The Storm of November 11, 1940

The Armistice Day Storm is one of the most powerful to ever hit the Great Lakes.  Hurricane-strength winds raced across the United States, first destroying a suspension bridge in Washington State.  When the gusts hit near Pentwater, Michigan, they were raging at 126 miles-per-hour.  The freighter William Davock was flipped and the entire crew lost off Big Point Sable.  The steamer Anna Minch was ripped in two and every sailor aboard was lost.  The tiny freighter Novadoc lost control near Little Point Sable and was pushed onto a sandbar.  Too far to swim for help, the crew waiting two nights in the frozen ship for help.  A tiny fish tug brought 17 of the 19 crew home.  The two cooks were lost overboard during the storm.  The daring rescue is chronicled in the song and documentary “Safe Ashore”, named for the short message sent home to Canada by wheelsman Lloyd Belcher.

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