Today in Great Lakes History – August 27

1873
1873:   The keel for the tug CRUSADER was laid at the Leighton and Dunford yard in Port Huron, MI. The tug measured 132 feet overall with a 100-foot keel and 23-foot beam. She was built for George E. Brockway.

1886
1886:   The Detroit Evening News reported that a fireman on the tug J.H. HACKLEY of 1874 was sent to watch for a leak in the boiler, which was being filled with cold water at a dock in Chicago, IL. He fell asleep, and the boiler overflowed, very nearly sinking the vessel before another tug could pump her dry.

1909
1909:   PRESCOTT, a wooden sidewheel passenger ship running from Toronto, ON, to Montreal, QC, was destroyed by a fire at Montreal. It burned to the waterline and sank at Victoria Pier.

1910
1910:   WILLIAM B. DICKSON (Hull #75) was launched at Ecorse, MI, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH. Renamed b.) MERLE M. MCCURDY in 1969, she was scrapped at Port Colborne, ON, in 1989.

1924
1924:   CITY QUEEN (wooden propeller steam tug; 71 feet; 69 gross tons; built in 1900 at Midland, ON) burned to a total loss 14 miles east of the Manitou Dock in Georgian Bay.

1929
1929:   The MYRON C. TAYLOR entered service.

1940
1940:   The WILLIAM A. IRVIN set the Great Lakes record for the fastest unloading of iron ore cargo using shoreside equipment. The IRVIN unloaded 13,856 gross tons of iron ore in 2 hours, 55 minutes (including the time to arrive and depart the dock) at Conneaut, OH. This record still stands, and consequently, the IRVIN is one of the few Great Lakes vessels to be retired while still holding a cargo record.

1940:   BOLIVAR, built at Wyandotte, MI, as LAKE FACKLER, had returned to the Great Lakes in 1933. On this date, the ship foundered in the Bay of Bengal again known as d.) BOLIVAR.

1943
1943:   The U.S. Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC MESQUITE (WAGL-305) was commissioned. She served on the Pacific Ocean in the 7th Fleet in 1944 and 1945.

1952
1952:   JOHN O. MCKELLAR (Hull #12) was launched at St. Catharines, ON, by Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd. for the Colonial Steamship Co. Ltd. (Scott Misener, manager) of Port Colborne, ON. The vessel was renamed b.) ELMGLEN in 1984.

1952:   10 tons of sugar aboard the CITY OF KINGSTON burned in a 1-hour fire at Montreal, QC.

1965
1965:   The Swedish freighter EVA JEANETTE ran up over the stern of the tug VEGCO in Lock 4 of the Welland Canal, sinking the latter vessel. There were no injuries, and the tug was salvaged. EVA JEANETTE arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as d.) SKOPELOS STAR on January 21, 1984. The tug later sailed as d.) NORWICH and became e.) SEAGULL in 1998.

1968
1968:   The new Poe Lock at the Soo was first flooded.

1971
1972:   AGAWA CANYON (Hull #195) was launched at Collingwood, ON, by Collingwood Shipbuilding for Algoma Central Railway Ltd.

1985
1985:   CCGS SAMUEL RISLEY arrived at Toronto, ON, on her way to Thunder Bay, ON, where she replaced the retired CCGS ALEXANDER HENRY.

1986
1986:   The WILLIAM CLAY FORD, then renamed b.) US266029, was towed from Detroit Marine Terminals to Nicholson’s River Rouge dock after her pilothouse was removed. The pilothouse would be displayed at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and the hull sold for scrap.

2008
2008:   GERTJE, a Seaway trader in 1991, sent out a distress call as h.) LADY F. with water entering the holds. A tug arrived and removed the six crew members. The vessel was towed into Bougas, Bulgaria, the next day. The ship was repaired and became i.) SAMER F. in 2010.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Al Miller, Jody Aho, 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.