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Courtesy Thunder Bay Museum
Neebing
The Neebing before its tragic end in a 1937 storm. A new exhibit at the Thunder Bay Museum highlights Canadian wrecks on Lake Superior and at Isle Royale.
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Bill Lewinski
Bill Lewinski, wheelman on the Neebing, in a photo from 1937.
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Diane Robnik
Bill Lewinski
Bill at age 98 in a 2012 photo.
Passing through Nipigon Straits on its way to Red Rock with a load of sand and gravel and towing a coal barge, the freighter Neebing was battered by huge waves and gale force winds September 24, 1937.
The crew worked frantically to separate the Neebing from the barge Coteau, as the vessels crashed against each another. When a monstrous wave hit the Neebing, it started to sink in cascades of whitewater. There was no time for lifeboats, even though the lines between the boats were cut and the barge stayed afloat.
The story of the Neebing is highlighted in a new exhibit, “What Lies Beneath: Canadian Wrecks of Lake Superior,” at Thunder Bay Museum. The exhibit uses interpretive panels and artifacts, including some on loan from Isle Royale National Park, to tell the stories. The focus is on Canadian wrecks on Lake Superior and at Isle Royale, says Diane Robnik, community resource officer for the museum. She researched and compiled material, and about 40 shipwrecks are detailed in depth.
In the stories that she researched, says Diane, there’s “a sense of the struggle between man and the environment.” Rescue was not certain.
“You could survive a shipwreck and then die waiting to be rescued.”
Diane used eyewitness accounts when possible. “I wanted it to be more of an emotional story of courage and survival.”
That is how she came to interview 98-year-old Bill Lewinski last year in a Thunder Bay nursing home. Bill was on the Neebing when it ran into trouble and, Diane says, “he could still remember the coldness of the water.” He recalled vivid details.
From his cabin on the freighter, the 22-year-old wheelman felt the Neebing lurching. He slipped on his life jacket and headed for the deck. He jumped into the icy waters and helped others put on life jackets. Six of 15 crew members didn’t get off the vessel and were pulled to the bottom of Lake Superior.
Bill told a newspaper at the time, “I tried to swim away from the sinking ship, but the suction from the sinking vessel kept pulling me in.” He saw Neebing’s smokestack explode when the boilers hit the water, sending wreckage flying.
“The boat disappeared as I jumped. … The next thing I knew was there was wreckage all around me,” reported First Mate Pete Medwid.
Eventually, Bill gave Pete some floating debris to cling to, and the two paddled together to shore.
Other shipwrecks in the exhibit are the Ontario, wrecked at Battle Island in 1899; the Judge Hart, wrecked in Jackfish Bay in 1942; the whaleback barge 115, wrecked off Pic Island in 1899; the steamship America, sunk at Isle Royale in 1928, and the steamship Algoma, wrecked also at Isle Royale in 1885.
“What Lies Beneath” will become a traveling exhibit next year, first in Ontario, then to Minnesota cities, including Duluth and Two Harbors.
“What Lies Beneath: Canadian Wrecks of Lake Superior,” runs July 2 to November 10. Thunder Bay Museum, 425 Donald Street East, Thunder Bay. 807-623-0801. www.thunderbaymuseum.com.