Today in Great Lakes History – July 14

1891
1891:  T.H. ORTON (wooden barge, 262 gross tons, built in 1873 at Buffalo, New York) anchored off Marblehead, Ohio, on Lake Erie to ride out a storm. She dragged her anchors and was driven ashore where she was declared a total wreck. She may have been recovered. Just two years earlier, this vessel went through a similar incident at the same spot.

1891:  ATHABASCA and PONTIAC collided head-on in the Sugar Island Channel of the St. Marys River, and the latter settled on the bottom. The former arrived at Sault Ste. Marie with wreckage draped across her bow. Both ships were repaired and returned to service.

1908
1908:  MENTOR (wooden propeller tug, 53 feet, 23 gross tons, built in 1882 at Saugatuck, Michigan) burned south of Chicago, Illinois. No lives were lost. Her original name was HATTIE A. FOX.

1931
1931:  The bulk canaller TEAKBAY hit a rock in the Brockville Narrows of the St. Lawrence and went aground while en route from Sandusky to Quebec City with coal. It was refloated but was listing and in need of repairs.

1964
1964:  DANIEL PIERCE, a former Great Lakes tanker, ran aground at Guanica, Puerto Rico. The ship was leaking sulphuric acid into the bilges, mixing with salt water. The town was evacuated due to the potential for an explosion. The hull was condemned and eventually scrapped.

1966
1966:  The Israeli freighter ELAT, on her second trip to the Great Lakes, and LEMOYNE were in a collision near Lock 2 of the Welland Canal with only minor damage. ELAT arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping by September 7, 1982, while LEMOYNE was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1969.

1970
1970:  While upbound in the St. Lawrence River for Saginaw, Michigan, with a load of pig iron from Sorel, Quebec, the EASTCLIFFE HALL of 1954 grounded in mud near Chrysler Shoal six miles above Massena, New York, at 03:00 but was able to free herself. A few hours later, approaching Cornwall, Ontario, she struck a submerged object and sank within a few minutes in 70 feet of water only 650 feet from the point of impact. The submerged object was believed to be an old aid to navigation light stand. Nine lives were lost. Divers determined that her back was broken in two places. After salvaging part of the cargo, her cabins were leveled and her hull was filled.

1980
1980:  The AMERICAN REPUBLIC (Hull #724) was launched by the Bay Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the American Steamship Co. She was renamed b) GREAT REPUBLIC in 2011.

1988
1988:  The JOHN T. HUTCHINSON and tow mate CONSUMERS POWER passed through the Panama Canal heading for the cutter’s torch in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

1993
1993:  CALCITE II lost steering and ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel of the Detroit River. The ship was lightered, released with the help of the tugs PATRICIA HOEY, OREGON and STORMONT and, after unloading at Ecorse, headed for Toledo to be repaired.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Dave Wobser, Mike Nicholls, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.