Mississagi makes last port at Sault Ste Marie, ON
Sault Ste. Marie, MI – The retired laker Mississagi headed up the St. Marys River under tow Sunday afternoon bound for the scrap dock at Purvis Marine on the Canadian side above the locks. Boatwatchers watched form Mission Point and at the West Pier as the sad procession passed by. The Purvis tug Anglian Lady was on the bow, with W.I. Scott Purvis on the stern.
She was most recently at Sarnia, ON, where she was stripped of any usable equipment. Mississagi was owned by Lower Lakes Towing Co., a division of Rand Logistics. She began her career in 1943 when was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan, as the Hill Annex. Before its first trip, Hill Annex was rechristened George A. Sloan by U.S. Steel Co.
The Sloan was transferred over to the Michigan Limestone-owned Bradley Transportation Co. in 1966 and converted to a self-unloader. Had that not happened, the vessel would likely have met its demise in the 1980s.
In 2001, the Sloan and two fleetmates were sold to Lower Lakes Towing. The Sloan was reflagged Canadian and renamed Mississagi. This name change honored the Mississagi Strait, which is the body of water separating Cockburn Island and Manitoulin Island in Northern Lake Huron. Meldrum Bay, situated on the west end of Manitoulin Island, is home to a quarry where the Mississagi loaded many cargoes during her career.
Her final trip saw her load wheat at Thunder Bay, ON, for Hamilton, ON, in early January 2021, after which she was laid up at Hamilton for the winter. She headed to Sarnia, ON, under her own power early in the 2021 to be stripped and retired.
Know Your Ships
2021 Marine Mart will be Saturday, Oct. 16 in St. Clair Shores, MI
The 2021 Marine Mart, sponsored by Dossin Great Lakes Museum, will be Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the VFW Post in St. Clair Shores, MI. Buy, sell and trade photos, books, models, artwork and other Great Lakes memorabilia. There will be a special table where photos by the late Jim Hoffman and other items from his collection will be sold to benefit the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. See the ad in the photo gallery for details.
NOAA, state leaders celebrate designation of Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Manitowoc, WI – It’s finally official. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced its plans to designate a large area off the coast of Wisconsin a Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Recently – following a 45-day-review period in Congress – that designation was finalized, and was celebrated at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary (WSCNMS) will be co-managed by the state and NOAA. According to NOAA, the 962-square mile area was nominated for sanctuary consideration by a coalition of organizationsand will now protect 36 shipwrecks and related maritime heritage resources that are considered to be “historically significant.”
Of the three dozen wrecks, a release sent by the office of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says 21 are on the National Register of Historic Places. Evers adds that archival research suggests there may be as many as 60 other shipwrecks which have yet to be discovered. In addition, he says many of the shipwrecks are intact, and have been preserved by the cold freshwater of Lake Michigan.
The sanctuary area covers a stretch of shoreline that includes all of Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties, as well as part of Ozaukee County.
WBAY
