1872
1872: The tug SMITH burned near Bay City, Michigan, on 27 May 1872. Her loss was valued at $7,000 but there was no insurance on her.
1879
1879: The ferry SARNIA made her first trip as a carferry between Port Huron and Sarnia on 27 May 1879. She had burned in January 1879, then was converted to a carferry and served in that capacity during the summer. In September, 1879, she was converted to a barge.
1898
1898: The tug PETE GORMAN, sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.
1898: 27 May 1898 – The tug WINSLOW arrived in Bay City, Michigan, from Georgian Bay with a raft of logs for Eddy Bros. & Co. The tug NIAGARA arrived from the same bay with a raft for Pitts & Co. The sawmills along the Saginaw river are now nearly all in operation.
1910
1910: The PETER REISS left Duluth, Minnesota May 27, 1910, on her maiden voyage with iron ore for Ashtabula, Ohio. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1949, and scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in 1973.
1922
1922: CHARLES DICK (Hull #71) was launched in 1922, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for National Sand & Material Co. Ltd.
1933
1933: GEORGE M. COX hit Rock of Ages Reef in Lake Superior on its first trip after previous service as PURITAN. The vessel had 121 passengers and freight on board when it struck the reef in the early morning in fog. The ship hung at a precarious angle until all were rescued and then, during an October storm, the vessel slid back into deep water.
1980
1980: NANTICOKE was christened in 1980, for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.
1981
1981: CANADIAN PIONEER (Hull #67) was launched May 27, 1981, at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. She was renamed b.) PIONEER in 1987
1994.
1994 HENRY STEINBRENNER was towed from Toledo’s Lakefront Dock in 1994, for the scrap yard at Port Maitland, Ontario.
1997
1997: The CHARLES E. WILSON had a close call in the Saginaw River yesterday in what the skipper described as ” being dangerously close to an unopened bridge”. The Wilson had to reverse her engines and drop the stern anchor when the Lafayette Bridge (across the Saginaw River at Bay City) failed to open for the vessel.
The bridge tender reported having radio difficulty and claimed he didn’t hear the 4 radio calls, and 4 blasts of the whistle. After some waiting the bridge opened, and the WILSON proceeded to the airport turn basin, and left the system.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series, Bowling Green State University, the Detroit Free Press and the Duluth Evening Herald.