1885
ISLE ROYALE (wooden propeller passenger-package freight vessel, 92 feet, 92 gross tons, built in 1879) sprang a leak near Susick Island near Isle Royale on Lake Superior. She sank, but her passengers and crew made it to the island. She was owned by Cooley, Lavague & Company of Duluth. She was originally built as the barge AGNES.
1910
ZENITH CITY went aground at Au Sable Reef near Marquette due to fog. The ore-laden steamer sustained damage to 60 plates.
1916
WILLIAM A. MCGONAGLE (Hull #154) sailed light on her maiden voyage from Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan, to Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986, she was scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario, in 1994.
1943
The Canadian tanker BRUCE HUDSON caught fire loading high-octane gasoline at Phillips Petroleum in South Chicago. The Captain, his son, and two crewmen were killed. The ship was rebuilt and eventually scrapped at Cartagena, Colombia, by 1983 as c) WITCROIX.
1948
ROGN, a Norwegian tanker, went aground in the St. Lawrence at Toussant Island, near Iroquois, after the steering gear failed. The tugs SALVAGE PRINCE and SALVAGE QUEEN pulled the vessel free. It was in ballast and operated on charter to the McColl-Frontenac Oil Company. The ship was scrapped at Piraeus, Greece, as c) PIRAEUS III in 1981.
1965
The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier GEORGIAN BAY stood by the small wooden pulpwood carrier PRINCE QUEBEC on Lake Ontario. Cables were strung to the small ship, enroute to Tonawanda, New York, with a cargo of pulpwood, to help keep it afloat. PRINCE QUEBEC was later taken to La Petite Riviere, Quebec, beached and never repaired. Apparently the hull was burned by vandals in the 1970s.
1981
CONALLISON departed Windsor, Ontario, on her first trip for Johnstone Shipping Ltd.
1982
ALGOWEST sailed on her maiden voyage from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Quebec City with a 27,308-ton load of barley.
1983
PRA RIVER went aground en route from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to Lagos, Nigeria, as c) MAYON II and was abandoned. The vessel was registered in Ghana when it came to the Great Lakes in 1963.
2000
HIAWATHA, a ferry dating from 1895, was sunk by vandals at Toronto. It operated between the mainland and a Toronto Island yacht club. The hull was refloated on July 28 and taken to Hamilton for restoration, repairs and a return to service.
2005
The salty ORLA ran aground at Kahnawake, Quebec, and the passing rum tanker JO SPIRIT made contact with her. Both vessels were damaged and repaired in Montreal.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, 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.
