Today in Great Lakes History – September 21

1844
1844:   JOHN JACOB ASTOR (wooden brig; 78 feet; 112 tons; built in 1835 at Pointe aux Pins, ON, but precut at Lorain, OH) was carrying furs and trade goods when she struck a reef and foundered near Copper Harbor, MI. She was owned by Astor’s American Fur Co. She was reportedly the first commercial vessel on Lake Superior.

1855
1855:   ASIA (two-masted wooden schooner; 108 feet; 204 tons; built in 1848 on the Black River near Lorain, OH) was carrying corn from Chicago, IL, for Buffalo, NY, when she collided with the propeller FOREST CITY off the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. ASIA went down in deep water in about 10 minutes, but her crew had just enough time to escape in her boat. The schooner HAMLET picked them up.

1892
1892:   The whaleback steamer JAMES B. COLGATE (steel propeller whaleback freighter; 308 feet; 1,713 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. (Hull #121) at West Superior, WI. She only lasted until 1916 when she foundered in the “Black Friday Storm” on Lake Erie with the loss of 26 lives.

1907
1907:   The passenger ship PICTON, formerly a.) CORSICAN, caught fire and burned at the dock in Toronto, ON. The hull was later converted to a barge and was, in time, apparently abandoned near the Picton Pumping Station.

1907:   ALEX NIMICK, a wooden bulk freighter, went aground near west of Vermilion Point on Lake Superior and broke up as a total loss. The vessel was en route from Buffalo, NY, to Duluth, MN, with a cargo of coal, and six lives were lost

1921
1921:   The three-masted schooner OLIVER MOWAT went down in Lake Ontario between the Main Duck and False Duck Islands after a collision with KEYWEST on a clear night. Three lives were lost, while another two sailors were rescued from the coal-laden schooner.

1924
1924:   The whaleback self-unloader CLIFTON, the former SAMUEL MATHER, foundered in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay while carrying a cargo of stone from Sturgeon Bay, WI, to Detroit, MI. All 25 on board were lost.

1946
1946:   A second typhoon caught the former Hall vessel LUCIUS W. ROBINSON as b.) HAI LIN while anchored in the harbor at Saipan, Philippines, on a voyage to China.

1969
1969:   AFRICAN GLADE, a Seaway caller in 1963, lost power in the Caribbean as c.) TRANSOCEAN PEACE on this date in 1969 and was towed into Port au Spain, Trinidad. The repaired ship departed for Durban, South Africa, in April 1970 only to suffer more boiler problems en route. The vessel was sold for scrapping at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, later in the year.

1972
1972:   ALGOWAY left Collingwood, ON, on her maiden voyage and loaded salt for Michipicoten, ON, on Lake Superior.

1977
1977:   HELEN EVANS suffered steering problems and went aground on Whaleback Shoal while upbound with iron ore in the St. Lawrence River. There was minor damage, and the vessel was released on September 23.

1982
1982:   CALGADOC left the Great Lakes in 1975 and saw service in the south as b.) EL SALINERO. The ship sank on this date in 1982 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.

1985
1985:   ELTON HOYT 2ND struck the 95th Street Bridge at Chicago, IL, and headed to Sturgeon Bay, WI, for repairs.

1988
1988:   The small tug MARY KAY sank in a Lake Ontario storm en route from Rochester, NY, to Oswego, NY. The former b.) CAPT. G.H. SWIFT had recently been refitted and went down after a huge wave broke over the stern. It had seen only brief service on Lake Ontario after arriving from the Atlantic in 1987.

1993
1993:   The tug DUKE LUEDTKE sank in Lake Erie about 12 miles north of Avon Point when the ship began taking water faster than the pumps could keep up. One U.S. Coast Guard officer was lost checking on the source of the leak when the vessel rolled over and sank.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.