1883
1883: The little tug JAMES ANDERSON burned on Long Lake near Alpena, Michigan, on the morning of 16 February 1883. Arson was suspected.
1910
1910: JAMES E. FERRIS was launched February 16, 1910, as the ONTARIO (Hull#71) at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works.
1939
1939: February 16, 1939 – The state ferry CHIEF WAWATAM was fast in the ice in the Straits of Mackinac. She freed herself the next day and proceeded to St. Ignace.
1943
1943: WAR OSIRIS was built at Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay, in 1918. It was mined and sunk as c) LISTO near Spodsbjerg, Denmark, while enroute from Larvik, Norway, to Emden, Germany, with iron ore.
1952
1952: American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, OH, launched the steamer ARTHUR M. ANDERSON on February 16, 1952 for the Pittsburgh Steamship Div., U.S. Steel Corp., in Cleveland, OH, by Mrs. Anderson in honor of her husband. Arthur Marvin Anderson was a director of the United States Steel Corp., a member of its finance committee and vice chairman of the J. P. Morgan and Co. at the time of the launch.
1977
1977: On February 16, 1977, a four-hour fire caused major damage to the crews’ forward quarters aboard the W.W. HOLLOWAY while at American Ship Building’s South Chicago yard.
1979
1979: EDWIN H. GOTT sailed on her maiden voyage February 16, 1979, in ballast from Milwaukee, bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the first maiden voyage of a laker ever in mid-winter. She was in convoy with three of her fleet mates; CASON J. CALLAWAY, PHILIP R. CLARKE and JOHN G. MUNSON each needing assistance from the U.S.C.G.C. MACKINAW to break through heavy ice 12 to 14 inches thick the length of Lake Superior. The GOTT took part in a test project, primarily by U.S. Steel, to determine the feasibility of year around navigation.
2019
2019: On Sunday, February 16, 2019, a devastating fire swept through the American Steamship Co, self-unloader ST. CLAIR while she was docked at the Torco dock in Toledo, OH, for winter lay up. The fire burned the length of the ship along the unloading belts and also destroyed the superstructure. No one was injured, but the vessel was declared a total loss. On December 7, 2021, the McKeil Marine tug MOLLY M 1 took the ST. CLAIR under tow to the Marine Recycling Corp. scrapyard at Port Colborne, ON.
2025
2025: All crew members of the MSC Baltic III have been rescued after their vessel ran aground close to the Lark Harbour shoreline off Newfoundland and Labrador’s west coast.
Conditions were not in the crew’s favor. A winter storm warning was in effect in the region at the time of the incident, with winds up to 120 km/h. Ferry crossings to Nova Scotia from nearby Port aux Basques had been cancelled for the day.
As such, the crew were unable to secure an anchor, leaving them adrift.
According to the Canadian Coast Guard, shortly after losing power, the ship ran aground in Wild Cove, west of Lark Harbour, with 20 crew members aboard.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the “Great Lakes Ships We Remember” series.
