The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior: SS Bannockburn

On November 21st, 1902, the Canadian wheat carrier SS Bannockburn vanished without a trace on Lake Superior. With no clues to help explain the disappearance, the mystery haunted sailors on the Great Lakes for decades. Soon sightings of a ghost ship resembling the Bannockburn became frequent on stormy nights. She quickly became known as The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior.
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Sources:
Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes by Dwight Boyer: amzn.to/3SKo4XK
Music sourced from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Chapters:
0:00 The SS Bannockburn
1:44 Chapter 1: A Late Season Run
4:41 Chapter 2: A Routine November Gale
7:29 Chapter 3: Long Overdue
12:05 Chapter 4: The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior
Disclaimer: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue providing free high-quality historical content.

[@BigOldBoats]

What do you think happened to the Bannockburn?

[@Blackfaced]

Climate Change

[@georgemartin1436]

I'm reasonably sure it sank. Seriously...we appreciate the research and I love learning about the Great Lakes. Lots of wrecks to talk about, and they remain in much better condition that salt-water wrecks....if found.

[@jamesreese4727]

Maybe she’s near Caribou island.

[@UisT999]

@@Blackfaced I heard it lost everything in the stock market then fled to brazil to evade a loan shark.

[@lexington476]

Well I think we could pull out all the classic conspiracy theories, from Aliens to insurance job.

[@cookiemurderer4866]

One thing that's worth noting is that the Bannockburn had an identical sister ship called the "Rosemount" which is mostly forgotten. It wouldn't be very hard for a sailor to see her lights in a storm and assume that it was another ship. This may actually explain what the Huronics crew saw in the storm since I heard that the Rosemount was actually on the lake that night. The ship also had a long career and lasted until the late 1930's which would explain why sightings stopped eventually.

[@Thatguy-of5re]

Great Lakes historian Wes Olezsewski has shown that the two ships were so different looking from anything else on the Lakes at the time, but so similar to each other, they were frequently confused for each other by ship spotters when the Bannockburn was still floating.

[@549RR]

@@Thatguy-of5re for those unfamiliar, @authorwes’ channel is full of terrific GL shipping lore.

[@marhawkman303]

@@Thatguy-of5re oooh, that does explain quite a lot actually yeah....

[@horngatekeeper]

@@549RR it says more about me than it does about this comment that when I read 'GL shipping' on a video about a ship on a great lake my mind went to a completely different subject

[@sisterspooky]

@@horngatekeeper - I’m scared to ask what it means to you. 😆

[@TheSaneHatter]

Frankly, there's no reason NOT to believe that the Bannockburn sank, as they had every single thing going against them: foul weather, a young and inexperienced crew, recent hull damage, the uncharted nature of the Superior Shoal, and the only lightbhouse they could have counted on was turned off! If they had survived, it would actually have been harder to explain!

[@TimPerfetto]

I am on the Bannockbun now. It is old and smells.

[@Tula-cs1ef]

God watches over drunk, children, and fools.

[@rogerrendzak8055]

@@Tula-cs1ef If that was true, then why do they, still die???

[@michaelimbesi2314]

She probably sank. Bulk carriers can sink remarkably quickly once they get into trouble, because the cargo loading hatches provide an avenue for very rapid flooding of the ship. She may have been on her way down when she was sighted, but with the hull being down over the horizon, it would be very hard to tell. Once the water hit the hatch covers, it would be totally reasonable for her to completely sink in two minutes or less. Edit: in case anybody wants to know my source on that, I’m a naval architect. I literally design ships for a living

[@matthewmosier8439]

Well, just going off of the information here, it sounded as if the captain viewed the ship as being underway as if all was normal, and not in peril. That's strange. I would almost be willing to wager that if his sighting was recorded with coordinates, that you'd find the wreck in the same spot he thought he saw the ship. Sort of the ship version of a phantom, visible above where it went down and vanishing once he looked away from it.

