1862
B.F. BRUCE (wooden propeller passenger steamer, 110 feet, 169 tons, built in 1852 at Buffalo, New York, as a tug) was carrying staves when she caught fire a few miles off Port Stanley, Ontario, in Lake Erie. She was run to the beach, where she burned to a total loss with no loss of life. Arson was suspected. She had been rebuilt from a tug to this small passenger steamer the winter before her loss.
1865
A fire broke out at Sault Ste. Marie in the cargo of lime aboard the wooden passenger and freight carrier METEOR that was involved in the sinking of the PEWABIC on August 9. METEOR was scuttled in 30 feet of water to prevent its loss. The hull was pumped out and salvaged four days later and repaired.
1871
The wooden scow-schooner SCOTTISH CHIEF had been battling a storm on Lake Michigan since Tuesday, August 8, 1871. By late afternoon of this date, she was waterlogged. The galley was flooded and the food ruined. The crew stayed with the vessel until that night when they left in the lifeboat. They arrived in Chicago on Sunday morning, August 13.
1899
SIMON LANGELL (wooden propeller freighter, 195 feet, 845 gross tons, built in 1886 at St. Clair, Michigan) was towing the wooden schooner W.K. MOORE off Lakeport, Michigan, on Lake Huron when they were struck by a squall. The schooner was thrown over on her beam ends and filled with water. The local life-saving crew went to the rescue and took off two female passengers from the stricken vessel. The Moore was then towed to Port Huron, Michigan, by the tug HAYNES and placed in dry dock for inspection and repairs.
1908
TITANIA (iron propeller packet/tug/yacht, 98 feet, 73 gross tons, built in 1875 at Buffalo, New York) was rammed and sunk by the Canadian sidewheeler KINGSTON near the harbor entrance at Charlotte, New York, on Lake Ontario. All 26 on board were rescued.
1919
MURIEL W. hit a sunken crib off Port Weller and was partially sunk. An August 15, 1919, storm broke up the hull.
1928
W.H. SAWYER stranded off Harbor Beach Light in a storm. Her barges, A.B. KING and PESHTIGO, were blown aground and broken up by the waves. The trip had run for shelter, but the effort ended 100 yards short of safety. The cook was a casualty.
1944
The Norwegian freighter ERLING LINDOE was built in 1917 and came to the Great Lakes for the first time in 1923. The ship struck a mine in the Kattegat Strait off Varberg, Sweden, on this date and sank with its cargo of pyrites. The number of casualties varies, with one report noting the loss at 19 members of the crew, another at 17, and yet another had the death toll at 13. There were six survivors.
1973
Opening ceremonies for the whaleback tanker METEOR, a.) FRANK ROCKEFELLER, museum ship were held. The president of Cleveland Tankers, whose company had donated the ship, was present. This historically unique ship was enshrined in the National Maritime Hall of Fame.
1976
The Panamanian freighter WOKAN was beached off Oman with a fractured hull en route from Ulsan, South Korea, to Kuwait. It was declared a total loss and abandoned. The 1952-built vessel first came through the Seaway as b) DAUPHINE in 1968 and returned as d) SPACE KING in 1975.
1977
The THOMAS W. LAMONT was the first vessel to take on fuel at Shell’s new fuel dock at Corunna, Ontario. The dock’s fueling rate was 60 to 70,000 gallons per hour and was built to accommodate 1,000-footers.
1987
The H.M. GRIFFITH was the first self-unloader to unload grain at Robin Hood’s new hopper unloading facility at Port Colborne, Ontario. She was renamed b.) RT. HON. PAUL J. MARTIN in 2000.
The T.W. ROBINSON departed Québec City along with US265808 (former BENSON FORD) in tow of the Polish tug JANTAR bound for Recife, Brazil, where they arrived on September 22, 1987. Scrapping began the next month.
2001
Bridge 11 of the Welland Canal was lowered prematurely, striking the downbound bulk carrier WINDOC, taking the top off the pilothouse, toppling the stack, and igniting a fire. The massive damage to the ship was never repaired, and efforts to find work for the vessel as a barge were not a success. The hull arrived at Port Colborne for dismantling on November 9, 2010.
2004
ONEGO MERCHANT came through the Seaway for the first time in May 2004. On this date, the vessel sustained bow damage in a grounding near Larvik, Norway, but was refloated within hours. It returned to the Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006 and has sailed as b) VRIESENDIEP since 2009.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Father Dowling Collection, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Jody L. Aho, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
Compiled by Roger LeLievre.
