Today in Great Lakes History – July 31

1849
1849:  ACORN (wooden schooner, 84 feet, 125 tons, built in 1842 at Black River, Ohio) was struck amidships by the propeller TROY near West Sister Island in Lake Erie. She sank quickly, but no lives were lost since all hands made it to the TROY.

1850
1850:  AMERICA (wooden side-wheeler, 240 feet, 1,083 tons, built in 1847 at Port Huron, Michigan) suffered a boiler or steam pipe explosion while sailing on Lake Erie. The explosion immediately killed nine persons and scalded others who died later. The vessel was repaired and sailed for three more seasons.

1948
1948  In a total elapsed time of 19 hours, the JAMES DAVIDSON of the Tomlinson fleet unloaded 13,545 tons of coal at the Berwind Dock in Duluth and loaded 14,826 tons of ore at the Allouez Dock in Superior.

1955
1955:  Al A. Wolf, the first chief engineer of a Great Lakes freighter powered by a 7,000-hp engine, retired as Chief Engineer of the WILFRED SYKES. Chief Wolf started as an oiler on the POLYNESIA in 1911, became Chief Engineer in 1921, and brought out the SYKES in 1948.

1965
1965:  The CEDARBRANCH was damaged and sunk by an explosion several miles below Montreal, Quebec, resulting in the loss of one life. Repaired and lengthened in 1965, she was renamed b.) SECOLA in 1978 and c.) KITO MARU in 1979 and scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1985.

1974
1974:  The Liberian vessel ARTADI approached the dock at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where she damaged the docked GORDON C. LEITCH’s stern.

1976
1976:  Sea trials took place for the JAMES R. BARKER. She was to become Interlake’s first 1,000-footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio, manager). She was built at a cost of more than $43 million under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. She was the third thousand-footer to sail on the lakes and the first built entirely on the lakes.

Data from: Jody Aho, 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.