[@VirtualRussian]

@@matthewmosier8439 if the hull was fully or even partially obscured by the horizon then it would be quite difficult to tell if she was in trouble or not. You can also have a mirage effect occur with ships on the horizon, but that usually just makes them appear to float. Perhaps some sort of mirage also clouded his judgement. That said, I trust a seasoned captain to see through that if possible.

[@patriciajrs46]

Very cool. It's sad that so many are not seaworthy. I feel sorry for any ship that sank.

[@ink3539]

It makes me think about the Fitz, which by some accounts, sank very quickly in November on Lake Superior.

[@patriciajrs46]

What are the specs to which you subject your designs? Are they modern and updsted? I think what you do would be very interesting.

[@Spencer481]

So many of these stories start with a last season run. It's like a cop in a movie saying they're 1 week from retirement, you know things aren't going to go well then.

[@legitbeans9078]

Lol. Good analogy! "Just one last run it'll be fine" the great lakes "nope"

[@Doc_Paradox]

Honestly comes down to the namesake. Last run of the season. Its always the worst weather hence the season end of operation. It was always and still to an extent is a time where profit pushers push their men to squeeze every penny they can out of the year. You end up with throwing caution to the wind and fighting storms you'd normally run from. Its no wonder you hear so many with the same story.

[@JobberBud]

I think it's awesome that you're dedicated to not letting these fading disasters be forgotten.

[@ink3539]

Definitely, we often hear about better known ships, Lake Superior ships aren't very mentioned. I really love discovering new ships !

[@Chord_]

"Sacrificed in the name of commerce... A life cut short by the pursuit of profits..." A sentiment that tragically still rings true today. Regardless of those sad tides, another wonderful video!

[@matthewmosier8439]

If not profit, it would have been "the state". Like those doomed cosmonautes in Communist USSR.

[@Dayvit78]

What strikes me as, apparently this was a quite lucrative line already. They didn't need to squeeze every tiny little drop of profit out of the stone. They were making enough.

[@funnelvortex7722]

McDonalds is a lucrative business, still doesn’t stop them from exploiting teenagers for cheap degrading labor. Corporate greed and scumminess is a tale as old as time, unfortunately.

[@drizler]

737 MAX is another clear example. Pound a square into a round hole to make something it’s not and disaster follows. That plane had hit its limit but to compete against a new airframe and Airbus company they used new Bigger engines that drastically altered center of gravity / thrust. That made it unstable in certain critical flight regimes. Solution, add an automatic safety system , MCAS, to stop uncontrolled pitch up caused by the center of gravity / engine issues. There were further problems keeping it in the same exact “ type” classification as anything putting it outside of Type would require real life $$$$$ pilot simulator and real flight training. The completion Airbus needed none of that. Solution, offer to train them on their dime or watch a video tape which was optional. The laughable FAA blessed it all with it’s typical of late “ pencil whip” . Engineers knew it had serious issues and the chief test pilot made it known to the CEO who blew him off. The Result three serious incidents with two ending in tragedy. 350+ dead and it’s likely the pilots on those planes never even knew MCAS was on the plane or how to shut it off. Boeing got it’s fine, the FAA ducked out of sight and the Boeing CEO snuck away with his 16 million “ golden Parachute”. Profit at any cost?……

[@allewis4008]

Great Lakes freighters were notorious for not having the safety standards of ocean transportation

[@stucook8622]

I think she went down because of something they missed when the hull was inspected. I also wonder why someone or someones thought it would be a good idea to shut an important light house down early when shipping is still operating on the lake? Thanks for another great video!

[@matthewmosier8439]

Pretty sure that's the lighthouse that some KZbinrs spent the night at for a video. Pretty interesting to see it up close.

[@patriciajrs46]

Why shut them down at all? I thought they operated all the time.

[@warriyorcat]

At that time, you needed multiple people to keep them running. The lights were run in kerosene (or some other oil), and there were no mechanical means to get the oil to the light to keep it burning. The keeper would have to haul buckets of kerosene up several flights of stairs to the light. Stannard Rock Lighthouse (the specific lighthouse the Bannockburn passed) is in the middle of buttfuck nowhere (its one of the most isolated spots in the Northern hemisphere), and the Lighthouse Service had a hard time getting people to stay out there - they'd go insane from the lack of human contact. Stannard Rock was also prone to icing over in storms, making it physically dangerous. They probably decided to shut the light off because they couldn't carry the heavy buckets of kerosene up the frozen stairs.

