![]() The storm-battered Sebastopol, in the lead, made the turn and limped into Sault Ste. 24, with the ships desperately trying to reach relative shelter in the lee of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. ![]() ![]() (Forum News Service)Ī wicked Lake Superior gale hammered all three of the ships as they crossed the open lake on the night of Nov. The Cerisoles and Inkerman, and the 78 men they carried, vanished as they tried to make their way from Thunder Bay to the lee of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. 23, 1918, with crews of 38 and a Great Lakes pilot aboard each, they motored down the Kaministiquia River and out onto the big lake, past the Sleeping Giant, around Isle Royale, heading toward the Soo Locks. The Cerisoles, Inkerman and Sebastopol - named for French military victories of past centuries - were finally complete and ready to sail for Europe. DULUTH - The French sailors’ spirits must have been running high as they headed out onto Lake Superior on that November day 99 years ago.Īfter a long journey from France in what would turn out to be the waning days of World War I, the 100-plus men made up the crews of three brand-new minesweepers built for the French Navy at a shipyard in Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay).
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