Niagara Scow
Coordinates: 43 ° 4 ′ 23.3 " N , 79 ° 4 ′ 15.5" W.
As Niagara Scow , also Iron Scow , the wreck of a Prahms (English Scow) is called, which almost crashed on August 6, 1918 with a crew of two over the Horseshoe Falls .
Accident in 1918
On August 6, 1918, two men were working on the Niagara River aboard the haulm hauled by the tug Hassayampa belonging to the Great Lakes Dredge and Docks Company . They had the task of using a suction device to pump sand into the barge in front of the mouth of the inlet channel to the hydroelectric power station of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company in order to keep the flow to the turbines free. One of the men was the 51-year-old experienced seaman Gustave Ferdinand Lofberg, who had previously worked on the Great Lakes , and the other was the 40-year-old rigger James Henry Harris, who had only been with the company for four weeks. Both lived in Buffalo , New York State .
At 3:10 p.m. they were at the entrance to the canal and were sucking the sand into the barge when the tug hit a rock or sand bank. Because of the jolt, the steel towline tore "like a thin cord" and the boat drifted off. Two other tugs, Cowles and Helen M. , who worked for the same company in the canal, tried to save the boat, but the current was too strong. The two tugs and two other tugs that were on site tried to help the Hassayampa . At the same time, the alarm was given that the pram had come loose. The Niagara Falls Fire Department at Niagara Falls has been alerted, as have the Coast Guard in Buffalo and Fort Niagara .
Loaded with 2000 tons of sand and rock, the boat drifted downstream towards the Horseshoe Falls and the two men on the boat had no way of slowing down. The use of an auxiliary oar was also unsuccessful. Before the falls, the river descends towards the falls via a series of rapids and cascades. By Goat Iceland the stream of water is divided into two parts and the water is on the one hand, on the other hand to the Horseshoe Falls at the American Falls passed. About 750 m from the Horseshoe Falls, after a journey of two kilometers, the prahm ran aground on a ledge. Only now could Lofberg and Harris anchor. They then prepared the winch on board the pram in the hope that a steel cable would be fed to them from the bank. A lifeboat could not be used due to the strong current and the proximity to the Horseshoe Falls.
Five soldiers from the Youngstown rescue station arrived at the scene of the accident some time later. They brought a Lyle cannon with which they managed to shoot a light rope through the two men. The firefighters who had arrived earlier had failed to do this. Lofberg and Harris used the light line to pull a heavier line to their turf, which took them more than three hours. They attached the line to the winch. In the meantime it was dark and the work had to be stopped. To give courage to the two stranded and to show them that they had not been forgotten, large spotlights were set up and attempts were made to place messages cut out of cardboard in the beam of light. They were told: “Get the leash”, “hold on tight” and “rest”. Lofberg tried to tie himself to the cage with a rope, but Harris tied himself to a barrel, in the hope that if they fell into the water, the barrel would wedge against the rocks.
The bank was already lined with bystanders the day before, but at dawn thousands of people crowded the bank to watch the rescue. A second rope for a lifebuoy was shot to the turf. It also reached him and was tied up, but the ropes had become tangled. William "Red" Hill Sr. shimmy along the rope through the current to untangle the tangled ropes. He worked for hours until he could untangle them to enable the rescue. He was pulled back to the power plant from which the rescue work started. After a pause, he set out again to try to get to the pram. The ropes were tangled there too and he gave instructions to the two men on board to untangle them. The rescue operation could now begin. The ropes were secured from the roof of the power plant and a lifebuoy was sent to the boat. With her, first Harris, then Lofberg was saved. Both exhausted but uninjured, they were taken to a hotel for examination, shower, eat, and sleep. The next morning they reported for duty again.
The operation is considered to be one of the most dramatic rescue operations in the history of the Niagara River .
Another drift in 2019
Since 1918 the Prahm had been about 760 m from the waterfall edge of the Horseshoe Falls and was a popular photo opportunity for tourists there. On October 31, 2019, after violent storms with heavy rains, which greatly increased the amount of water and flow speeds, the boat broke and moved about 50 m towards the falls. According to the Niagara Parks Commission , he turned on his side. It is also not ruled out that the Prahm could drift further in the direction of the falls.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Niagara Falls - The Scow and the Subchaser: a History. In: niagarafrontier.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
- ^ Niagara Parks; The Iron Scow Rescue. In: niagaraparks.com. Retrieved November 5, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Concern about "Iron Scow": Storm washes shipwreck closer to Niagara Falls. In: Spiegel Online. November 4, 2019, accessed November 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Peter Martinez: Powerful storm dislodges old iron boat closer to Niagara Falls. In: CBS News. November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019 (American English).
