland (1890) (edit)
SS Roanoke (edit)
SS Sacramento (edit)
SS Sagamore (1892) (edit)
SS Saint Paul (1895) (edit)
SS San Juan (edit)
SS Sangola (edit)
SS Sardinia (1888) (edit)
SS Valencia (edit)
SS Vigilancia (edit)
SS Virawa (edit)
SS Yarmouth (1903) (edit)
Sevona (shipwreck) (edit)
USS Bennington (PG-4) (edit)
USS Mayflower (PY-1) (edit)
USS Monongahela (1862) (edit)
USS Yankee (1892) (edit)
United States lightship LV-58 (edit)
Template:1901 shipwrecks (edit)
Template:1905 shipwrecks (edit)
Template:1908 shipwrecks (edit)
Template:1914 shipwrecks (edit)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Convert (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Coord missing (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Coord missing/CheckCat (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dead link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:GRT (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Gross register tonnage (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:HMS (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:If (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox ship begin (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox ship career (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox ship characteristics (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox ship image (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:P2 (view source) (protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:RMS (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Resolve category redirect (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:SMS (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:SS (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ship (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Shipwrecks navbox footer (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Shipwrecks navbox footer/link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:USS (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wrap (view source) (template editor protected)
Category:Great Lakes articles missing geocoordinate data (edit)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Convert (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/rfd (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Resolve category redirect (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WPSHIPS utilities (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WPSHIPS utilities/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wd/i18n (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to SS Mataafa.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Mataafa"