1870

Before noon, several attempts were made to launch the barge AGNES L. POTTER at Simon Langell’s yard at St. Clair, Michigan. Nothing happened until 15:00 when the vessel moved about 100 feet but still was not launched. The tug VULCAN arrived at 08:00 the following day and broke the line on the first attempt to pull the vessel off the ways. A 10-inch line was obtained in Port Huron, and at 14:00, a second effort only moved the barge about 4 feet. Finally, on the third attempt, the VULCAN pulled her into the water. The POTTER’s dimensions were 133 feet x 27 feet x 9 feet, 279 gross tons, and she was built for the iron ore trade. She was named for the daughter of the general superintendent of Ward’s Iron Works of Chicago. She lasted until 1906.

1872

The railroad car ferry TRANSIT was launched at Walkerville, Ontario, at the Jenkins Brothers shipyard.

1966

The SIMCOE entered service for Canada Steamship Lines. Renamed b.) ALGOSTREAM in 1994, she was scrapped at Alang, India in 1996.

1990

CUNARD CAVALIER first visited the Great Lakes in 1978 and returned later that year as b) OLYMPIC HARMONY. The ship went aground off Port Muhammad Bin Asimov, Pakistan, as d) VILLA while en route to West Africa. It was abandoned on July 13. The hull was refloated on November 30, 1990, and arrived at Singapore under tow on May 16, 1991. The ship was declared a total loss and reached Alang, India, for scrapping on February 2, 1992.

Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled by Roger LeLievre.