Qualla: SS Chester A. Congdon https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: SS Chester A. Congdon https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon SS Chester A. Congdon: Introduction https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ Captain Charles Autterson knew the fog was wrong. He had already turned back once that morning, sheltering in Thunder Bay while a storm thrashed Lake Superior. When the winds finally eased at 10:15 a.m. on November 6, 1918, he steered the Chester A. Congdon back into open water, her holds packed tight with 380,000 bushels of wheat. The waves still rolled, but the wind had dropped. Then the fog came down. Thick, silent, total. Autterson set a course for Passage Island, planning to anchor if visibility did not improve. His officers never heard the fog signal. At 1:08 p.m., the 525-foot freighter drove onto the southern reef of Canoe Rocks, at the northeast point of Isle Royale. Two days later, a storm broke her in half. She remains there still -- the largest shipwreck at Isle Royale, split across a shoal that now bears her name.

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full SS Chester A. Congdon: Born as Salt Lake City https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ She entered the world under a different name. Launched as the Salt Lake City on August 29, 1907, from the Chicago Shipbuilding Company into the Calumet River, she was hull number 74 -- built for the Holmes Steamship Company of Cleveland and christened by Dorothy Holmes. Among the...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-born-as-salt-lake-city.mp3 0:06 2 full SS Chester A. Congdon: A Ship That Found Trouble https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ The freighter had a talent for collisions. In June 1908, still named Salt Lake City, she struck a scow at the Twin Ports. After the Holmes Steamship Company merged into Acme Transit in 1911, she was sold the following year to the Continental Steamship Company of Duluth and rename...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-a-ship-that-found-trouble.mp3 0:06 3 full SS Chester A. Congdon: Into the Fog https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ Her final voyage began at the Ogilvie & Pacific grain elevators in Fort William, Ontario, on November 5, 1918. She loaded 380,000 bushels of wheat, bound for Port McNicoll. Departing at 2:28 a.m. the next morning, she ran straight into a heavy storm beyond Thunder Cape. Captain A...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-into-the-fog.mp3 0:06 4 full SS Chester A. Congdon: Broken in Two https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ Lifeboats went down immediately. One crew headed for Passage Island to summon the lighthouse keeper; two fishermen took the second mate toward Fort William, though their launch broke down and they did not arrive until the following morning. The Canadian Wrecking & Towing Company ...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-broken-in-two.mp3 0:06 5 full SS Chester A. Congdon: Lake Superior's Million-Dollar Ghost https://qualla.com/ss-chester-a-congdon/ No one died when the Chester A. Congdon went down, but the financial toll was staggering. Wartime wheat prices had driven the cargo's value above $893,000. Combined with her hull value of $365,000 and other costs, the total loss exceeded $1.5 million -- making her Lake Superior's...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/9/4/ss-chester-a-congdon-wp/f094-ss-chester-a-congdon-lake-superiors-million-dollar-ghost.mp3 0:06 6 full