[@larrylapalm7481]

The bannockburn will be found one day. Every ghost had a body at one time.

[@tessaducek5601]

Love this comment.. ❤️👌

[@DolleHengst]

That's a great line you wrote. The fact that these early steel boats were floating death traps, reminds me of the phrase "In a fleshy tomb, i am buried above ground"

[@rogerrendzak8055]

Yes, she was never found. So was the ship depicted earlier, in the video, the 'Marquette and Bessemer No 2'.

[@warriyorcat]

Maybe. Depends on how broken up she was. It's also why they haven't found the James Carruthers yet - there was a lot of wreckage, but they've never located a ship structure in the area.

[@toolsteel8482]

Another great episode! Though the stories of these vessels may have been lost to time and history to most, you keep the service and sacrifice of these men alive. I absolutely love this kind of historical presentation. Vessels of this era are so attractive, passenger of course, but cargo ships as well, unlike modern vessels of today. And I really like the uniforms worn by ships officers too.

[@nickstemberger1289]

My best guess is that the youth/lack of experience, earlier grounding, and wheat cargo contributed to a sudden cargo shift that capsized the ship. The leak may not have been discovered until too late or not at all and with the lack of communication technology at the time and inexperience, no SOS could've been communicated. Great story! Can you please do the Iosco/Olive Jeanette, Adella Shores, or Alpena?

[@tkps5079]

Back then kids were apprenticed from 15. 4 years on the job training and trade school usually once a fortnight for written theory was how many gained qualifications right up to the 90s.. Basically they were fully qualified by 19 in their preferred trade.

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@tkps5079 There was still a dangerous lack of old blood on the Bannockburn that night.

[@allewis4008]

​@@funnelvortex7722 There used to be a disgusting practice of using junior crews on rotten old ships to save on money when it inevitably floundered

[@Rudreax]

I DO NOT for the life of me understand how you still have under 100k subs after so many consistently phenomenal videos. It just doesn't make sense to me. Every video is so well made! I hope you get all the success you rightfully deserve!

[@lisadolan689]

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, it’s pure joy to hear the English language spoken with such perfect correctness. My OCD absolutely loves the narrator’s voice and outstanding linguistic perfection. And now I’m obsessed with long gone ships in countries I’ve never been too. 😆 Thank you 🙏 again for your efforts Narrator 😊

[@tonicastel2390]

It really is wonderful to hear perfect English with correct pronunciation & good grammar. It’s sadly so rare these days. And well researched too.

[@neurospicycentral490]

I just want to say how truly incredible your storytelling and narration is. You really bring life and drama into each and every one of these stories, I always look forward to every video you upload because the quality of your content is amazing!

[@milesaway3699]

Awesome story that I’ve never heard of. Having been born and raised in Michigan and living just 30 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge, the Great Lakes have been a huge part of my life. I’m sure the Bannockburn is resting in cold, deep water. Hopefully she’ll be found someday.

[@rogerrendzak8055]

I was 13, when I learned about the Bannockburn, from a book titled 'The Great Lakes Triangle', back in '75. I also live by the Atlantic Ocean, in southern NJ.

[@cheesyllama]

Fellow lifelong Michigan troll, I've never heard of this ship either until this video. (For anyone not from Michigan, a troll is anyone who lives "under the bridge", aka in the lower peninsula. Yoopers are "above the Mackinac bridge", living in the upper peninsula. Neither term is derogatory.) Everyone knows of the Edmund Fitzgerald, it's a footnote in a history lesson in elementary school here. Unless you had an obsession with ships as a kid (I didn't, my obsession was outer space), I doubt that many of our fellow trolls and Yoopers have heard of these ships and shipwrecks. I have been to Whitefish Point as a kid, (I was a kid in the 90s) toured the museum and found it all very interesting. Now as an adult, these ships are becoming more and more fascinating to me.

