Vessel
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- maritimeshippingheritage
Summary
The George M. Humphrey was a 600-foot coal, grain, and ore carrier that the December 1970 accounts say sank in the Straits of Mackinac in the early 1940s. John Roen raised it in 1944, towed it to Sturgeon Bay, and recommissioned it as the Captain John Roen.
Evidence and limits
The held sources establish the name change and broad salvage sequence but not the vessel’s registry, original owner, construction date, exact dimensions beyond the retrospective 600-foot figure, or eventual buyer. The two names are retained as one vessel history because the source explicitly says the vessel was recommissioned under the later name.
Open questions
- What official vessel record identifies both names and confirms the 600-foot measurement?
- Which freighter collided with the Humphrey, and where exactly did it sink?
- Who bought the recommissioned vessel after its two years with Roen’s company?
See also
- John Roen (Great Lakes captain, 1887–1970)
- Salvage and renaming of the George M. Humphrey (1944)
- Roen Steamship Company
- Shipping and navigation
Sources
- Charlevoix Courier, December 9, 1970, “Death Claims Captain: Roen Steamship Empire Was Launched in Charlevoix.”Calls the George M. Humphrey a 600-foot coal, grain, and ore carrier that sank in the Straits of Mackinac in the early 1940s and was raised in 1944, then recommissioned as the Captain John Roen.
- Beaver Beacon, December 1970, “Legend Passes.”Describes the vessel as a 600-foot ore carrier and preserves the salvage method, tow to Sturgeon Bay, two years of company service, and later sale.