Beaver Island Historical Society site

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Transcribed from the object itself.

Recovery Gone Wrong
The Marold’s Final Trip

On January 1st, 1937, the Marold II left Charlevoix heading for Simmon's Reef for another load of the precious liquid. A fortune was within reach just for the taking, holiday or no holiday. The sun shone all day, and the water was forebodingly quiet. The long line of Beaver Island rimmed the far horizon, while in the west, the sun blazed away, soon to be extinguished in the glowing water.

The Marold II in northern Lake Michigan waters

Half a dozen people were supposed to accompany the trip for sightseeing, but being that it was New Year's Day and the Marold II departed early, the passengers did not make the boat.

With its valuable cargo of free gasoline, the Marold II was typically on its way back to Charlevoix in the late afternoon. With a complete hold of gasoline underneath and vapors heavy in the air, the five-person crew started the engines to head home. She was diesel-driven, and the engines had to be started with some type of flame. What happened next will never be known for sure.

Fire Rages

The first indication that there was something wrong came shortly before 5:30 pm when the lookout at the local Coast Guard station reported seeing a column of black smoke from the vicinity of Simmon's Reef.

A lifesaving vessel was immediately dispatched to the scene from the US Coast Guard station in Charlevoix, over forty miles away. The boat arrived at the scene after dark and others were already there.

The intense heat kept rescuers from approaching until the dawn when the fire had burned itself out and the ship had started to cool

The lifesaving vessel approached a scene illuminated by firelight. The Marold II, Lake Michigan, and the J. Oswald Boyd burned for hours as they were soaked with “high test” gasoline.

Men aboard the J. Oswald Boyd. Wreckage of the Marold II can be seen strewn around the ice and deck.

The fire was raging so fiercely nothing could be done. The boats cruised the area all night, helpless and frustrated. As morning dawned and the flames died down the tragedy was fully revealed.

The explosion peeled back the steel deck of the Marold II and had thrown the ship onto the deck of the J. Oswald Boyd. The Marold's entire superstructure, stack and all, lay across the deck of the gasoline tanker. When the ships' metal had cooled, a boarding party found two bodies, identified as Raymond and Everett Cole. Captain Hill and his son, Leon, were found weeks later, while Bruce McDonough was never found.

Photos courtesy of the BIHS Archives