Today in Great Lakes History –  October 15

1871
1871:   R.P. MASON (three-masted wooden schooner; 115 feet; 155 gross tons; built in 1867 at Grand Haven, MI) was bound from Chicago, IL, for Detroit, MI, when she struck a rocky reef near Waugoshance Point in the Straits of Mackinac. Water gushed in an 8-foot hole. The vessel was temporarily patched, and her cargo of grain, flour, and meat was taken off over the next few days. The tug LEVIATHAN took her in tow, going to Little Traverse Bay when, on this date in 1871, they encountered a gale near Cross Village, MI. The MASON broke free and capsized. Five died, and four were rescued. The MASON drifted ashore upside down. She was eventually salvaged and sailed for another 46 years. She ended her days when she burned in Lake Michigan in 1917.

1871:   LA PETITE (wooden schooner; 94 feet; 122 gross tons; built in 1866 at Huron, OH) was carrying lumber from Alpena, MI, to Huron when she was caught in a terrific gale on Lake Huron. The heavy seas carried away the lumber strapped on deck. The vessel then sprang a leak and turned on her beam ends. Captain O.B. Smith, his wife, and four other sailors rode out the storm on the wreck until found by the tug BROCKWAY. The schooner was towed to Port Huron, MI, and repaired.

1871:   R.G. COBURN (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer; 193 feet; 867 tons; built in 1870 at Marine City, MI) was carrying 15,000 bushels of wheat, 3,500 barrels of flour, and 30 barrels of silver ore from Lake Superior to Detroit, MI. As she came down Lake Huron, she encountered a terrific gale that had driven most vessels to seek shelter. The COBURN fought the wind at Saginaw Bay throughout the night until she lost her rudder and turned broadside to the waves. Her large stack fell and smashed the cabin area, and then the cargo came loose and started smashing holes in the bulwarks. About 70 passengers were aboard, and almost all were terribly seasick. As the ship began her final plunge beneath the waves, only a few lifeboats were getting ready to be launched, and those were floated right from the deck as the ship sank. 32 people perished, including Captain Gilbert Demont. No women or children were saved.

1871:   EXCELSIOR (three-masted wooden schooner; 156 feet; 374 gross tons; built in 1865 at Buffalo, NY) was struck by a gale near Thunder Bay on Lake Huron. She sailed through the early morning hours, only to sink at about 04:30. Only Charles Lostrom survived. He was on the cabin roof, which blew off when the vessel went down. Mr. Lostrom remained on the floating roof-raft for two days and two nights until he was rescued by fishermen near South Hampton Light on the Canadian side of Lake Huron.

1893
1893:   According to reports in Buffalo, NY, newspapers, First Mate Ben Lewis was washed off the decks of the JAY GOULD during a storm. A succeeding wave picked him up and dropped him back on the deck of the GOULD.

1900
1900:   The wooden 186-foot freighter F.E. SPINNER was sunk in a collision with the steamer H.D. COFFINBERRY in the St. Marys River. She was raised from 125 feet of water, one of the deepest successful salvage operations of that time. She was later renamed HELEN C. and lasted until 1922.

1910
1910:   After the sinking of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1902, built at Cleveland, OH, the previous September, a new PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911 was ordered by the Pere Marquette Railway from the Chicago Ship Building Co.

1916
1916:   The wooden bulk freighter L. EDWARD HINES was sold to Nicaraguan owners and left the Great Lakes in 1916. The ship had loaded coal in New Orleans, LA, for Venezuela for its maiden voyage on this date in 1916 but got caught in a hurricane and sank with the loss of 17 lives 45 miles east of Belize.

1949
1949:   COVERDALE (Hull #34) was launched at Midland, ON, for Canada Steamship Lines of Montreal, QC. She was renamed b.) GEORGE HINDMAN in 1973 and c.) MELDRUM BAY in 1979 before being scrapped at Lisbon, Portugal, in 1985.

1961
1961:   The PAUL H. CARNAHAN came out on her maiden voyage.

1969
1969:   C.H. MCCULLOUGH JR. was laid up at Manitowoc, WI.

1971
1971:   SINGAPORE TRADER was upbound with general cargo from Japan to Detroit, MI, on its first trip to the Great Lakes when it ran aground in the Thousand Islands. The vessel was released on November 29 and towed back to Montreal, QC, on December 16. The ship was arrested there and offered for sale by court order. The successful bidder for the 27-year-old vessel was a shipbreaker at Santander, Spain, and the ship arrived there for dismantling on June 22, 1972.

1973
1973:   SCOTT MISENER of 1954 struck bottom near Whaleback Shoal on the St. Lawrence River, reportedly damaging 60 of her bottom plates. She proceeded to the shipyard in Port Arthur, ON, for dry docking and repairs from October 20–28.

1974
1974:   On her maiden voyage, Branch Lines’ new tanker LEON SIMARD was spotted traveling eastward on the St. Lawrence River. The vessel was renamed b.) L’ORME NO. 1 in 1982. She was later sold off the lakes and renamed c.) TRADEWIND OCEAN in 1997 and d.) AMARA in 2001.

1974:   The self-unloader WOLVERINE departed the American Ship Building Co. on her maiden voyage from Lorain, OH, light to load stone at Stoneport, MI, for delivery to Huron, OH.

1977
1977:   The three-year-old Panamanian bulk carrier GOLDEN STAR damaged its rudder when it struck the opposite bank while backing from the dock at Huron, OH. The vessel, bound for the United Kingdom, needed four tugs when it was towed out of the Seaway for repairs at Sorel-Tracy, QC. The vessel was last noted as c.) FUN JIN under the flag of Panama in 1993.

1978
1978:   The West German freighter FRANCISCA SARTORI made 21 trips through the Seaway from 1959 to 1967. It was lying at Piraeus, Greece, as f.) GIOTA S. when the engine room flooded on this date in 1978. The ship departed for Chalcis, Greece, on October 24, 1979, but further leaks developed, and the vessel had to be beached at Laurium, Greece.

1980
1980:   NIPIGON BAY, loaded with ore for Hamilton, ON, grounded at the crossover near Brockville, ON, on the St. Lawrence River and sustained a 100-foot rip in her bottom plates. She proceeded to Thunder Bay, ON, arriving there on October 24, where repairs were made at an estimated cost of $500,000.

1984
1984:   JOHN O. MCKELLAR of 1952 was sold to P&H Shipping of Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. of Mississauga, ON, and renamed b.) ELMGLEN.

1988
1988:   HERBERT C. JACKSON cleared Fraser Shipyard after having the 1,000-hp bow thruster motor installed from the JOHN SHERWIN. The motor from the JACKSON was later repaired and placed in the SHERWIN’s cargo hold for future use.

1988:   Scrapping began on JOHN T. HUTCHINSON at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, by Li Chong Steel & Iron Works Co. Ltd.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Jody L. Aho, James Neumiller, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.

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