Summary
John Roen salvaged the 600-foot George M. Humphrey in 1944 after it sank in the Straits of Mackinac in the early 1940s. The vessel was towed to Sturgeon Bay, repaired, and recommissioned as the Captain John Roen.
Evidence and limits
This record represents the 1944 salvage and renaming, not the vessel’s original sinking as a separate event. The retrospective gives no exact sinking date, collision partner, coordinates, government contract number, or registry identifiers. Its account of the salvage method is preserved without treating the unverified engineering details as an independent technical record.
Open questions
- What Coast Guard, federal, or maritime records document the early-1940s sinking and 1944 salvage?
- What was the collision partner and exact position in the Straits of Mackinac?
- When was the recommissioned vessel sold, and to whom?
See also
- John Roen (Great Lakes captain, 1887–1970)
- George M. Humphrey (later Captain John Roen)
- Roen Steamship Company
Sources
- Charlevoix Courier, December 9, 1970, “Death Claims Captain: Roen Steamship Empire Was Launched in Charlevoix.”Says the George M. Humphrey sank in the Straits of Mackinac in the early 1940s, was raised by Roen in 1944 after its cargo was removed, towed to Sturgeon Bay, and recommissioned as the Captain John Roen.
- Beaver Beacon, December 1970, “Legend Passes.”Retrospective describes the cargo removal, flotation-chamber salvage, tow to Roen's shipyard, and later sale after two years of company service.