Today in Great Lakes History – August 28

1763
1763:   BEAVER, an armed wooden British sloop built the previous year, was carrying provisions to Detroit, MI. She was on her way to relieve the fort there, which was under siege by Native Americans led by Pontiac; however, the vessel foundered in a storm at Cat Fish Creek, 14 miles from the site of Buffalo, NY. 185 barrels of her cargo were salvaged and went on to Detroit on the schooner GLADWIN.

1870
1870:   CHASKA (wooden scow-schooner; 72 feet; 50 tons; built in 1869 at Duluth, MN, originally as a scow-brig) was wrecked in a northwesterly storm near Duluth. She was reportedly the first vessel built at Duluth.

1872
1872:   Captain Frank R. West took his 8-year-old son Robert and the boy’s friend, 8-year-old Edward Erickson, aboard the new schooner LOUIS MEEKER as guests on a trip carrying 27,000 bushels of oats from Chicago, IL, to Buffalo, NY. There was hardly any wind, and it took them 4 days to creep north as far as Pentwater, MI. On this day, Captain West saw a storm coming, and he had the sails taken in as a precaution. The winds came so suddenly and they hit the vessel so hard that the schooner was knocked over on her beam ends. Little Robert West, his dad, and three sailors were lost when the vessel sank 15 minutes later near Big Sable Point. Peter Danielson dove and tried to cut away the lifeboat as the schooner was sinking, and he almost drowned in that unsuccessful attempt. The mizzen gaff broke free, and seven sailors plus little Edward Erickson clung to it until they were picked up by the schooner WILLIAM O. BROWN about 6 hours later.

1928
1928:   The JOHN ANDERSON, a.) LUZON of 1902, was outbound through the Duluth Ship Canal in Duluth, MN, when the vessel struck the north pier, suffering $18,000 in damage. She was renamed c.) G.G. POST in 1935. The POST was scrapped at Istanbul, Turkey, in 1972.

1934
1934:   Gulf Oil Corp. tanker REGENT entered service. She was built for low clearances on the New York State Barge Canal and was equipped with five cargo tanks and one dry cargo hold.

1939
1939:   The RICHARD J. REISS collided with the YOSEMITE on the St. Clair River. There were no casualties, but damage to the Reiss amounted to $26,593.80, and damage to the YOSEMITE amounted to $23,443.09. The REISS was built in 1901 as the a.) GEORGE W. PEAVEY before being renamed b.) RICHARD J. REISS in 1917 and c.) SUPERIOR in 1943. She was scrapped at Hamilton, ON, in 1947. The YOSEMITE, built in 1901, carried her name throughout her career and was scrapped at Buffalo, NY, in 1954.

1954
1954:   The PERE MARQUETTE 22 was repowered with two 2,850 ihp, four-cylinder Skinner Uniflow steeple compound steam engines (19.5″, 43″ diameter x 26″ stroke) built in 1953 by the Skinner Engine Co. of Erie, PA, and four coal-fired Foster-Wheeler water tube boilers with a total heating surface of 25,032 square feet, also built in 1953. The repowering work was completed on this date. The vessel’s 1954 tonnage was 3,551 gross tons, 1,925 net tons, and 2,450 deadweight tons. A new starboard tail shaft was also installed at this time. Her service speed increased to 18 knots (20.7 miles per hour).

1962
1962:   The EDWARD L. RYERSON set a Great Lakes cargo record for iron ore. The RYERSON loaded 25,018 gross tons of iron ore in Superior, WI, breaking by 14 tons the record held by the Canadian bulk freighter RED WING that was set in the 1961 season. The RYERSON held this record well into 1965.

1981
1981:   The WILLIAM A. REISS, formerly a.) JOHN A. TOPPING, was laid up for the last time at Toledo, OH, and remained idle there until July 15, 1994, when she was towed to be scrapped.

1986
1986:   Mr. Edwin H. Gott, 78, of Pittsburgh, PA, passed away. The namesake of the 1,000-footer, he retired as Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Steel in 1973.

2002
2002:   FRASER, the former SELKIRK SETTLER, went aground in fog at the Twin Ports and was released without damage with the aid of four tugs. The ship now sails as SPRUCEGLEN of Canada Steamship Lines.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Al Miller, James Neumiller, Jody Aho, Russ Plumb, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.