[@faithcastillo9597]

Loved this episode, especially the ending. Hauntingly beautiful...I could see, in my mind's eye, shrouds of mist enveloping a ghostly ship and its lost crew.

[@pedropcs_exe]

Just discovered your channel randomly, and have been binge watching for the last few hours. Amazing content, editing and storytelling, keep up the great work. ❤️

[@daviddavid5880]

These ships were built to a budget in a time and place where graft and corruption was rampant, and King Profit ruled. (Those shipping barons were utterly ruthless,) Plus, she was damaged twice before. Inspectors can be bribed, abused and substandard hulls can fail catastrophically. She could have gone under in the wink of an eye. Snap. Gone.

[@allewis4008]

Junior crews were also easily bullied onto unsafe ships, unlike the old salts.

[@robbicu]

Excellent job, Brad! I always look forward to your insightful and well researched content. Thank you!

[@marktaylor9975]

From the Lake Superior area, love these old story’s. Love the Great Lakes.

[@karismadawn]

The aerial lift bridge looked so different back then, I love it. Now it raises when ships are coming in. I actually live in superior, right across the Harbor.

[@peteryeadon946]

Once again a most well researched and fascinating video to watch. You must spend many hours doing this channel. It's much appreciated by me! I've loved boats/ships etc for over 50 years. Keep this channel going, I really look forward to your latest video. Many thanks Peter

[@Alex___820]

I’ve been really enjoying the stories from the Great Lakes, great job!

[@grievus7764]

It wasn't superstitous sailors it was Great Lakes Historian James Oliver Curwood who gave the Bannockburn the moniker "Flying Dutchmen of the Great Lakes" and what he was trying to do was build a connection between the maritime history of the Great Lakes to the popular maritime history of the worlds ocean to show that the history and life on these lakes were equally valid and harrowing as that of the worlds oceans. Bannockburn also had three sisterships that were virtually identical to her also operating on the Great Lakes region after her loss and they were often misidentified as the Bannockburn because when sailors would see them they would be reminded of the Bannockburn disappearing virtually without a trace.

[@Commander-McBragg]

It’s great to see film of these old ships along with the story. Great work as always!

[@76RSLT]

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your videos on Lake Superior. There is such a rich history up here. And I'd like to specifically talk about the Mataafa video. Initially I avoided watching it as I have long planned on making one myself as i have been researching the storm for many years, but I enjoy your other videos enough I finally caved. As a Minnesota based scuba diver, dive boat captain, and maritime historian, I think you did the story justice. There is so much to be said on the storm, you could do an entire season on it. The Mataafa story is still very well known today in Duluth and Captain Humble's story is so tragic. I'd be happy to discuss the storm or any other Great Lakes wreck history. A couple corrections on Bannockburn, on the lakes we pronounce it "ban-NOCK-burn", and it was the whaleback Frank Rockefeller who found the wreckage.

[@matthewmosier8439]

So the debris field was confirmed to be the vessel? It sounds as if the captain who sighted it from a distance believed that the ship went down as he was nearby, but wouldn't that imply that the storm would spread out the debris field too much to be noticed?

[@DieUnstillbareGier]

It was actually quite recently I heard about the SS Bannockburn and I couldn't find much information at all. But you brought the information we all wanted. Amazing work, Bradley. I always look forward towards your next video☺

[@Schlipperschlopper]

I like this ship!!! It looks like a steampunk pirate ship of the great lakes!

[@richardcovello5367]

Great video, well researched. One thing only locals and 'out of towners' who've been told know: Port Dalhousie (now part of St. Catharines, Ontario) is pronounced "Port Daloozie".

[@dianachack8779]

Awesome, great job as always!

[@i_cant_express_myself_in_words]

Another great presentation. I love these Great Lakes videos, they are so detailed, while I don’t know anything about Great Lakes ships, besides your videos. Great video, keep it up!

