The tug General left Sault Ste. Marie on a rescue mission.
A steamer had gone aground on Martin’s Reef, and the 90-foot tug was sent out through the night to help. But before it could reach the stranded vessel, a heavy snowstorm turned the trip into a disaster of its own.
Off Lime Island, the General collided with the Canadian Pacific steamer Athabasca and sank.
Three members of the tug’s crew drowned, while Captain Frank E. Nelson and the surviving men were taken aboard the vessel that had struck them.
Tug Sunk In Collision
SAULTE STE MARIE, Michigan. — Three of the crew of the tug General were drowned early today when the tug was sunk in a collision with the Canadian Pacific railroad steamer Athabasca off Lime Island, in St. Mary’s passage.
The tug belonged to the Great Lakes Dock Company, and was 90 feet long, with a gross tonnage of 132. She was under command of Captain Frank E. Nelson, who was saved.
The General left here late last night to go to the rescue of the steamer Pollock, aground on Martin’s Reef, 12 miles west of Detour. The collision occurred in a heavy snowstorm.
The saved members of the General’s crew were taken on board the Athabasca for transportation to their homes at Sault Ste. Marie.
Source: Evening Star. Washington, D.C. November 30, 1910.
