Just ferret out: Two cases of freaque wave encounters in 1942 and 1977.

On Google search, with the help of using key words of  "Google news freaque waves" I came across this two pieces of old news paper gem news on freaque waves:

Freak Wave Drowns Seven in Lake Erie, from May 31, 1942's Pittsburgh Press;

and

Five Die After Trawler is Hit By Freak Wave, from The Glasgow Herald, Dec. 6, 1977.

I was particularly interested in an eyewitness account in the 1942 Lake Erie case:

     One fisherman described the waveas an enormous black wall that blotted out everything and rushed in with a deep, rolling rumble. 

     The only warning he said, was a shrieking noise like a siren which proceded the wave.

which was copied from the hardly legible original newspaper:

Whether or not freaque waves make noise is still unsettled. Obviously there are freaque waves that don't make noises, but some did. This case in Lake Erie in 1942 was one of them -- a shrieking siren like sound described by an eyewitness would dispel any possible room for doubt!

Some other rather contrasting notes about these two cases: both reports used the term "freak wave" in the headline, both cases were tragic that involved unfortunate multiple life loses, while the Lake Erie case may have influenced by weather condition, i.e. sudden shift in wind, the Glasgow Herald report indicated the weather was "quite reasonable".

These two cases, 35 years apart, happened long before freaque waves ever become sensationally infatuated by the modern media types. One might even gather useful informations on freaque wave happenings from these old news reports that still valued and retains journalistic integrity.