Today in Great Lakes History – October 8

1854
1854:   E.K. COLLINS (wooden passenger-package freight side-wheeler; 256 feet; 1,095 gross tons; built in 1853 at Newport, MI) caught fire and beached near the mouth of the Detroit River, where she burned to the waterline. About 23 lives were lost. About 43 people were rescued in small boats and by the steamers FINTRY and GLOBE. There was some speculation that arson was the cause of the fire. The hull was recovered in 1857 and rebuilt as the barge ARK.

1871
1871:   PHILO PARSONS (wooden side-wheel steamer; 221 tons; built in 1861 at Algonac, MI) burned to a total loss in the Great Chicago Fire. She burned so completely that her remains were not located in the Chicago River until 1877. She was the vessel commandeered by Confederate raiders in a plot to capture the iron gunboat USS MICHIGAN on Lake Erie during the American Civil War. The fire destroyed many fine vessels while they were docked in the harbor. These included the new propeller NAVARINO, the schooner GLENBULA, the schooner ECLIPSE, the schooner BUTCHER BOY, the bark VALETTA, the schooner ALNWICK, the bark A.P. NICHOLS, the bark FONTANELLA, the fore-and-aft schooner STAMPEDE, the schooner N.C. FORD, and the schooner CHRISTINA NEILSON. The only recorded casualties among the sailors were on the ALNWICK; her mate died, and the captain burned his hands severely.

1871:   On this day October 8, 1871, the barkentine BUTCHER BOY was partially burned in the great Chicago fire.

1899
1899:   The tug RECORD sank at Duluth, MN, after a collision with the whaleback steamer JAMES B. NEILSON, and one life was lost.

1906
1906:   PASADENA (wooden barge; 250 feet; 1,761 gross tons; built in 1889 at Cleveland, OH, as a propeller bulk freighter) was carrying coal in tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, bound for Superior, WI (some sources say she was loaded with iron ore for Cleveland, OH). The PASADENA went out of control in a gale, and her skipper had the tow line cut. Her anchors failed to hold. She was thrown against the eastern pier near the upper entry to the Keweenaw Waterway and pounded to pieces in a few hours. Two lives were lost, but eight (some sources say seven) made it to shore on the floating wreckage.

1922
1922:   The MATHEWSTON (Hull #47) entered service. On her maiden voyage, she sailed from Port Arthur, ON, with 11,634 tons of barley and wheat. She was renamed b.) RALPH S. MISENER in 1954 and c.) MATHEWSTON again in 1967 before being scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1970.

1964
1964:   A fire aboard the West German-flagged freighter ERATO at Detroit, MI, left two dead when they were trapped in their stern quarters. Another three sailors were injured. The two-alarm blaze was brought under control, and the ship was eventually repaired at Toledo, OH. It arrived Bombay, India, and was laid up as d.) VIJAYA DARSHANA on May 26, 1983, and eventually scrapped there beginning in May 1986.

1971
1971:   DIDO went aground leaving Goole, United Kingdom, for Porsgrunn, Norway, but returned to Goole the next day after being refloated. The 22-year-old Norwegian freighter was listed as a total loss and sold for scrap. It was taken to Hull, United Kingdom, a year later and dismantled. The ship had been a pre-Seaway trader as early as 1951 and made 14 voyages to the Great Lakes from 1959–1963.

1976
1976:   The keel was laid for the 660-foot forward section of the BURNS HARBOR, eventually completed as b.) LEWIS WILSON FOY for the Bethlehem Steel Co. of Cleveland, OH. She was purchased by Oglebay Norton and renamed c.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991 and eventually d.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

1985
1985:   The Canadian registry for MENIHEK LAKE was officially closed with the notation “sold Spain.” She was scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

1988
1988:   WILLIAM G. MATHER arrived in tow of the Great Lakes Towing Co. tugs WYOMING and ALABAMA at the G&W Shipyard at Collision Bend in the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH, to be refurbished.

2000
2000:   UNDAUNTED and barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 departed Calumet Harbor, IL, loaded with pig iron for Marinette, WI, under favorable conditions and were later caught by heavy weather. During the storm, the 5,000 tons of pig iron and the barge’s four pieces of heavy loading equipment were washed into Lake Michigan. Both the tug and barge suffered damage in the incident.

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.

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