1857
R.H. RAE (three-mast wooden bark, 136 feet, 344 tons, built in 1857 at St. Catharines, Ontario) capsized and sank in a “white squall” off Duck’s Creek on Lake Ontario. She went down slowly enough for her people to abandon in her small boat. They were later picked up by the propeller COLONIST. There was a big effort to salvage her the next summer but to no avail. She was a total loss of $20,000. She was reportedly built for the trans-Atlantic trade and looked more like a seagoing schooner. Some sources give the date of the loss as August 4, 1857. The wreck is in very good condition. The Cousteau organization lost a diver on her in 1980.
1900
FONTANA (wooden two-mast schooner-barge, 231 feet, 1,164 gross tons, built in 1888 at St Clair, Michigan as a four-mast schooner-barge) was carrying iron ore in tow of the steamer KALIYUGA. The FONTANA sheared off and collided with the big schooner-barge SANTIAGO and settled in the mouth of the St. Clair River in the St. Clair Flats, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. After salvage was given up months later, she was dynamited several times to flatten and reduce her wreckage. Although officially no loss of life was reported, a local newspaper reported that one crewman drowned. The FONTANA was owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.
1915
ALEXANDRIA (wooden sidewheel passenger-package freighter, 174 feet, 863 gross tons, built in 1866 at Hull, Quebec, formerly a.) CONSORT) was carrying foodstuffs in Lake Ontario when she was blown on a bar in a storm and fog. She broke up by wave action under the Scarborough Bluffs east of Toronto. Lifesavers worked for hours and rescued the entire crew. GARDEN CITY was caught in the same storm as ALEXANDRIA. This ship sustained smashed windows and a hole in the hull but was able to reach safety.
1920
The wooden steamer MAPLEGROVE sank in the Welland Canal. The vessel was salvaged and sold for further service as JED. It had been built at Marine City in 1889 as CHEROKEE.
1927
The bulk canaller CASCO of the Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co. went aground at Pipe Island in the lower St. Marys River and required lightering before floating free and proceeding for repairs.
1946
The third officer of the ANN ARBOR NO. 6 drowned while painting her draft marks. He had apparently leaned too far and fell out of the rowboat.
1960
EDWARD L. RYERSON, new flagship of the Inland Steel fleet, successfully completed her sea trials.
1962
MEDINA PRINCESS, a former “Empire ship,” went aground on a reef near Djibouti while en route from Bremen, Germany, to China. The hull was refloated August 31 but was laid up at Djibouti. It remained idle until breaking loose and going aground on September 4, 1964. The hull was a total loss and, at last report, the wreck was partially submerged. The vessel first came to the Great Lakes under British registry in 1959 and made five trips through the Seaway.
1978
The French freighter JEAN L.D. was sailing as c) CAVO STARAS when the engine room become flooded during a voyage from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the overnight hours. The vessel was towed to Dakar, Sierra Leone, on August 14 and sold to Spanish shipbreakers via auction on May 8, 1979. It arrived at Barcelona under tow on June 18, 1978, and scrapping began on July 5 of that year. The vessel made 37 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959–1967.
1979
Under tow, the AVONDALE, a.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS of 1908, in tandem with former fleet mate FERNDALE, a.) LOUIS R. DAVIDSON of 1912, arrived at Castellon, Spain for scrapping.
1991
CANADOC left the St. Lawrence River in tow bound for Mamonal, Colombia, for scrapping.
2010
SIDSEL KNUTSEN lost power due to a fire in the engine room and went aground off St. Clair, Michigan. It remained stuck until August 9 and was then refloated and cleared to proceed to Montreal. It was operating in Canadian service at the time under a special waiver.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, 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.