[@irefusetoaskmydoctorifyour6401]

Another ship-shape video, Bradley! The eerie background music with the windchimes, the semi-hushed crisp yet somber narration, well-researched, a quite enjoyable and educational video to watch! 👍👍 Two thumbs up!

[@micoasters]

I’ve been waiting for this, I’ve always been intrigued by her and always read about her when I get a chance

[@kallanstedje5133]

Thank you so much for more Lake Superior content! I really appreciated your video about the Mataafa. I live in Duluth and all the footage of our bridge,canal, and hillside are always welcome familiar sights which never get old..

[@erickirwan8703]

Absolutely love these videos.

[@petechadwick6261]

Awesome stuff, thanks!

[@box420]

love the ghost ship vids

[@justsmallstuff4994]

Another quality upload thanks

[@brenkirgaming4586]

Yes! More Great Lakes freighters!!!!!!!!!!

[@babyswheels54]

I just discovered your channel and I enjoyed the story. I’m gonna stick around and check out your other videos. Well told.

[@fhwolthuis]

Great documentary 😃

[@propman3523]

Great job and a very eloquent tribute to all "who go down to the [water] in ships."

[@Electriceye1984bySam]

Always so informative and interesting sir👍🏻👌🏻 Thank you.

[@mbvoelker8448]

An interesting mystery. I can't imagine that the crew of the Algonquin wouldn't have heard an explosion given that sound carries so well over water.

[@marhawkman303]

I'm wondering at the idea that was in fact her hull plate the excavators found. Maybe the inspection team was in a hurry or lazy? Maybe the inspection team genuinely were trying their best but missed something? I don't have much info on what the inspectors actually did, so it's impossible to have confidence in the inspection. soo... the idea that there could be a catastrophic failure is... more than a little plausible. Also, she was last seen with no barge in tow... why? Was she in trouble?

[@nancykurpaitis7928]

SAD......but Beautiful, Well Researched Story!!!

[@falconer7166]

I like that you cover great lakes wrecks as well as open ocean. I live off lake erie and know what a beast she can be once the weather turns. That said I enjoy the milder stuff in my surfski.

[@esteban8840]

Captivating, the quality of these documentaries are movies like

[@flapjackfae]

Excellent research and presentation, as always. I enjoy your conversational, even delivery, as opposed to the show biz announcer/ comedian tone of so many KZbinrs.

[@Sillygoober2006]

another great video

[@GoredonTheDestroyer]

Something that I think is important to keep in mind about the Great Lakes - and this is something I've picked up from watching Maritime Horrors - is that in the winter months, they can be truly unpredictable - The northern geographic range combined with the sheer _size_ of the lakes makes for a perfect recipe for freak weather conditions that can catch even experienced sailors off guard - not that the crew of the Bannockburn had much in the way of experience.

[@funnelvortex7722]

Not just in winter. Even in spring and summer when the waters are on average more calm they can still give a nasty surprise. The storm systems that cause tornadoes, hail, and high winds in the Midwest and Great Plains often move over the lakes bringing *explosive* weather with them. Wake lows, derechos, and microbursts can turn a nice summer day into nightmarish churning hell within minutes. These explosive conditions have wrecked multiple ships. Stan Rogers wrote a song about it.

[@charlieboy7502]

Wow another great show on a cloudy Saturday with a hot cup of coffee. Why ain't you on the history channel such a great voice and topics

[@majuuorthrus3340]

OK, that is a bloody weird one. Mainly because anything I can think of that would make a ship vanish in the time it took to glance away (maybe a minute) would be incredibly obvious, and anything that could make a ship vanish silently would take longer than that.

[@charliekezza]

I love this channel ♥️♥️♥️

[@poowg2657]

"A routine November gale....." Cue the ominous cello music.

[@Got2gofishin]

You’re a great storyteller

[@mike.4277]

Great video 😎👍

[@DeborahRosen99]

Willing to put money on the idea that the "inspection" the Bannockburn got after grounding was cursory, a check in the box that the powerful lake shipping companies accepted as a gesture to silence the relatively impotent regulators of the time, and that it missed something important. Something like a warp in the keel, for instance, that would weaken the entire hull. A ship with a snapped keel has ten minutes or less from the moment of the break, and if she was hauling grain she had big cargo spaces that the water would have rushed into and taken her down fast. I'm also willing to bet that the "minute later" that the Algonquin's captain looked up was something more like 3-5 minutes as he monitored his own ship in the storm.

