On June 11, 1918, the 126 t. Reid salvage tug SALVOR foundered in a storm seven miles off the desolate southwest coast of Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron. John Henry Davidson, one of her crewmen, in 1976 wrote this poem describing her loss. He would regularly recite this poem when talking of his experiences. It is provided by Davidson's son, John T. Davidson, Marion IL.
THE SINKING OF THE TUG SALVOR
August 13, 1918
She was a ship with a stately build
a hundred feet or so
And talk about a steamship run
The Salvor sure could go.
It was a dark and stormy night
As the Salvor pulled away
For a raft of logs up in Georgian Bay.
The seas rolled high by the lightship
They cracked up on the beach
And it wasn't long ere the Salvor
Turned back out of their reach.
We laid at the dock till morning
But soon was underway
And talk about the weather
It seemed a perfect day.
Things went well till Tuesday
Just a little after noon
The wind began to whistle
The Salvors doom.
By four o'clock she foundered
The stack took an awry ride
The seas put the fire out and the
Ventilators went over the side.
We launched the steel lifeboat
The plug we forgot to put in
And things looked like some would have
to swim.
The fireman jumped in the lifeboat
Drove the peg with a willing hand
For he knew if he didn't
Few would reach the land.
He bailed it out with a dipper and pail
While his partner the wheelsman snubbed
The painter to the rail.
We rowed that day till evening
Landed on a rocky shore
And went to sleep by a campfire
Knowing the Salvor was no more.
9/7/1976 by John Henry Davidson
©2000 John Thompson Davidson
