1874
1874: On 7 March 1874, the wooden tug JOHN OWEN (Hull#28) was launched at Wyandotte, Michigan, by the Detroit Dry Dock Company for J. E. Owen of Detroit, Michigan. [Renamed: COLUMBUS-1907 C-117039]
1889
1889: THOMAS W. PALMER [Built-1880 US-145229 by Detroit Dry Dock Co at SAMOA 1889 US-145229] First enrollment issued at Detroit, MI, September 15, 1880.Name changed at Buffalo, NY, March 7, 1889. Caught fire at the Osceola mills, Torch Lake, MI, while loading copper sand for Toledo, OH, on September 20, 1909; burned to a total loss. Final enrollment surrendered at Detroit, MI, October 3, 1909.
1892
1892: ANN ARBOR NO 1 (wooden propeller carferry, 260 foot, 1,128 gross tons, built in 1892, at Toledo, Ohio) got caught in the ice four miles off Manitowoc, Wisconsin in February 1910. She remained trapped and then on 7 March 1910, she caught fire and burned. Although she was declared a total loss, her hull was reportedly sold to Love Construction Co., Muskegon, Michigan, and reduced to an unregistered sand scow.
1896
1896: On 7 March 1896, L.C. WALDO (steel propeller freighter, 387 foot, 4,244 gross tons) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #112). She had a long career. She was rebuilt twice, once in the winter of 1904-05 and again in 1914, after she was stranded in the Storm of 1913. She was sold Canadian in 1915, and renamed b.) RIVERTON. In 1944, she was renamed c.) MOHAWK DEER. She lasted until November 1967, when she foundered in the Gulf of Genoa while being towed to the scrap yard at La Spezia, Italy.
1905
1905: WILLIAM H. GRATWICK [Built-1882 US-80879 by O’Grady & Maher at Buffalo, New York] First enrollment issued at Buffalo, NY, April 12, 1882. inal enrollment surrendered at Buffalo, NY, March 7, 1905, and endorsed \”abandoned.\”
1905: GEORGE R. PAIGE [Built-1882 US-55725 by William R Radcliffe at Cleveland, Ohio] First enrollment issued at Cleveland, OH, June 15, 1882. Final enrollment surrendered at Cleveland, OH, on March 7, 1905, and endorsed \”abandoned.\” Hull reportedly scuttled in Lake Erie.
1910
1910: ANN ARBOR NO.1 [Built-1892 US-106974 by Craig Shipbuilding Co at Toledo, Ohio] Totally destroyed by fire at Manitowoc, WI, on March 7, 1910. Hull reportedly sold to Love Construction Co., Muskegon, MI, and reduced to unregistered sand scow
1912
1912: JAMES ADAMS [Built-1882 US-76294 by George H Notter at Buffalo, New York. Renamed: James ADAMS 1903 C-116373] First enrollment issued at Buffalo, NY, May 2, 1882. Vessel dismantled; register surrendered at Port Arthur, Ontario, on March 7, 1912.
1916
1916: EXCELSIOR [Built-1892 US-136325 by O’Grady & Mahr at Buffalo, New York] First enrollment issued at Buffalo, NY, October 6, 1892. “The dismantled hull of the tug EXCELSIOR is now being used in the Toledo harbor as a storehouse. It was brought here from Lorain late last fall.”–Toledo Blade, March 7, 1916. Abandoned and dismantled, 1915-16.
1929
1929: TEXACO BRAVE was launched March 7, 1929, as a) JOHN IRWIN (Hull#145) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, United Kingdom by Furness Shipbuilding Co.
