Today in Great Lakes History – August 26

1791
1791:   John Fitch was granted a United States patent for the steamboat.

1857
1857:   The schooner MATTHEW MCNAIR was launched at the Lee and Lamoree shipyard in Oswego, NY. She had a 103-foot keel, 24-foot-6-inch beam, and 9-foot-6-inch depth.

1872
1872:   Wooden propeller steamer LAKE BREEZE of 1868 was steaming from Saginaw, MI, to Mackinaw City, MI, with freight and about 40 passengers when a fire broke out in the kitchen while off Au Sable, MI. Captain M.S. Lathrop ordered the engines shut down and the steam pumps activated. The crew battled the blaze with fire hoses and put the flames out. When the LAKE BREEZE pulled into Mackinaw City that night, the partially burned vessel was still smoking.

1875
1875:   COMET (passenger-package freight propeller; 181 feet; 744 tons; built in 1857 at Cleveland, OH) was carrying ore and pig iron in Lake Superior on a foggy night. While trying to pass the Beatty Line steamer MANITOBA about 7 miles southeast of Whitefish Point, signals were misunderstood, and COMET veered into the path of MANITOBA. COMET was rammed amidships and sank in 10 minutes. 11 of the 21 aboard lost their lives. This wasn’t the first such accident for COMET. In October 1869, she suffered a similar mishap with the propeller HUNTER, and that time both vessels sank.

1905
1905:   The HENRY C. FRICK (Hull #615) was launched at West Bay City, MI, by the West Bay City Shipbuilding Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Renamed b.) MICHIPICOTEN in 1964, she foundered off Anticosti Island on November 17, 1972, while being towed overseas for scrapping.

1911
1911:   The CHIEF WAWATAM (Hull #119) was launched at Toledo, OH, by the Toledo Shipbuilding Co. for the Mackinaw Transportation Co. She was built with three large propellers, two in the stern for propulsion and one in the bow for icebreaking. She was sold to Purvis Marine Ltd. of Sault Ste. Marie, ON, in 1988 and cut down to a barge.

1911:   CITY OF GENOA, downbound in the St. Clair River with 125,000 bushels of corn, collided with the W.H. GILBERT and sank 100 yards offshore. The crew was rescued and the hull salvaged by Reid on September 20, 1911, but was irreparable and a total loss.

1916
1916:   EMORY L. FORD entered service to load iron ore at Marquette, MI. She was renamed b.) RAYMOND H. REISS in 1965 and scrapped at Ramey’s Bend, ON, in 1980.

1925
1925:   The GLENEAGLES (Hull #14) was launched at Midland, ON, by the Midland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for the Great Lakes Transportation Co. Ltd. (James Playfair, manager). The vessel was converted to a self-unloader in 1963; renamed b.) SILVERDALE in 1978; and scrapped at Windsor, ON, in 1984.

1934
1934:   While on a Sunday sightseeing cruise, MIDLAND CITY of 1871, formerly a.) MAUD (153.2 feet, 521 gross tons), damaged her bottom on a shoal near Present Island in Georgian Bay. She settled with her stern underwater and her bow high in the air.

1955
1955:   JOHANNA, a West German freighter, went aground at Point Iroquois and received damage to bottom plates. The tugs SALVAGE PRINCE, RIVAL, and CAPT. M.B. DONNELLY, along with the lighter COBOURG, helped release the vessel on September 3, and it went to Kingston, ON, for repairs. JOHANNA was later a Seaway trader and made 18 inland voyages from 1959 to 1965.

1961
1961:   The Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd.-built passenger-cargo ship FEDERAL PALM (Hull #29) was christened for the West Indies Shipping Corp. Ltd. She was built on the Great Lakes but never served their ports. Renamed b.) CENPAC ROUNDER in 1975, she was scrapped in 1979.

1978
1978:   The second AVONDALE was damaged by an arson fire in the pilothouse while laid up along the Welland Canal below Lock 8.

1979
1979:   QUEBECOIS went aground on a mud bank near the entrance to Lake St. Clair after an electronic malfunction but was released in 9 hours.

1980
1980:   The EDGAR B. SPEER’s sea trials were successfully completed.

1988
1988:   A challenging fire in the bow thruster tunnel aboard ALGOMARINE at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, ON, sent two firemen to the hospital. Some plates were buckled. The ship was being converted to a self-unloader at the time.

1994
1994:   The BEECHGLEN was towed out of Owen Sound, ON, by the McKeil tug KAY COLE en route to Port Maitland, ON, for scrapping.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Reference.com, 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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