1879
1879: The tug URANIA was towing the schooner S.V.R. WATSON into Sand Beach, MI, at about noon when the schooner struck the tug amidships, cutting a hole in the hull and sinking her in three fathoms of water. No lives were lost.
1901
1901: M.M. DRAKE was towing the schooner barge MICHIGAN across Lake Superior when the latter began to sink. The steamer came alongside to take off the crew when a towering wave bashed the two vessels together, resulting in heavy damage. Both vessels went down, but all except one sailor were rescued by the passing ships NORTHERN WAVE and CRESCENT CITY.
1902
1902: H.A. BARR (three-masted wooden schooner; 217 feet; 1,119 gross tons; built in 1893 at West Bay City, MI) was in tow of the saltie THEANO with a load of iron ore in a storm 30 miles off Port Stanley, ON, in Lake Erie. She broke her towline in giant waves and foundered. THEANO rescued her crew.
1915
1915: WESTERN STAR ran aground on Robertson Rock in Georgian Bay while en route to Little Current, ON, with a cargo of coal. The ship was badly damaged, and early attempts to refloat the freighter failed. It was not released until September 18, 1917, and was subsequently rebuilt at Detroit, MI. The ship returned to service as b.) GLENISLA in 1918 and was scrapped at Hamilton, ON, as c.) PRESCOTT in 1962–1963.
1924
1924: The PERE MARQUETTE 22 entered service, arriving Ludington, MI, on her maiden voyage.
1937
1937: NEEBING foundered with the loss of five lives in western Lake Superior while towing the barge COTEAU in a heavy storm. The crane-equipped ship was approaching the Nipigon Strait with a load of gravel for Red Rock, ON, at the time. Nine sailors were rescued.
1947
1947: MILVERTON, downbound with a cargo of coal, and TRANSLAKE, upbound with crude oil, collided near Iroquois, ON. The latter got caught in the current and veered to port, resulting in the collision. The former, one of the few oil-burning canal ships, had the fuel lines rupture, caught fire, drifted downstream, and grounded at the head of Rapide Plat. The ship burned for two days, and 11 sailors were killed. Despite the heavy damage, MILVERTON was refloated and repaired, and she later sailed as c.) CLARY FORAN and d.) FERNDALE (i) before being scrapped at Hamilton, ON, in 1963.
1952
1952: BAYTON was loading at Thunder Bay, ON’s Pool 4A elevator at the Canadian Lakehead when there was an explosion at the elevator and chunks of concrete rained down on the deck of the Colonial Steamship Co. (Misener) steamer. One person was killed, and nine more were injured.
1958
1958: EDMUND FITZGERALD’s first cargo of taconite pellets was loaded at Silver Bay, MN, for Toledo, OH.
1962
1962: In early morning fog on the St. Clair River, the J.L. REISS was hit by three glancing blows from U.S. Steel’s SEWELL AVERY. The AVERY had lost control just below Robert’s Landing, crossed the channel from the Canadian side, and struck the REISS, which was proceeding slowly by radar on the U.S. side.
2008
2008: DRAGOMIRESTI was a Romanian freighter that first visited the Seaway in 1992 to load food aid cargo in Thunder Bay, ON, for Sudan and Yemen. The ship was driven aground as j.) CHUN JIANG on this date in 2008 about 22 miles from Macao, China, in Typhoon Hagupit. The crew was removed by helicopter.
Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, James Neumiller, Jody Aho, 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.
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- Neebing at Eagle Harbor, MI. Boatnerd files
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- Milverton fire in 1947. Peter B. Worden Collection
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- Bayton in 1964. John Vournakis
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- Edmund Fitzgerald takes on the first load of her career in Silver Bay, MN.