[@greg98223]

Capt John Wood was a relative of mine. I've lost 2 relatives on the great lakes. The other was chief engineer Eugene Wood on a rail car ferry that went down several years later. I stay away from the big lakes. Lol

[@erikaswanson7072]

I thought the narrator called him George R Wood.

[@digitaal_boog]

I guarantee that some mad lad is gonna build an exact replica of a ship that was known to be lost and just sail it around to freak people out

[@kenwaldron8548]

I live in Michigan, just south of the Mackinac bridge and growing up my grampa told me stories about shipwrecks. It started my fear of water

[@Drumm3rB0y]

Heart goes out to Callaghan

[@evolveausevolveaus]

Henry B. Smith was a large wool broker (H.B.Smith) in the Port town I grew up in, Williamstown, Melbourne. Australia 🇦🇺 Obviously not the same Henry B. Smith, but the name was familiar to me. Great coverage of the story, thank you so much for your effort in creating content for "us ship / history freaks"😂😂 😂

[@Feline_Frenzy53]

RIP brave sailors

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

I'm glad my sailing days were aboard the brand new USS Theodore Roosevelt. The navy takes care of its ships, which isn't always true of commercial vessels. The Bannockburn's hull probably was damaged from running aground (visual inspections aren't always going to catch cracks in the hull, or metal fatigue), and failed suddenly. I'm also glad to live in a time when past mistakes have been learned from.

[@Sassymouse88]

/sigh/ it's always a late season run that does it!

[@bold810]

I love the B.O.B.

[@TheScottishKayaker]

I wonder if she was already sinking when the captain of the other ship saw her. She was not actually as far away as she appeared and the reason she seemed to suddenly disappear was her rolling as her hold filled.

[@luca-pk5ff]

Thx

[@dennisdougherty7538]

Very expertly presented. Thank you. Being a former Michigan resident I know the locations you mentioned but for non-familiar listeners a map should have been shown. It is hard to imagine where Sarnia is in relation to Caribou Isl. is without a map or distance mentioned. Also, related to this account some maritime enthusiasts call lake superior a "Devils Triangle" such as the "Bermuda" one is referred to.

[@inueti]

Ran a background check and you never lived in or around Michigan

[@johncmitchell4941]

I suggest that if the last observer/Captain had but turned down wind to water his horse (walk his dog?) the ship could have gone down in that time. I also suspect that a boiler explosion would have created a billow of steam or smoke far larger than the ship itself and observable for several minutes despite the weather/visibility. That said, If boiler's water was too low and the inrush too quick it would be all steam and quickly dissipated in the cold. IMO it cracked in two.

[@MainMezzer]

I would recommend the song The Shores of Michigan by Lee Murdock, great song about the bannokburn

[@lordcantiismyname]

We miss you when you're gone!

[@richardwolf8024]

Perhaps a seartch of the bottom around Caribou Island is in order. If she was searching for tje lights there, perhaps she hit a rock and sank.

[@schattmultz1660]

Ran aground after departure on a lake notorious for sudden bad weather. Most like hull fracture and sank

[@thecivilwarguy3674]

You should do a story on the G.P Griffith Disaster on Lake Eirie

[@jbrobertson6052]

Thanks I really like these stories and I wonder why would Henderson lie about the sighting?

