SS Benjamin Noble

The Benjamin Noble was unique among Lake freighters because her stern cabins were elevated on a poop deck. Her bow cabins were also elevated on a forecastle deck. This also meant that she sat quite low in the water meaning that her spar deck often got wet. Maritime historian Dwight Boyer attributes the 1914 loss of the vessel to a combination of deliberate cargo overloading and the ship's unusual design. On her last voyage the low-riding vessel had very little freeboard and was vulnerable to swamping.[2]

The Duluth-bound Benjamin Noble entered Lake Superior on 25 April 1914 under command of Captain John Eisenhardt; the Noble was his first command. Also bound for Duluth was the lumber steamer Norwalk, which trailed the Noble and eventually passed her on the 27th. That night, however, a fierce spring gale hit the lake. The Noble was apparently following the Norwalk until around 3am when both ships were near Knife Island. At that time a passing freighter, the Daniel J. Morrell, noticed the lights of one of the ships suddenly disappear. The Norwalk struggled into Duluth harbor at 4:30am on 28 April. That afternoon the hatch covers of the Noble were found washed up on the beach near Duluth. The next day more wreckage, including her pilot house, was found.[5]

Had she been able to make anchor in the sheltered port of Duluth, the Benjamin Noble would have been saved. However, at a key moment in the storm, entry to the harbor was unnavigable after the obsolescent south pier torch light blew out.[6] Harbor laborer Stan Standen tried to reach the light to relight it, but was blown into the canal and lost.[7] Of the estimated 16 [8] to 18[7] to 20[9] crew members, only about the names of 11 are known.[10] On April 29, 1914 it was reported several crewmembers' remains were found on a sand reef near Minnesota Reef.[11]

In the Autumn of 2004 a shipwreck research team consisting of Jerry Eliason, Kraig Smith, Ken Merryman and Randy Beebe were searching for the Robert Wallace when their side scan sonar picked up the outlines of a shipwreck.[3] Randy Beebe described the event:

It was the last pass of the day, which was going to be the last day of the search season. We were just going to pull up the side-scan sonar and head in, and we noticed a target on the screen. So right away we headed over there and investigated it more with the side-scan sonar, and sure enough we had a shipwreck.[3]

The team was expecting to see the Wallace, but the ship they found was made of steel. They were able to lower a camera into the cargo hold of the mystery ship. They saw the holds of railroad rails, thus confirming that the wreck was that of the long lost Benjamin Noble.[3]

The Benjamin Noble was extensively damaged by the sinking. The ship lies upright in a trench made when it hit the lake bottom; the bow end is covered in silt. The aft half of the ship is buried almost up to the level of the main deck, with the hull split just forward of the boiler room. The rear cabins are collapsed due to the weight of water as the ship plunged quickly. The cargo hatches are gone, exposing the cargo of railroad rails. The rear mast has fallen, and scattered nearby are the ventilators and a lifeboat.[14]

• List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lake County, Minnesota