Today in Great Lakes History – July 12

1852
1852:  CITY OF OSWEGO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight vessel, 138 feet, 357 tons, built in 1852 at Buffalo, New York) collided with the steamer AMERICA and sank off Willoughby, Ohio, a few miles east of Cleveland. 15 lives were lost. This was CITY OF OSWEGO’s first season of operation.

1871
1871:  ADVANCE (wooden scow-schooner, 49 tons, built in 1847 at Fairport, Ohio) was bound for Detroit from Cleveland with a load of coal. She and the steamer U.S. GRANT collided near South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) in Lake Erie, and ADVANCE sank. Her crew escaped in the yawl.

1889
1889:  T.H. ORTON (wooden barge, 262 gross tons, built in 1873 at Buffalo, New York) anchored off Marblehead, Ohio, on Lake Erie to ride out a storm. She dragged her anchors and was driven ashore where she was declared a total wreck. She was recovered and just two years later, at the same place, this incident was repeated.

1909
1909:  The ore-laden JOHN B. COWLE (i) was struck amidships by the ISAAC M. SCOTT off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, and sank with the reported loss of 11 lives.

1917
1917:  GEORGE N. ORR was wrecked at Savage Point in the Strait of Northumberland, Prince Edward Island, on her way to New York City and wartime saltwater service. The vessel had been cut in two and towed from the lakes to be rejoined at Montreal.

1958
1958:  Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.’s FRANK A. SHERMAN entered service, departing Port Weller Dry Docks for Duluth and a load of iron ore on its maiden voyage.

1969
1969:  The deep-sea tug MISSISSIPPI arrived at Bilbao, Spain, with the lakers DONNACONA (ii) and BEN E. TATE for scrapping.

1973
1973:  The H.M. GRIFFITH (Hull #203) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards for Canada Steamship Lines. Rebuilt with a new cargo section in 2000, renamed b.) RT. HON. PAUL J. MARTIN.

1977
1977:  The BELLE RIVER, renamed b.) WALTER J. MCCARTHY JR. in 1990, was christened as American Steamship’s first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding.

1977:  The stern section of the former canaller BIRCHTON was raised at Halifax after the two parts, which had been created for use as pontoons in the construction of offshore drilling platforms, sank at the dock.

1978
1978:  The keel for Hull #909 was laid at Toledo, Ohio, after Interlake Steamship and Republic Steel signed a 25-year haulage contract. Hull #909 was to be named WILLIAM J. DELANCEY and renamed PAUL R. TREGURTHA in 1990.

1985
1985:  MONTY PYTHON drifted aground in the St. Lawrence off La Ronde while loading scrap at Montreal and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1 before floating free on July 18. This saltwater vessel was sold for scrap before the year was out and arrived at Dalian, China, on November 3, 1985, to be dismantled. MONTY PYTHON first visited the Great Lakes as a) MONTE ZALAMA in 1970, returning as b) MONTY PYTHON after being renamed in 1985.

1986
1986:  When ENDERS M. VOORHEES was chained together with her sisters, A.H. FERBERT and IRVING S. OLDS, a severe thunderstorm struck Duluth, Minnesota, pushing the trio across St. Louis Bay, eventually grounding them near Superior, Wisconsin. It was discovered that the force of the storm had pulled the bollards out of the Hallett Dock No. 5, thus releasing the ships.

2005
2005:  The DAY PECKINPAUGH, under tow of the tug BENJAMIN ELLIOT, departed the lakes through the New York State Barge Canal to Lockport, New York, for a new life as a traveling history museum.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, 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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