[@KathrynsWorldWildfireTracking]

_Note to Self: Never, ever, take to the Lakes in November..._ _Ever!_

[@LeoJBatt]

these sinkings are incredibly sad

[@mullittmustang256]

Ahhh the ole S.S Bannockbum

[@Ragnarock227]

im kinda surprised they havent looked for a wreck at all

[@marybethreid5428]

I live in Port Colborne, Ontario. We pronounce Port Dalhousie as Da-lou-zee. Whether or not that is the correct pronunciation??? 😂 Another great video 🎉

[@rjrouse635]

Can you do a video on the barquentine Elmina she has a very tragic story

[@nesnever]

is there any hope of getting a deep water drone to look on the lake bottom I am familiar with the depths of lake Superior thanks to the Canal Park Maritime Museum in Duluth and realize it w0uld be nearly impossible to find. That said, nothing ventured nothing gained.

[@mlkott1]

After al these years, why didn’t someone launch a search operation at the area that the ship was las spotted so they can find the debris?

[@warriyorcat]

There's a lot of uncertainty over exactly where it sunk, so you'd have to cover a large area. This costs a lot of money, and people would rather spend it elsewhere. Also, a very large part of that potential search area is located over the deepest part of Lake Superior, or a little over 1300 feet deep. The deepest wreck discovered in her waters is somewhere around the 925 mark IIRC, and it wasn't the Bannockburn.

[@HistoryintheDark]

If no explosion was heard, the boiler theory doesn't seem logical. Boiler explosions, especially one capable of wrecking the entire ship, are intense. But she would have had to suffer a major and immediate structural failure for her to just vanish like that which does make the hull pretty suspect. Sadly, unless her wreck is found, we likely won't ever know for sure.

[@LordVikingLive]

Running a ground was a warning to not do the trip.

[@lexington476]

Has anyone or institution ever carried out an organized search for the ship?

[@unluckyirish2763]

They likely have been. Shes up there on the list of wrecks they want to find.

[@shadymaint1]

The Favorite wrecking tug mentioned was based out of Saint Ignace.

[@therealtony2009]

why would they shut down that lighthouse?

[@spacelemur7955]

"It was a very lucrative business, as the crews were young, inexperienced and paid very little." Gale season approaching, already a day late departing, ran aground and the captain who wanted yet another voyage after this one, decides the damage is minor, and sets off again. Just another day in the Gilded Era.

[@funnelvortex7722]

The Gilded Era? Nah, this is all still a thing, look how they pack warehouses and even your local McDonalds full of overworked and underpaid young kids who don't understand how they are being exploited.

[@iamfreebgm8856]

Considering the fellow ship sailing a tad after the late Edgar Fitzgerald in 1975, captain said " the Fitz was one minute on my radar and next I looked she was gone" I believe the same happened here with the SS Bannockburn. One min there next look gone. I hope someone would scan that part and see if there arent wrecks there, where one could possibly the SS Bannockburn. Also back then were a human life not valued as it was in the 1970s and onward. We saw it in WW1 n WW2. As long as it was won, no one cared for lives lost nor what happened psychologically, bodily and worse. Sad thing really.

[@stephanie8560]

You really stuck the landing with this one, I appreciate what you have to say at the end: so often these disasters are shrugged off as 'acts of God', but more often than not, they are acts of negligence and greed.

[@matthewmosier8439]

Keep in mind that throughout history young men have been expected to risk their lives to do the stuff that other people don't want to do, usually with little or no thanks from society. As a younger man myself, I can say that these sailors (I sailed briefly and loved it) were choosing this profession. That's not to defend choices made that were unreasonably dangerous, but if it wasn't shipping, it would have been a draft to go to war, or a hundred other options, many of which the average person tends to discount or take for granted.

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@matthewmosier8439 It's STILL that way. When I was 22 I had a warehouse job where I was expected to come in and work strenuous labor for pennies even when I had a serious acute illness that caused me to have constant diarrhea to the point I needed to bring a full sized Gatorade in to avoid collapsing from lack of electrolytes or hydration. The illness lasted for nearly 2 months, but it was 2020 and I did what I needed to do at the time to support myself and my girlfriend. They wouldn't give me leave, instead they wrote me off as a liability and thanklessly fired me as soon as they found the next kid they could replace me with. Society 100% sees young men as a source of cheap degrading thankless labor that can just be tossed out and replaced. Young men need work, I understand, but the way society commonly goes about it and how they are treated is actually kind of sick and often goes into the realm of exploitation. A lot of the marketing campaigns directed to recruiting young men into certain jobs are also manipulative as hell. Yes, young men need work and are a bit limited in their options, but it doesn't make these exploitive practices right.

