1871
The wooden propeller freighter MAINE, owned by Northern Transportation Co., had sailed from Chicago and was on Lake Ontario when Fireman Orsebius Kelley stoked the fire at 20:00 and went to the porter’s room to get a lamp. When he returned, the boiler exploded with such force that Kelley was mortally wounded. The blast also killed engineer M.H. Downer, deckhand Joshua Kelley (the fireman’s brother), Halbert Butterfield (a 13-year-old passenger) and his mother. The MAINE still floated after the blast. She was repaired and put back in service. Including this boiler explosion, she had four major mishaps in her career. She sank in 1872, burned in 1898, and finally burned again in 1911.
1874
At about 21:00, the steam barge W.H. BARNUM, with the schooner THOMAS W. FERRY in tow, collided with the barge S.V.R. WATSON near Point Pelee on Lake Erie. The WATSON sank in 28 feet of water. She was raised about two weeks later by the Coast Wrecking Company.
1900
During her maiden voyage from St. Clair, Michigan, to Cleveland, Ohio, the wooden steam barge ALFRED MITCHELL ran aground at Bar Point Light. It was claimed that the steering gear broke, which rendered the boat unmanageable. Later that same day, the MITCHELL was released by the wrecker SAGINAW.
1952
The PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911, was laid up due to railroad strike. She was never to operate again and was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1957.
1953
The JOHN G. MUNSON set a Great Lakes record for limestone by loading 21,011 tons of limestone at Calcite, Michigan. This record for limestone stood until being broken by the Canada Steamship Lines self-unloader MANITOULIN late in the 1966 season.
1957
The JOSEPH S. YOUNG, a.) ARCHERS HOPE of 1945, was commissioned. She was the first of seven T-2 tanker conversions for Great Lakes service. The YOUNG was renamed c.) H. LEE WHITE in 1969 and d.) SHARON in 1974. She was scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1986.
1959
The tug GRAND BANK, pushing a barge, sank in Lock 4 of the Welland Canal, and the captain was lost. The vessel, built at New Orleans in 1940 as SST-123, was salvaged and, as of 1997, was operating out of Delta, British Columbia.
1973
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier FLORENCE visited the Great Lakes in June 1973. The ship was outbound when it collided, in fog, with the tanker ST. SPYRIDON, inbound from Venezuela with 32,500 tons of Bunker C oil, off Les Escoumins, Quebec. Both ships were damaged. All on board were rescued, and the two vessels were ultimately repaired. FLORENCE was scrapped at San Esteban de Pravia, Spain, in 1976 and ST. SPYRIDON at Vigo, Spain, as f) GLOBE MARITIMA in 1982.
1976
The SAM LAUD grounded entering Buffalo, New York. She was dry-docked at Lorain, Ohio, for repairs to the bottom plates of No. 1, 2 and 3 port and starboard tanks.
The H. LEE WHITE struck the Algoma Steel plant dock at the Canadian Soo, resulting in damage to her stern amounting to $108,000 at the repair yard of Sturgeon Bay.
1987
The WILLIS B. BOYER museum ship was opened to the public in Toledo, Ohio. She was built by Great Lakes Engineering Works (Hull #82) in 1912 as a.) COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER. Renamed b.) WILLIS B. BOYER in 1969 and COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER in 2011.
1995
While the United States celebrated its Independence Day, a small fleet gathered 20 miles off of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior as the bell from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was raised and taken aboard the Purvis Marine Tug ANGLIAN LADY. The bell would later be taken to Michigan State University in Lansing where it would be cleaned with the name EDMUND FITZGERALD applied to the bell once again. The bell was later taken to the museum at Whitefish Point and put on display as a memorial to remember the 29-man crew. The next day, divers placed a new bell inscribed with the names of the 29 men lost in the sinking.
1996
The veteran Buffalo fireboat EDWARD M. COTTER, built in 1900, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. National Parks Service.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Denny Dushane, Lake Huron Lore Society, 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.
