Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: F. Fitch OTHER NAME(s): (sometimes as F. A. Fitch) OFFICIAL NO: 120872 DATE OF LOSS: 28 August 1898 REASON: Collision in storm LOCATION: Lake Michigan, Point Betsie RIG TYPE: Schooner, 2-mast HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Onekama, MI. - 1891 OWNER(S): ? MASTER: ? TONNAGE: 13.03 gt DIMENSIONS: 41.6 x 13.5 x 4.2 CASUALTIES: 0 SURVIVORS: 2 Purchased from F. Fitch, of Montague, MI., by Claus J. Blink, of Holland, MI., in 1894 for $350. Was in a collision with an unknown steamer during a summer gale about 3 miles SW of Point Betsy. The two man crew of the FITCH, father and son, took to the small boat and attempted to reach shore in the small boat with one oar. Found by the life-savers from Point Betsy who took the pair aboard and located the water-logged schooner with her cargo of fruit floating around her. They let go her anchor to hold her until a tug could be sent and returned to the station. At daylight the schooner could still be seen but they reported that at 6 a.m. she rolled over and disappear- ed. The seas running heavy they waited until the next day to search for the wreck but she couldn't be found. Some reports state that she beached herself near Frankfort, or was found and picked up by a fisherman, a few days later and was repaired. Not found on Merchant Vessel Lists after the 1898 wreck. She had a narrow escape near the same location in September, 1896. After sailing from Pentwater she was slammed by a fierce norther causing her to turn and run for shelter at Ludington. ======================================================================== Sources: Annual Report of the U.S.L.S.S., 1900 Beeson's Inland Marine Guide, 1892 The Ludington Record, 24 September 1896 Sandusky Star-Journal, 26 December, 1898 Door County Advocate, 31 December 1898 Mansfield "History of the Great Lakes", 1899 - pp. 784 Last updated 4 January 2015