[@matthewmosier8439]

@@funnelvortex7722 That's a gender thing. Society believing that young men are more expendable than young women. Do you think ships would sail dangerously if crewed by a majority of young women? I think we both know that things would change if the genders were swapped.

[@funnelvortex7722]

@@matthewmosier8439 It's also an age thing. The truth is in a lot of these trades old blood is routinely forced out, a lot of people >30 regularly get laid off, bullied out, or fired and swapped out for some naive kid despite being good at what they do and having many working years left, they do this because as people get older the cost of their life becomes more expensive and therefore they begin demanding raises, so of course companies find it easier to just be rid of them for some unwitting teenager or young adult who will work minimum wage. The consequence of this is that it causes a massive shortage in experience and skill as no one is there to provide their years or decades of mastered skills or train and give guidance to younger workers. I have no doubt the lack of old experience on board was a factor in the Bannockburn disaster, they were just eager kids who just got tossed out into a November Gale on a shoddy ship and sketchy captain to fend for themselves it seems like.

[@johncmitchell4941]

In the '80s some younger coworkers invited me to get back into SCUBA diving (after 20 yrs) but I wasn't ready for the dry suit and helium mix for where they dove wrecks in Lake Huron. I wonder if the Bannockburn has been located. Did it settle in one piece? Two, three?

[@warriyorcat]

It's not been found. The area where it's believed to have sunk also happens to be the deepest part of the lake.

[@BarelyDecentProduction]

So she and her crew continued their journey to this day even though they've sunk decades ago...

[@merafirewing6591]

Guess they're just that unlucky, like the Flying Dutchman itself.

[@luketdrifter2100]

There is 0% chance that hull plate was from Bannockburn. The amount of water that would come in from a lost plate would have sunk her before she made Whitefish. Since I read of this mystery 30 years ago I thought boiler explosion was the only explanation

[@pretzelbomb6105]

It’s also possible her cargo shifted and caused her to capsize. A few hard knocks back and forth, piling cargo higher on one side, then the other, then back… and CLANG! 20 tons of loose wheat slams into the inner hull. CLANG! 20 tons into the other side if she survives the first. Shifts like that can break a ship in half.

[@marhawkman303]

I'm not so sure. What do we know of the way Bannockburn was put together? did she have internal bulkheads to stem the deluge of the ship interior? Have a bulkhead get strained by being under load long enough and a water tight bulkhead can just fail. If the hull plate falling off opened a gap into a water tight compartment(such as a sealed hold) that no one tried looking inside? The amount of water taken on would be limited until the bulkheads collapsed under strain.

[@luketdrifter2100]

@@marhawkman303 I want to say (and this is a fuzzy memory) she wasn’t fitted with water right bulkheads, but again this is thoughts from long ago. I’ll try to find the books I had when I was a young boat nerd

[@rickfox4068]

Caribou Island has uncharted shoals, some as shallow is18 feet. It would be easy to bottom out there and then submarine into the roiling waters. It is one of the 3 reasons given for the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking.

[@locoHAWAIIANkane]

Did t the Fitz also go down in November during a storm?

[@warriyorcat]

Yes, but the Fitz sank 73 years later. The Bannockburn sank in 1902, before radar existed and before many ships had radios.

[@JShips46]

8:35 wasnt the favorite in the eastland disaster

[@bobbytowesr3387]

Best guess damaged hull plate missed it inspection + gale force storm= sunken ship

[@irefusetoaskmydoctorifyour6401]

I get it, the lives of those young men were worth very little in the days before OSHA, workers' comp laws, and wrongful death lawsuits, BUT, you'd think, if nothing else, these steamship companies would have been more careful not to lose their ship(s). I know it had to cost $$$ to build an entire SHIP, even back in those days. That might be a good topic for a video, how many runs would a new cargo ship have to make to pay for itself?