Today in Great Lakes History – October 4

1877
1877:   BRITISH LION (three-masted wooden bark; 128 feet; 293 tons; built in 1862 at Kingston, ON) was carrying coal from Black River, OH, to Brockville, ON. She was driven ashore at Long Point in Lake Erie by a storm and wrecked. She was the first bark on the lakes to be wire-rigged, and she was built for the Great Lakes-Liverpool trade.

1883
1883:   JAMES DAVIDSON (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 231 feet; 1,456 gross tons; built in 1874 at West Bay City, MI) was carrying coal and towing the barge MIDDLESEX in a storm on Lake Huron. She was driven onto a reef near Thunder Bay Island and ripped up her bottom. The barge was rescued by the tug V. SWAIN. No lives were lost. Financially, the DAVIDSON was the most extensive loss on the lakes in the 1883 season. She was valued at $65,000 and insured for $45,000. Her coal cargo was valued at $8,000.

1887
1887:   ORIENT (wooden propeller tug; 60 feet; 37 gross tons; built in 1874 at Buffalo, NY) foundered three miles west of Point Pelee on Lake Erie in a storm. She was seen going down by the schooners LISGAR and GLENFORD, but neither was able to help. All six on the ORIENT were lost. She was out of Marine City, MI.

1903
1903:   Erie L Hackley Capsized and foundered seven miles off Marinette, MI, near Green Island. Green Bay, on October 4, 1903; eleven lives lost. Seven others rescued by steamer SHEBOYGAN

1904
1904:   CONGRESS burned at the dock at South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan while loading lumber. The ship was towed away, abandoned, burned to the waterline, and sank.

1940
1940:   The Ludington Daily News reported that “The Pere Marquette car ferries handled approximately 95,000 freight cars last year [1939].”

1966
1966:   ROBERT J. PAISLEY ran aground in heavy weather off Michigan City, IN. The ship was released the next day but went to Sarnia, ON, with hull damage and was laid up.

1972
1972:   As a result of the collision between the PARKER EVANS and the SIDNEY E. SMITH JR. four months earlier, alternate one-way traffic between the Black River Buoy and Buoys 1 and 2 in Lake Huron was agreed upon by the shipping companies.

1974
1974:   The JAMES E. FERRIS’ last trip before scrapping was from Duluth, MN, with a split load of 261,000 bushels of wheat for Buffalo, NY.

1976
1976:   TEXACO BRAVE (Hull #779) was launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Shimonoseki, Japan, for Texaco Canada Ltd. of Don Mills, ON. The tanker was later renamed b.) LE BRAVE in 1987, c.) IMPERIAL ST LAWRENCE in 1997, and d.) ALGOEAST in 1998.

1979
1979:   The ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATOR arrived at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, ON, where she was lengthened to the Seaway maximum length of 730 feet overall. A new bow and cargo section was installed, including a bow thruster, and was assigned as Hull #66. Her new maximum tonnage totals measured 18,788 gross tons, 12,830 net tons, and 32,279 deadweight tons. She was renamed c.) CANADIAN NAVIGATOR in 1980 and ALGOMA NAVIGATOR in 2012. She was also converted to a self-unloader in 1997.

1980
1980:   Bethlehem’s ARTHUR B. HOMER was laid up for the last time at Erie, PA.

1982
1982:   The BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS laid up for the last time in Duluth, MN. She was towed out of Duluth on her way to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping on June 17, 1988.

1991
1991:   The JIIMAAN, a twin-screw ro-ro cargo-passenger ferry built to Ice Class 1D standards, had its keel laid at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. in St. Catharines, ON (Hull# 76).

2008
2008:   MERKUR BAY came through the Seaway in 1984. It hit a rock as m.) NEW ORIENTAL on this date in 2008 in heavy weather off Tuy An, Vietnam, and settled on the bottom with a large hole in the bow. The crew abandoned the ship on October 18 when it showed signs of sinking. It was en route from Thailand to China with iron ore and was a total loss.

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.

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