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This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Big Storm. To commemorate that tragic event, the Rev. Peter J. Vander Linden recalls for us the story of the best-known casualty of that historic storm. SHIPS THAT | Steamer CHARLES S. PRICE NEVER DIE (US 207359) Steel bulk freighter NO. 143 _ built in 1910 as HULL 381 by the American Shipbuilding Co., at Lorain, Ohio. With a keel length of 504 feet, beam of 54 feet and depth of 30 feet, she was listed as being 6332 gross tons and 4901 net. A near sister, the JOHN J. BARLUM, still survives as the ALGOCEN. Her power plant consisted of a triple-expans- ion steam engine built by the American Ship- building Co., at Cleveland, Ohio. She belonged to the Mahoning Steamship Co., of Cleveland, M. A. Hanna Co. operators. For the short period of her existence she carried iron ore downbound and coal upbound on the Great Lakes. Her carrying capacity was 9,000 tons. The first few years were uneventful but on Sat- urday, Nov. 8, 1913, loaded with coal from Toledo her travail began. Upbound past Port Huron on Sunday, Nov. 9, 1913, she sailed into history as the Mystery Ship of the “Big Storm” of Nov. 9, 1913. On Monday a ship completely turned over was sighted above Port Huron. This was the first sign of any disaster. For six days she remained unknown but on the 15th a diver located her nameplate while investiga- ting the partly submerged overturned hull. CHARLES S. PRICE was the name flashed to the world which had been speculating which of the eight vessels known lost in the storm she was. Eight days after she had capsized she sank from view. Here she lies today, ten and a half miles northeast of Fort Gratiot Light, east of HURON LIGHTSHIP. For many years the wreck was marked by a buoy. A few attempts were made at salvage but all proved unsuccessful. Memory of her valiant struggle faded. Renewed interest in sunken ships came with the advent of skindiving after World War II. Be- cause of persistent efforts of the scuba divers around Port Huron and Sarnia, her hull was located in 65 feet of water. Her cabins and superstructure are completely gone or buried in hard mud and the top of her overturned hull is barely 30 feet under the surface. What happened to the CHARLES S. PRICE and her crew of 28 still remains a mystery and maybe even a deeper one after 50 years. Why did she turn over? Was therea collision? Why were the bodies of her master, Capt. W. A. Black, and half his crew found on the beach wear- ing lifejackets bearing the name REGINA? These and many others were not answered 50 years ago. What does the long gash in the bottom of her hull mean? What is the trench extending many feet behind the hull? Is the REGINA near- by? Too many questions remain. So she can still be truly called the Mystery Ship of Lake Huron, even today. The Rev. Peter Vander Linden ww