Today in Great Lakes History – October 3

1875
1875:   The barges BELLE CASH and GEO W. HANNAFORD, owned by Captain Cash of East China Township, MI, were driven ashore on Long Point in Lake Erie.

1887
1887:   EBENEZER (three-masted wooden schooner barge; 103 feet; 158 gross tons; built in 1847 at Buffalo, NY) was driven ashore off the breakwater at Holland, MI, during a storm. She had sprung a leak in the terrific storm, lost her deck load of shingles, and struck the pier while trying to get into the harbor. She broke in two but was later raised and rebuilt. She lasted until 1903.

1887:   CITY OF GREEN BAY (three-masted wooden schooner; 145 feet; 346 gross tons; built in 1872 at Green Bay, WI) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba, MI, to St. Joseph, MI, on Lake Michigan and having difficulty in a strong westerly gale. She sprang a leak and anchored four miles from South Haven, MI, and put up distress signals. The wind and waves were so bad that the crew could not safely abandon the vessel. She slipped her anchor and was driven on to a bar at Evergreen Point just 500 feet from shore. The crew scrambled up the rigging as the vessel sank. South Haven’s U.S. Life-Saving Service crew tried to get a breeches buoy out to the wreck, but their line broke repeatedly. So much wreckage was in the surf that it fouled their surfboat. Soon the masts went by the board, and the crew members were in the churning seas. Six died. Only Seaman A.T. Slater made it to shore. The ineffective efforts of the Life-Saving crew resulted in Keeper Barney Alonzo Cross being relieved of his command of the station.

1887:   ARK (three-masted, iron-strapped wooden scow schooner barge; 177 feet; 512 tons; built in 1875 at Port Dalhousie, ON) was in tow of the steam barge ALBION (wooden propeller; 134 feet; 297 gross tons; built in 1862; at Brockville, ON) on Lake Huron when a terrific storm struck. Both vessels were loaded with lumber and were driven ashore near Grindstone City, MI. The U.S. Life-Saving Service rescued the crews. The ALBION was pounded to pieces the next day, and the ARK was declared a total loss. However, the latter was later recovered and was sailing again within the month.

1900
1900:   The steel freighter CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON left Port Huron, MI, on her maiden voyage for Marquette, MI, where she loaded 6,200 tons of iron ore for Cleveland, OH.

1907
1907:   The wooden tug PHILADELPHIA dated from 1869 and briefly served in the Algoma fleet. It was wrecked at Gros Cap on Lake Superior on this date in 1907.

1911
1911:   The wooden freighter A.L. HOPKINS had cleared Bayfield, WI, the previous day with a full load of lumber and foundered in a storm on this date in 1911 near Michigan Island on Lake Superior. Buoyed by the cargo, the hull floated a few more days before it disappeared. All 15 on board were picked up by the ALVA C. DINKEY.

1928
1928:   The steel bulk carrier M.J. BARTELME ran aground at Cana Island on Lake Michigan. The bottom was ripped open, and the ship was abandoned. It was dismantled on site in 1929.

1941
1941:   The CITY OF FLINT 32, eastbound from Milwaukee, WI, collided with the PERE MARQUETTE 22 westbound. The PERE MARQUETTE 22 headed directly for Manitowoc, WI, for repairs while the CITY OF FLINT 32 continued to Ludington, MI, where she discharged her cargo and then headed for the shipyard in Manitowoc.

1943
1943:   The E.G. GRACE was delivered to the Interlake Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH. The GRACE was part of a government program designed to upgrade and increase the capacity of the U.S. Great Lakes fleet during World War II. In order to help finance the building of new ships, the USMC authorized a program that would allow existing fleets to obtain new boats by trading in their older boats to the government for credit. As partial payment for each new vessel, a fleet owner surrendered the equivalent tonnage of their existing and/or obsolete vessels, along with some cash, to the Maritime Commission.

1953
1953:   The superstructure of the idle passenger steamer PUT-IN-BAY was burned off in Lake St. Clair, and the remains of the iron hull were later dismantled at River Rouge, MI.

1963
1963:   The Liberian Liberty ship TRIKERI, on her only trip to the Great Lakes, swung sideways in the Welland Canal near Welland, ON, blocked the waterway, and delayed traffic for four hours. The ship arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping as e.) DAHLIA on December 27, 1967.

1963:   A fire broke out in the cargo hold of the FRED CHRISTIANSEN while downbound at Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The stubborn blaze took four hours to put out and was believed to have been caused by some of the grain igniting, as it was close to a steam line. The Norwegian freighter began Seaway trading in 1959 and returned as b.) HERA in 1964. It arrived at Pasajes, Spain, under this name for scrapping on May 30, 1974.

1969
1969:   JOSEPH H. ran aground at Île du Bic in the St. Lawrence while en route from Milwaukee, WI, to Russia with a cargo of rawhides. The Liberian-flagged vessel sustained heavy bottom damage. It was refloated on October 6, taken to Lévis, QC, and subsequently broken up there for scrap. The ship was operating under her fifth name and had first come through the Seaway as a.) GRANADA in 1959.

1980
1980:   POLYDORA first came inland for four trips as a.) FERNFIORD in 1963 and returned under her new name in 1964 on charter to Canadian Pacific Steamships. The ship had been at Marina di Carrara, Italy, and under arrest as d) GEORGIOS B., when it sailed overnight without permission. A fire in the engine room broke out the next day and, while taken in tow, the ship foundered east of Tavolara Island, Sardinia, on this date in 1980.

1999
1999:   MANCHESTER MERCURIO traded through the Seaway in a container shuttle service beginning in 1971. It was abandoned by the crew and sank off the coast of Morocco as f.) PHOENIX II on this date in 1999.

2000
2000:   The tug KETA V. usually operated on the St. Lawrence for Verreault Navigation but came to the Great Lakes with barges for Windsor, ON, in 1993. It ran aground and sank near Liverpool, NS, on this date in 2000, but all on board got away safely on life rafts.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Jody Aho, 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.