Today in Great Lakes History – September 10

1870
1870:   The barge N. MILLS was launched at P. Lester’s yard in Marysville, MI. Her dimensions were 164 feet x 30 feet x 12 feet.

1884
1884:   The 137-foot steam barge HENRY HOWARD was sailing upbound with the schooner barge GEORGE WORTHINGTON in tow when she caught fire near Harsens Island at the mouth of the St. Clair River. The fire broke out near the HOWARD’s engine room and spread rapidly. The vessel was beached on the island, but the WORTHINGTON ran against her and was thus scorched. No lives were lost. The HOWARD was valued at $5,000 but only insured for $3,000 by her owners, B. Hoose and Julia Miner.

1890
1890:   The PORTER CHAMBERLAIN (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 134 feet; 280 gross tons; built in 1874 at Marine City, MI) was floated free of the Wolverine Drydock in Port Huron, MI, where she had steel arches installed. When she floated free, the arches broke in three places, and she stayed in Port Huron to have them repaired.

1909
1909:   COLUMBUS (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 136 feet; 439 gross tons; built in 1874 as the tug JOHN OWEN) burned to a total loss at her dock at Gargantua, ON, on Lake Superior. She was cut loose and allowed to drift out into the bay, where she sank. The top of her engine reportedly still shows above the water.

1918
1918:   The barge SANTIAGO, under tow of the small bulk carrier JOHN F. MORROW, sank in Lake Huron off Pointe aux Barques, MI, without loss of life.

1940
1940:   A.E. AMES was once part of Canada Steamship Lines. The vessel was sold for saltwater service in about 1917 and was lost via enemy action as c.) GINETTE LEBORGNE on this date in 1940 when she struck a mine in the Mediterranean Sea west of Sardinia, Italy, while returning demobilized troops from North Africa to France.

1952
1952:   The forebody and afterbody of the future JOSEPH H. THOMPSON arrived at the American Ship Building yard in South Chicago, IL. The two sections were delivered to the lakes via the Mississippi River and Chicago Ship Canal. The afterbody departed Baltimore, MD, on August 2, and the forebody departed Pascagoula, MS, on August 21.

1972
1972:   The whaleback tanker METEOR was towed from Manitowoc, WI, by the tug JOHN ROEN IV to Superior, WI, for use as a museum ship.

1979
1979:   The car ferry SPARTAN was laid up. She remains in Ludington, MI.

2002
2002:   The KINSMAN ENTERPRISE turned 75 years old. When she entered service as a.) HARRY COULBY on this date in 1927, the 631-foot bulk freighter was the third largest on the Great Lakes.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Jody L. Aho, James Neumiller, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.