1870
1870: The wooden barge FANNY NEIL was launched at the Muir, Livingstone & Co. yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 31 May 1870. As was usual in those days, her name was not made public until the streamer bearing her name was unfurled at the launch.
1873
1873: The wooden tug MOCKING BIRD was launched at 7:00 p.m. on 31 May 1873, (12 days late) at the Port Huron Dry Dock Company yard. Her master builder was Alex “Sandy” Stewart. Her dimensions were 123 foot x 23 feet x 8.4 feet, 142 gross tons. The engine (26.5 inches x 30 inches) was at the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland, Ohio at the time of launch, ready to be installed. Although this launch was 12 days late, it still did not go smoothly since MOCKING BIRD got stuck in the river. However, with some assistance from another tug, she was pulled free and was afloat at the dock by midnight. She lasted until abandoned at Marquette, Michigan in 1918.
1890
1890: TUSCARORA First enrollment issued at Cleveland, OH, May 31, 1890 Owned by Lehigh Valley Transportation Co
1895
The NORMAN [Built in 1890 at Globe Iron Works, Cleveland, Ohio] Was sunk in collision with Canadian propeller JACK, May 31, 1895, about fourteen miles northeast of Middle Island, MI, Lake Huron, in dense fog. Vessel was upbound light from Ashtabula, OH, for Escanaba, MI; three lives lost.
1900
1900: On 31 May 1900, the KEWAUNEE (wooden propeller steamer, 106 foot, 143 gross tons) was launched at Kewaunee, Wisconsin for James Smith, Ben Kuhlman & William Keeper. In 1902, she was rebuilt as a lightship and, in 1913, she was converted to a sand dredge. She lasted until 1935, when she was abandoned.
1918
1918: GEORGE G. BARNUM (later the self-unloader HENNEPIN) and the CHESTER A. CONGDON were in a minor collision due to fog off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior. The latter was lost later that year after stranding and then breaking up on Canoe Rock, Isle Royale, Lake Superior.
1924
1924: May 31, 1924 – PERE MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington, Michigan, on her maiden voyage. Captain Charles E. Robertson was in command.
1926
1926: NISBET GRAMMER sank after a collision with DALWARNIC in fog off Thirty Mile Point, Lake Ontario, while downbound with a cargo of grain. All on board were rescued from the three-year old member of the Eastern Steamship Co. fleet. It went down in about 500 feet of water.
1973
1973: CITY OF SAGINAW 31 cleared Manitowoc in 1973, in tow of the tug HELEN M. MC ALLISTER; this was the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch that ended at Castellon, Spain.
1974
1974: The first GORDON C. LEITCH was aground for 3 hours, 55 minutes at Buoy 2 on the St. Clair River and freed herself with only minor damage.
1975
1975: The SILVER ISLE went aground in Pelee Passage, Lake Erie, May 31, 1975. Suffered severe damage to bottom tanks. [Became ALGOISLE in 1994]
Data from: Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.