Today in Great Lakes History – October 5

1876
1876:   GRACE GREENWOOD (three-masted wooden schooner; 124 feet; 306 tons; built in 1853 at Oswego, NY) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba, MI, to Michigan City, IN, when she foundered in a storm while coming into St. Joseph, MI, for shelter. No lives were lost. She was the first vessel built by George Rogers, and her launch was initially sabotaged by someone jamming a file into the ways.

1877
1877:   TIOGA (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 549 tons; built in 1862 at Cleveland, OH) was towing two barges in a storm on Lake Erie when she caught fire. The high winds fanned the flames. Her crew escaped to the barges and were later picked up by the steamer BADGER STATE. The burned-out hulk of TIOGA sank the next day in 30 feet of water off Point Pelee. This was her first year of service as a bulk freighter; she had been built as a passenger steamer and was converted in 1877.

1889
1889:   BESSEMER (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 178 feet; 436 gross tons; built in 1875 at St. Clair, MI) was carrying iron ore along with her consort SCHUYLKILL (wooden schooner; 152 feet; 472 gross tons; built in 1873 at Buffalo, NY) in Lake Superior. They were struck by a rapidly rising gale and ran for the Portage Ship Canal. It became obvious that BESSEMER was sinking. The two collided and went onto a reef at the mouth of the canal, and they both broke up quickly. The crews were able to jump onto the breakwater. The wrecks partly blocked the canal until they were dynamited the next September.

1900
1900:   The lumber hooker SWALLOW was involved in a collision in the early morning hours and ended up ashore near Cherry Beach off Toronto, ON. A week later, she was lightered and freed and then taken to Detroit, MI, for repairs. She foundered in a storm one year later on October 18, 1901.

1904
1904:   CONGRESS (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 267 feet; 1,484 gross tons; built in 1867 at Cleveland, OH, as the passenger vessel NEBRASKA) was seeking shelter at South Manitou Island on Lake Michigan when she caught fire. The fire spread quickly. To prevent it from destroying the dock, a courageous tug skipper got a line on the CONGRESS and towed her out on the lake, where she burned for 13 hours and then sank in 26 fathoms of water. No lives were lost.

1904:   HUNTER, a wooden passenger and freight steamer, was destroyed by a fire at Grand Marais, MI. There were no injuries.

1907
1907:   The ARTHUR H. HAWGOOD (Hull #76) was launched at West Bay City, MI, by the West Bay City Ship Building Co. for the Neptune Steamship Co. (Hawgood, manager) of Cleveland, OH. She was renamed b.) JOSEPH BLOCK in 1911 and c.) GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER in 1969 before being scrapped at Ramey’s Bend at Port Colborne, ON, in 1980.

1932
1932:   JOHN J. BOLAND JR., en route from Toledo, OH, to Hamilton, ON, with coal, took on water and sank after the cargo shifted. Four lives were lost when the vessel went down about 10 miles off Barcelona, NY.

1941
1941:   MONDOC (i) stranded off the east coast of Trinidad on her first trip on the bauxite run. The crew took to the lifeboats and was saved.

1954
1954:   The GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was christened at Lorain, OH. The HUMPHREY successfully completed her sea trials on October 6 and carried 191,214 tons of iron ore in nine trips before laying up for the season.

1962
1962:   HUTCHCLIFFE HALL was in collision with steamer RICHARD V. LINDABURY on a foggy day off Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, in Lake St. Clair. The canaller suffered a 12-foot gash on her port side forward of her after-cabins and sank. She was raised on October 7 and taken to Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, ON, for repairs.

1964
1964:   DENMARK HILL went aground off the Porkkala Lighthouse in the Baltic Sea en route from Nicaro, Cuba, for Porkkala, Finland. The vessel was refloated on October 7 with considerable bottom damage.

1965
1965:   Upbound with a load of limestone on Lake Superior, the PETER A.B. WIDENER reported broken steering gear and possible damage to the steering mechanism and screw after encountering gale force winds and high waves near Isle Royale. Fleetmates HENRY PHIPPS and HENRY H. ROGERS responded to the vessel and dumped oil on the 10-foot seas to calm them. The USCGC WOODRUSH arrived from Duluth, MN, and towed the vessel to Duluth.

1967
1967:   While outbound on the Saginaw River after discharging a load of limestone at Saginaw, MI, the J.F. SCHOELLKOPF JR.’s steering failed, which caused her to hit the west side of the I-75 Zilwaukee Bridge. The SCHOELLKOPF JR. incurred little damage, but the southbound lanes of the bridge were out of service for several days until repairs were completed.

1972
1972:   The ARTHUR B. HOMER, loaded with ore, was in a head-on collision with the unloaded Greek saltie NAVISHIPPER at Buoy 83 in the Detroit River’s Fighting Island Channel. NAVISHIPPER reportedly had no licensed pilot aboard at the time, a violation of maritime law. There were no injuries, but the HOMER suffered extensive bow damage up to and including part of her pilothouse. The former was repaired, operated through 1980, and was scrapped at Port Colborne, ON, in 1987. The latter was also repaired and eventually towed into Cádiz, Spain, for scrapping as f.) CRYSTAL on December 2, 1981, after the tailshaft fractured on November 25, 1981.

1988
1988:   ENERCHEM REFINER struck the #1 East Outer Light while upbound in the Detroit River and received major damage that was repaired at Lauzon, QC.

1997
1997:   While passing White Shoal Light on her way to Charlevoix, MI, the MEDUSA CHALLENGER was hit by a waterspout. The only damage reported was a spotlight on the pilothouse bridge wing lifted out of its support and crew bikes stored on deck rising vertically. The 1906-built boat was also reported to have been vibrating in an unusual manner. Another boat in the area reported wind gusts of almost 100 mph in the brief storm. That day, the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula was hit with a violent storm that blew down trees a foot in diameter.

1999
1999:   MONTE AYALA, a Seaway caller in 1975, began to leak in the #1 hold and then list while anchored at St. Brieuc Bay while inbound for Brest, France, as d.) JUNIOR M. The cargo of ammonium nitrate was unloaded. The ship was arrested, abandoned by the owners, auctioned off for scrap, and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, on August 21, 2000.

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