- Date
- 1936
- Kind
- Shipwreck
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Eras
- Industrial era
- Concepts
- deathtransportationheritagefamilycommunication
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The January 1997 Beaver Beacon recounts the Marold II explosion and fire at Simmons’ Reef after the vessel loaded gasoline. The July 2006 Beacon revisits the related Oswald Boyd stranding, the Beaver Island Transit Company’s fuel salvage, the five deaths, and Mike Weede’s continuing dive and archival search. The 1997 and 2006 accounts differ in some dates and fuel quantities, so this record preserves both reports rather than silently harmonizing them.
Evidence limits
These are newspaper historical accounts, not original marine investigation files. The two reports should be checked against the cited historical records before treating their differing dates or quantities as settled.
Sources
- Recounts the explosion and fire of the *Marold II* after loading 17,000 gallons of gasoline and identifies Beaver Islanders Bruce McDonough and brothers Everett and Raymond Cole among the five crew members lost. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1997-01_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue scan confirms the historical shipwreck account.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1997-01_Beaver-Beacon
- Beaver Beacon, July 2006, "When Will It Be Solved?"Recounts the stranding of the tanker Oswald Boyd on Simmons Reef, fuel salvage by the Beaver Island Transit Company, the Marold II explosion that killed five people including three Islanders, and Mike Weede's later dive and archival search for the wrecks. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue scan confirms the historical search article and photographs.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2006-07_Beaver-Beacon
Added 5 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “The 1936 *Marold II* explosion at Simmons’ Reef killed three Beaver Islanders”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-marold-ii-simmons-reef-explosion-1936/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, January 1997, “Tragedy at Simmons’ Reef.” (and 3 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-05. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “The 1936 *Marold II* explosion at Simmons’ Reef killed three Beaver Islanders”RIS for “The 1936 *Marold II* explosion at Simmons’ Reef killed three Beaver Islanders”