Today in Great Lakes History – August 14

1871
1871:   The 149-foot bark MARY E. PEREW was found floating west of the Manitou Islands by the propeller MONTGOMERY. The PEREW had been sailing to Milwaukee with a load of coal when a storm came upon her so quickly on August 8 (nearly a week before MONTGOMERY found her) that the crew did not have time to trim the sails. All three masts were snapped, and the mizzen mast fell on the yawl, smashing it. The crew was stuck on the ship, unable to navigate. The MONTGOMERY towed her to Milwaukee where she was rebuilt, and she lasted until 1905.

1873
1873:   CHESTER B. JONES (three-mast wooden schooner, 167 feet, 493 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built by Chesley Wheeler. The spars and top hamper ordered for her were broken in a logjam, so the three-master received her spars at Buffalo, New York, on her first trip.

1882
1882:   At 11:00 p.m., the steam barge CHICAGO (206 feet, 935 gross tons) of 1855 was carrying coal on Lake Michigan while towing the barge MANITOWOC (210.5 feet, 569 gross tons) of 1868. In mid-lake, near Fox Island, CHICAGO was discovered to be on fire. Within 15 minutes, she was ablaze. Her crew escaped to her barge consort MANITOWOC. The CHICAGO burned to the water’s edge and sank the following day.

1899
1899:   W.L. Mercereau, known as the “Father of the Fleet,” became Superintendent of Steamships for the Pere Marquette Railway.

1900
1900:   The tug WILLIAM D. of the Great Lakes Towing Co. got under the bow of the steamer WAWATAM at Ashtabula, Ohio, and was rolled over and sank. One drowned.

1924
1924:   Sea trials for the HENRY FORD II took place. Shortly after, she left on her maiden voyage with coal from Toledo, Ohio, to Duluth, Minnesota, and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.

1936
1936:   Registration for the wooden steamer MARY H. BOYCE was closed. The ship, which had burned at Fort William in 1928, was scuttled in deep water off Isle Royale in 1936. The vessel had been an early member of the Paterson fleet.

1950
1950:   The Canada Steamship Lines passenger carrier QUEBEC caught fire near Tadoussac, Quebec, and was able to reach the dock. Of the 426 passengers on board, three lives were lost. The blaze was considered suspicious, as it began in a linen closet. The vessel was a total loss.

1961
1961:   The wooden diesel-powered tug NORTH STAR IV had visited the Great Lakes as b) ROCKY RIVER and had been used to handle the barges BLACK RIVER and PIC RIVER for the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. The vessel was serving under her fourth name when she stranded on a rock in James Bay while doing hydrographic survey work. The crew was rescued, but the vessel was a total loss. The rocky area is now called North Star Shoal.

1962
1962:   The ARTHUR M. ANDERSON departed Conneaut and headed downbound to become the first Pittsburgh boat to transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway.

1980
1980:   After being sold for scrap, the GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Soo Locks for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to load scrap.

1986
1986:   GABRIELLA came through the Seaway in 1975 when only a year old. The ship capsized on this date at Port Kembla, Australia, while discharging a 227-ton heavy lift. The vessel was turned upside down, refloated in November 1986, towed 30 miles out to sea, and scuttled on December 9, 1986.

2004
2004:   FEDERAL MAAS was damaged at the Iroquois Lock when the wing of the pilothouse struck the edge of the bascule bridge.

2005
2005:   The Cypriot freighter ULLA visited the Seaway in September 1995 with cocoa beans for Valleyfield, QC, and returned, in ballast, in November 1996 for Port Robinson. It was in a collision as f) REEF PEMBA with the GAS VISION and sank off Oman on this date. The crew was saved.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.