French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles

Inkerman and Cerisoles were {{sclass|Navarin|minesweeper|1}}s, designed to clear naval mines along the coast of France and in the English Channel. They were named after major French military battles: the Battle of Inkerman was fought on 5 November 1854, during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, and the Battle of Cérisoles was fought on 11 April 1544, during the Italian War of 1542–1546. A sister ship named Sebastopol was built alongside Inkerman and Cerisoles.

A contract for $2.5 million awarded to Canadian Car and Foundry to construct 12 minesweepers for the French government was reported in February 1918.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-steel-productscanadian-ca/127633655/ |title=Steel Products—Canadian Car |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto |page=2 |date=February 9, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Built in what was then known as Fort William, Ontario,{{cite news |url= http://www.chroniclejournal.com/opinion/blueberry-boat-made-here/article_fef56cce-9926-11e6-83dc-c3d19a9b7031.html |title=Blueberry Boat made here |work=The Chronicle-Journal |location=Thunder Bay, Ontario |first=Tory |last=Trunrud |date=2016-10-16 |accessdate=2018-07-09}} half of the order was completed by early November 1918.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-car-and-foundry/127634199/ |title=Car and Foundry |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto |page=4 |date=November 9, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Each vessel was {{convert|135|ft|m}} long and rated at 321 gross register tonnage. Their steel-framed wooden hulls were divided into four water-tight compartments. Each ship was fitted with twin screws and a single funnel, and had a top speed of about {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}}. Two {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} deck-mounted guns, with a range of about {{convert|20|km|yd mile}}, were located forward and aft.

On 23 November 1918,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-calgary-albertan-no-sign-of-missing/127624512/ |title=No Sign of Missing Boats |newspaper=The Calgary Albertan |page=7 |date=December 6, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} the three minesweepers Inkerman, Cerisoles, and Sebastopol left the harbour of Fort William, Ontario, on the northern shore of Lake Superior, headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. Captain M. Leclerc of the French Navy was in charge of the ships and was aboard the Sebastopol,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/muncie-evening-press-two-french-mine-swe/127630104/ |title=Two French Mine Sweepers Lost on Lake Superior |newspaper=Muncie Evening Press |location=Muncie, Indiana |page=3 |date=December 6, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} while 76 French sailors made up the crews of Inkerman and Cerisoles with the addition of two veteran Canadian captains, Capt. R. Wilson and W.{{nbsp}}J. Murphy.{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Bourrie |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/711961--treasure-hunters-seek-lake-superior-s-holy-grail |title=Treasure hunters seek Lake Superior's 'Holy Grail' |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=18 October 2009 |accessdate=31 December 2011}} As the ships steamed further into Lake Superior, they encountered a blizzard with recorded winds of {{convert|50|mph|kph}} and waves {{convert|30|ft|m}} high.

The ships soon lost sight of each other through the snow and waves. The storm was so bad that a sailor aboard Sebastopol said "We had to get out the life boats and put on lifebelts ... the boat almost sank – and it was nearly 'goodbye' to anyone hearing from us again ... You can believe me, I will always remember that day. I can tell you that I had already given myself up to God." Water poured into Sebastopol, flooding part of her engine room and nearly putting out the coal fires in her boilers. The storm pounded Sebastopol for two days but the vessel managed to reach Sault Ste. Marie, at the eastern end of Lake Superior. What soon became apparent was that Inkerman and Cerisoles were nowhere to be found.

File:Loss of Inkerman and Cerisoles report.jpg

On 3 December 1918, 10 days after the three ships left Fort William, a search effort was launched. Also on 3 December, Canadian and American newspapers reported the ships were overdue.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/saskatoon-daily-star-two-trawlers-believ/127617031/ |title=Two Trawlers Believed Lost on Great Lakes |newspaper=Saskatoon Daily Star |location=Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |page=7 |date=December 3, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/grand-forks-herald-two-trowlers-lost/127617258/ |title=Two Trowlers Lost |newspaper=Grand Forks Herald |location=Grand Forks, North Dakota |page=1 |date=December 3, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} A week later, "last attempt" search efforts were reported.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lansing-state-journal-seeks-for-traces-o/127617706/ |title=Seeks for Traces of Lost Mine Sweepers |agency=AP |newspaper=Lansing State Journal |location=Lansing, Michigan |page=1 |date=December 10, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} The search was abandoned by Captain Leclerc on the evening of 15 December.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-french-minesweepers-fe/127631724/ |title=French Minesweepers Feared Lost on Lakes |newspaper=Vancouver Sun |page=8 |date=December 16, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} As Inkerman and Cerisoles were not found, and no wreckage has been found to date, their exact whereabouts and fates remain unknown.

Following the ships' disappearance, it was rumored that the ships were poorly built; it was also rumored that the crews became stranded on an island.

In 2017, an effort organized by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum searched for the ships' wreckage for over a month near the Keweenaw Peninsula.{{cite news |url=http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4315037-99-years-after-two-french-minesweepers-vanished-lake-superior-storm-new-search-aims |title=99 years after two French minesweepers vanished in a Lake Superior storm, a new search aims to solve the mystery |work=Duluth News Tribune |first=Andrew |last=Krueger |date=2017-08-20 |accessdate =2018-07-09}}

A June 2023 episode of Expedition Unknown featured new efforts to locate wreckage of the two ships;{{cite web |url=https://www.discovery.com/shows/expedition-unknown/episodes/8/great-lakes-vanished-warships |title=Great Lakes' Vanished Warships |website=discovery.com |date=June 21, 2023 |accessdate=July 4, 2023}} the June 14, 1879 shipwreck of the tug "Satellite" was found however.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Robnik, Diane "New Light on 1918 Minesweepers Mystery," Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Papers and Records, XLII (2014), 3-15. {{ISBN|978-0-920119-63-1}}. Robnik's study makes use of newly translated documents from the French naval archives in Paris.
• {{cite book |first=Fredrick |last=Stonehouse |title=Gone: The Greatest Shipwreck Mystery on the Great Lakes |date=2022}}

{{November 1918 shipwrecks}}

{{Maiden voyage sinkings}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inkerman and Cerisoles}}

Category:Minesweepers of the French Navy

Category:Maritime incidents in 1918

Category:Ships lost with all hands

Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Superior

Category:Missing ships

Category:1918 ships