Today in Great Lakes History – October 10

1877
1877:   ELIZA R. TURNER (wooden schooner; 156 feet; 409 gross tons; built in 1867 at Trenton, MI) was carrying wheat from Detroit, MI, to Buffalo, NY, when a storm drove her aground nine miles west of Long Point on Lake Erie where she was wrecked. The skipper and cook drowned, but the remaining eight were saved.

1877:   ABEONA (wooden scow schooner; 100 tons; built in 1863 at Lambert, ON) was carrying lumber and shingles downbound on Lake Huron when she stranded during a storm one mile west of Port Austin, MI, where she reportedly later broke up.

1877:   PORTLAND (two-masted wooden schooner; 118 feet; 250 tons; built in 1847 at Pillar Point, NY) stranded and went to pieces north of False Presque Isle on Lake Huron. Salvage attempts only retrieved her anchor and chain.

1878
1878:   The tug CRUSADER of Oswego, NY, burned and sank in the middle of the Straits of Mackinac about 21:00.

1891
1891:   The SUSAN E. PECK collided with the schooner GEORGE W. ADAMS above the Soo Locks. The PECK, loaded with wheat for Buffalo, NY, sank in a matter of minutes and completely blocked the navigation channel. General Orlando M. Poe, in charge of the Soo Locks, estimated that 275 boats lost an estimated 825 days and five hours waiting for the wreck to be cleared.

1902
1902:   GARDEN CITY (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 133 feet; 352 gross tons; built in 1873 at Ogdensburg, NY) caught fire on the Saginaw River between Bay City, MI, and Saginaw, MI, while sailing up the river for winter lay-up. She sank four miles above Bay City near the old interurban railroad bridge.

1905
1905:   CHARLES H. BURTON (three-masted wooden schooner; 158 feet; 514 gross tons; built in 1873 at Bangor, MI) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie when she was driven ashore 4.5 miles east of Barcelona, NY, and broke up. No lives were lost. She had been built on the hull of the bark GLENBULAH that had burned in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

1906
1906:   The PERE MARQUETTE NO. 5 was sold to the Barry Transportation Co. for $75,000. The PERE MARQUETTE NO. 5 was the last of the breakbulk boats operated by the Pere Marquette Railway Co.

1923
1923:   HURONTON, a Canadian freighter, sank in Lake Superior off Caribou Island following a collision on the foggy lake with the CETUS. The vessel went down in 800 feet of water in 18 minutes, but all on board were rescued.

1927
1927:   MICHIPICOTEN of the Owen Sound Transportation Co. was destroyed by a fire at Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island.

1956
1956:   Two F-86 Saber jets collided over Lake Michigan. The ERNEST T. WEIR, under the command of Captain Ray R. Redecker, rescued one of the pilots (Lt. Kenneth R. Hughes) after he spent three hours in the water. ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, WILLIAM A. IRVIN, and GEORGE W. PERKINS participated in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the second pilot.

1963
1963:   The wooden freighter VAUQUELIN caught fire and sank in the St. Lawrence northeast of Quebec City, QC, off Cap-au-Saumon. The vessel had previously sailed as a.) LA RIVIERE MALBAIE.

1969
1969:   The T2 tanker CARIBBEAN SKY visited the Seaway for three trips in 1960–1961 before being converted to a bulk carrier. Her engine exploded and disintegrated during dock trials after repairs at Antwerp, Belgium, under the name f.) LAKE PLACID with the loss of one life. The hull settled but was pumped out and declared a constructive total loss. It was towed to Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 1971, repaired, and returned to service as g.) GARANDA. The after end again proved to be troublesome and was cut off and scrapped. The bow was joined to after end of the Panamanian tanker AKRON, and the ship returned to service under this name. It was finally dismantled in Pakistan during 1981.

1980
1980:   BROOKDALE of 1909 was towed out of Toronto, ON, by the tug GLENADA, assisted by the tug TERRY S. She was on her way to the cutter’s torch at Port Maitland, ON.

1981
1981:   While downbound with coal in the St. Lawrence River, the JEAN PARISIEN suffered considerable bottom damage when she ran aground near Comfort Island about a mile west of Alexandria Bay, NY. She was rebuilt with a new forebody at Port Weller Dry Docks and renamed b.) CSL ASSINIBOINE in 2005.

1986
1986:   SAVIC, the former b.) CLIFFS VICTORY, cleared New York, NY, bound for scrapping.

1987
1987:   CHAMPLAIN and her former fleetmate CADILLAC were towed past Gibraltar heading for Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling by Cukurova Celik Endustrisi A.S.

1987:   The wheat-laden WILLOWGLEN went aground on the north side of Ogden Island in the St. Lawrence. The ship was released on October 13 and later went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1989
1989:   HULL NO. 1, the former b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE, being towed by the Polish tug JANTAR, arrived in Aliaga, Turkey, to be scrapped there.

Data from: Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Russ Plumb, 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.