Admiral
The Admiral left Toledo, Ohio at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, December 1, 1942. She carried a crew of fourteen and towed the 260 foot tanker barge Cleveco loaded with one million gallons of fuel oil. On December 2, the vessels encountered a severe storm. According to the court proceedings following the incident; the Cleveco, by reason of steering gear trouble, had sheared off and had the Admiral about five points on her starboard bow. This sheer required releasing the strain on the towing cable to give the Admiral a chance to run freely until the Cleveco was again brought under control. The tug apparently disappeared between the time the master of the Cleveco first saw that the tug was in this position and the time it took him to get over to the lever to release the strain on the towing cable. About 4:00 a.m., Cleveco’s Cap-tain, William H. Smith, radioed for help when watchmen on the barge could not see the Admiral’s lights and noticed the towline to the Admiral had dropped into the water.
Assuming the barge to be anchored to the sunken tug, the crew of the Cleveco cut her free. By 6:30 a.m. the winds were 70 miles per hour and the waves were running 18 feet. For almost 30 hours, rescue boats attempted to find the Cleveco. The strong winds and driving snow, which made it impossible for search ships to find the drifting tanker barge, eventually took the Cleveco and her crew of 18 to their doom off Euclid, Ohio.
The Wreck Today
Located in 1969 by diver George Walton, the Admiral sits upright in 75 feet of water. While many artifacts, including the bell and all pilothouse equipment, have been removed, the vessel is essentially intact. The crew quarters and galley are silted in. The pilothouse and engine room may be penetrated with caution. The stack lies against the port side gunnel amidships. At one time the name was clearly legible on the bow, however, zebra mussels now cover the bow and obscure the name. Over the years, the Admiral has continued to sink. When first discovered her stern was well above the bottom of the lake. Today, the stern is almost entirely silted over.
There is no evidence of the towline being fowled in the prop. The position of the wreck indicates she went down stern heavy. This supports the theory that ice accumulating on the stern caused the tug to sink under the weight of ice and water as a wave overtook her.
Artifact Display
The Great Lakes Historical Society Museum in Vermilion, Ohio displays Admiral artifacts including her bell and a tool box filled with tools. The bell bears her former name, W.H. Meyer.
Admiral
| SHIP DETAILS | |
| Official #: | 222239 |
| Location: | 10.6 miles 352°T from Rocky River, Ohio |
| Coordinates: | LORAN: 43808.9 57412.7 |
| Lies: | bow south |
| Type: | tug |
| Power: | 800 horsepower steam engine |
| Owner(s): | Cleveland Tankers, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio |
| Built: | 1922 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin |
| Dimensions: | 93.3' × 22.1' × 11.7' |
| Date of Loss: | Wednesday, December 2, 1942 |
| Cause of Loss: | storm |
| --- | |
| Site #: | 26 |
| DGPS: | 41 38.244 81 |
| Depth: | 75 feet |
| Cargo: | tanker barge Cleveco |
| Tonnage: | 130 gross 88 net |
