The Mataafa Storm of 1905, was a storm that occurred on the Great Lakes on November 27–28, 1905. The system moved across the Great Basin with moderate depth on November 26 and November 27, then east-northeastward across the Great Lakes on November 28. Fresh east winds were forecast for the afternoon and evening of November 27, with storm warnings in effect by the morning of November 28. Storm-force winds and heavy snows accompanied the cyclone's passage. The storm, named after the steamship , ended up destroying or damaging about 29 vessels, killing 36 seamen, and causing shipping losses of US$ 3.567 million (1905 dollars) on Lake Superior.
Weather and forecast
A storm system moving through the Great Basin on November 26 and 27 was forecast to bring "fresh easterly winds" to the Great Lakes during the afternoon and evening on November 27 by the United States Weather Bureau. At 6 p.m., winds at Duluth, Minnesota, had reached . Storm warning flags were flying by the morning of November 28 as the cyclone moved into southern Minnesota. At this time, easterly gales and heavy snows had spread across Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Five-minute winds reached at Duluth during the early morning of November 28, before dropping below gale force by noon. At Duluth Harbor, lake levels peaked at above normal during the storm. The system brought heavy snows within its northern and western side across the northern Great Lakes on November 28 and November 29, with storm warnings continuing for the lower Great Lakes on the morning of November 29.
The wreck of SS Mataafa
At five o'clock in the afternoon on November 27, 1905, the bulk carrier was on her way out of Duluth, loaded with iron ore and towing the barge James Nasmyth. She was hit by the storm, and though she struggled on for a short time, by the time she had reached Two Harbors, Minnesota, at 4:00 p.m. the next day, it was clear to her master, Captain R. F. Humble, that she could not make the run. He gave the order to turn about, and she turned her prow toward Duluth.
As she approached the port, it became clear that it was useless to try to bring both steamer and barge through the narrow Duluth Ship Canal into the harbor, so the Captain Humble gave the order to cut James Nasmyth loose. Then Mataafa attempted to make it into safe harbor alone. She made it about half-way between the twin concrete piers when a backwater surged out. Heavy water struck her stern, driving her prow down to the muddy bottom, and then slammed her stern against the north pier. Her rudder tore off and the water pulled her prow out toward the open lake, then smashed her stern against the south pier. She grounded in the shallow water outside the north pier, where she broke in two, her stern settling slowly into the water.
When the ship broke in two, twelve men were in the aft portion; three of them struggled to the forward portion. The remaining nine remained aboard the after portion and died of exposure during the night; one of the bodies in the after half had to be chopped out of solid ice. The fifteen men in the fore half fared better; although rescue attempts were futile during the stormy night, the next day a small boat made it out, and all fifteen were taken off in two boatloads.
Other shipping impact
By noon on Sunday, November 26, 1905, the steamer Butler emerged from the St. Clair River into Lake Huron. The sky was gray and overcast. For the rest of the day, Butler steamed north across Lake Huron. On the morning of Monday, November 27, the steamer 'Joseph G. Butler, Jr. passed Detour Reef Light and entered the Saint Marys River. Monday afternoon, Butler cleared the Soo Locks, just behind the steamer Bransford. That afternoon, the temperature was 28 degrees F (-2 degrees C). As the two steamers headed across Whitefish Bay, the barometer started downward, then plummeted, and the snow thickened. By dusk, the lookouts could barely make out the light at Whitefish Point as they cleared the bay into the body of Lake Superior. Here Bransford turned northward to follow the Canadian shore to stay north of the storm. Butler turned southwestward to take the shorter distance and pressed through the storm.