1945
1945: ST. LAWRENCE [Built-1842 US-22584 by John Oades at Clayton, New York] First enrollment issued at French Creek, NY, March 7, 1845. Remeasured, Milwaukee, WI, April 8, 1865 (92.66 x 19.66 x 8; 110.76 gross. Caught fire about twenty miles off Milwaukee, WI, Lake Michigan, April 30, 1878, burned and sank; two lives lost. Final enrollment surrendered at Milwaukee, WI, June 29, 1878, and endorsed \”vessel lost.\”
1969
1969: The British freighter MONTCALM, a Seaway trader when new in 1960, made 29 trips to the Great Lakes to the end of 1967. A truck in #1 hold got loose on this date in an Atlantic storm 420 miles southeast of Halifax in 1969 causing a heavy list and a 12 foot gash in the hull. A U.S.C.G. helicopter dropped extra pumps and the ship reached Halifax and safety. The vessel later became a livestock carrier and arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as c) SIBA EDOLO on August 8, 1988.
1973
1973: BISCAYA was a Danish flag freighter that first came inland in 1965. It was sailing as c) MARGARITA, and under Greek registry, when it sank following a collision with the ANZOATEGUI, a Venezuelan reefer ship, while in bound about 39 miles off Maracaibo, Venezuela on March 7, 1983. It was carrying barytes, a mineral used in oil-drilling fluids,
from El Salvador.
1977
1977: SAMUEL MATHER [Built-1906 US-203407 by Detroit Ship Building Co at Wyandotte, Michigan. Renamed: PATHFINDER 1925 US-203407, PATHFINDER 1964 C-306336, GODERICH 1964 C-306336, SOO RIVER TRADER 1980 C-306336, PINEGLEN 1982 C-306336, and NEGLEN 1984 C-306336] As SAMUEL MATHER: Grounded on Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior, in blizzard, October 19, 1923; suffered $60,000 loss.As GODERICH: In Port Weller dry dock for inspection and emergency repairs to rudder stock, March 7-25, 1977. Canadian measurements, 1964 (529.66 x 60.16 x 26; 7907 gross – 5608 net). Converted to oil at Toronto, Ont., winter, 1972-1973. Sold for scrapping to Port Maitland. (Reported June 16, 1984).
1978
1978: MARGARET L [Built-1972 by Peterson Builders Inc. at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin] Sank in position 08.10N x 94.45W after fire had broken out on board and she had been abandoned by her crew on March 7, 1978. Final enrollment surrendered in March, 1978, giving position of loss as 08.04N x 94.31W, in Pacific Ocean.
1982
1982: OCEAN LEADER came to the Great Lakes in 1980 and ran aground upbound near Sault Ste. Marie on November 11 when the radar malfunctioned. Later, in 1982 as c) FINIKI, the then 7-year old ship hit an underwater obstruction 10 miles west of the Moruka Light, while en route to Paramaribo, Suriname. The vessel reached Georgetown, Guyana, and was declared a total loss. It was reported as scuttled in the Atlantic off Jacksonville, Fla., on or after December 9, 1982.
1986
1986: ALGOSOO suffered a serious fire at her winter mooring on the west wall above Lock 8, at Port Colborne, Ontario on March 7, 1986, when a conveyor belt ignited, possibly caused by welding operations in the vicinity. The blaze spread to the stern gutting the aft accommodations. The ship was repaired at Welland and returned to service on October 6. She was scrapped by International Marine Salvage in early 2017
2024
2024: MISSISSIAGI: A fire broke out Wednesday on a retired freighter docked on the St. Marys River. Nearby residents reported a loud noise in the area shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday, followed by visible flames coming from the MISSISSIAGI. Smoke and fire could be seen from the Michigan side of the river. The cause of the fire is unknown. MISSISSAGI was the longest-operating Canadian flagged laker on the Great Lakes when it went out of service in late 2020. Stripped for parts and equipment while docked in Sarnia, the MISSISSAGI was towed to the Purvis Marine scrapyard in October 2021.
2025
2025: The Polish Steamship Co. (Polsteam) Szczecin, Poland, has sold another of its former lakes visitors. Iryda (IMO 9180384), built in 1999 and which last visited in the 2024 shipping season, now sails as the AK Carl of Sierre Leone registration.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, “Historical Collections of the Great Lakes,” “Ahoy & Farewell II” and the “Great Lakes Ships We Remember” series.
