Today in Great Lakes History – August 29

1858
1858:   CANADA (three-masted wooden bark; 199 feet; 758 tons) was carrying 0.5 million board feet of lumber to Chicago, IL, in bad weather when she settled just north of downtown Chicago. The next day during a salvage attempt, she blew southward, struck a bar off the old waterworks, broke her back, then broke up. She had been built in Canada in 1846 as a sidewheeler and was seized by the U.S. in 1849, later being rebuilt as a bark in 1852.

1871
1871:   GEORGE M. ABEL (two-masted wooden schooner) broke up on a reef near Port Burwell, ON.

1882
1882:   It’s not often that a schooner tows a tug, but the tug J.A. CRAWFORD was towing the big schooner JAMES COUCH to Chicago, IL, when the wind picked up, and the schooner passed the tug. Captain Gorman of the CRAWFORD cut the engine and allowed the COUCH to tow him until they got close to the harbor. The schooner then shortened sail, and the tug finished towing her into port.

1906
1906:   The wooden bulk carrier CHARLES A. EDDY caught fire in Lake Huron en route to Cleveland, OH, with iron ore. The ship later arrived at Port Huron, MI, under her own power with a salvage crew.

1942
1942:   The A.H. FERBERT entered service for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

1967
1967:   LINDE, a Norwegian freighter, first entered the Seaway in 1965. It sank the ARISTOS on this day in dense fog in the English Channel 17 miles off Beachy Head, England. All on board were rescued. LINDE later stranded as d.) ZEPHYR outside of Dunkirk, France, on January 13, 1981, after anchoring due to bad weather. The hull was broken up for scrap where she lay.

1972
1972:   The lightship HURON was placed in an earth embankment at Port Huron, MI’s Pine Grove Park along the St. Clair River and was opened to visitors on July 13, 1974.

1974
1974:   Unsuccessful negotiations on a major shipbuilding contract resulted in Litton Industries terminating operations at its yard in Erie, PA. The Litton yard had built the first 1,000-foot boat on the lakes, the STEWART J. CORT, and the 1,000-foot tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE.

1979
1979:   The INDIANA HARBOR sailed for Two Harbors, MN, to load iron ore pellets for Indiana Harbor, IN. In 1982, INDIANA HARBOR became the first U.S.-flagged laker to receive satellite communication.

1984
1984:   A fire in the cargo hold of NANTICOKE broke out while the ship was unloading in Quebec City, QC, and damaged the self-unloading belts and electronic components.

1985
1985:   Canada Steamship Lines’ ATLANTIC SUPERIOR returned from Europe with a cargo of gypsum for Picton, ON.

1996
1996:   The NICOLET, which had been sold for scrap, left Toledo, OH, under tow of the McKeil tug OTIS WACK, arriving in Port Maitland, ON, during the early hours of August 30. Last operated in 1990, the NICOLET was built in 1905 by Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, MI, as the a.) WILLIAM G. MATHER (25), b.) J. H. SHEADLE (55), and c.) H.L. GOBEILLE. The vessel spent the first 60 years of her life in service for the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Co. After 1965, her ownership was transferred to the Gartland Steamship Co. and eventually to the American Steamship Co.

1998
1998:   The BADGER was designated a spur route on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Al Miller, James Neumiller, Jody Aho, Russ Plumb, Lake Huron Lore Society, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.