Today in Great Lakes History – September 12

1871
1871:   After an extremely dry summer, forests were burning all over the Great Lakes region in the autumn of 1871. The smoke from these fires affected navigation. Newspaper reports on this date stated that 38 ships and four strings of barges anchored near Point Pelee on Lake Erie due to the restricted visibility caused by the smoke from the forest fires.

1889
1889:   ROTHESAY, a wooden sidewheel passenger vessel, collided with the tug MYRA in the St. Lawrence River between Kingston, ON, and Prescott, ON. The MYRA sank with the loss of two lives. The ROTHESAY was beached on the Canadian shore, where it settled and was abandoned. The wreck was dynamited in 1901, and part of it remains on the bottom in 35 feet of water.

1900
1900:   The schooner H.W. SAGE was raised by the McMorran Wrecking Co. and was then towed to Port Huron, MI, for repairs. She had sunk near Algonac, MI, in a collision with the steamer CHICAGO on July 30, 1900.

1900:   ALBACORE (two-masted wooden schooner; 137 feet; 327 tons; built in 1872 at Port Dalhousie, ON) had a storm blow out her sails, driving her into the seawall at Fort Bank just east of Oswego, NY, where she broke up. The tug J. NAVAGH tried unsuccessfully to save her. Her crew of seven was rescued by the U.S. Life-Saving Service.

1900:   The wooden steamer JOHN B. LYON began taking water in a storm about 25 miles east of Ashtabula, OH, and sank in Lake Erie. There were nine lost with only six rescued from the 19-year-old vessel.

1902
1902:   EXPERIMENT (two-masted wooden schooner; 65 feet; 50 gross tons; built in 1854 at St. Joseph, MI) was carrying firewood in a storm on Lake Michigan when she went out of control in the harbor at St. Joseph after swerving to miss an unmarked construction crib. She wrecked and was declared a total loss. Her crew was rescued by the U.S. Life-Saving Service. 3 days later, she was stripped and abandoned in place.

1903
1903:   The R.E. SCHUCK (steel propeller bulk freighter; 416 feet; 4,713 gross tons) was launched by the American Ship Building Co. (Hull #327) at Lorain, OH, for the Gilchrist Transportation Co. She was purchased by the Interlake Steamship Co. (Pickands, Mather & Co., manager) in 1913 and renamed b.) HYDRUS. However, she foundered in the “Big Storm” of 1913 on Lake Huron with all hands; 24 lives were lost.

1917
1917:   GISLA was built at Wyandotte, MI, in 1916 and went overseas for war duty. The vessel was hit by gunfire from U-64 in the western Mediterranean off Cape Palos, Spain, and sunk by a timed bomb on this date in 1917. The ship was carrying nuts and vegetable oil from Cotonou, Dahomey, to Marseille, France, when it was attacked.

1919
1919:   The wooden barge CHICKAMAUGA began leaking in huge seas off Harbor Beach, MI, while under tow of the CENTURION, and the ore-laden vessel sank the next day. The crew of 10 was rescued by the JAMES WHALEN, and the wreck was removed the following year.

1928
1928:   B.B. MCCOLL was virtually destroyed by a fire at Buffalo, NY, while loading and had to be abandoned as a total loss. The ship was salvaged, rebuilt, and last sailed as h.) DETROIT. The ship was scrapped in 1982-1983 at Lake Calumet near Chicago, IL.

1953
1953:   MARYLAND was mauled by a storm on Lake Superior, and 12 hatch covers were blown off. The ship was beached near Marquette, MI, and all 35 on board were saved. The ship was abandoned, but the extensive bottom damage was repaired, and the vessel resumed service as d.) HENRY LALIBERTE.

1979
1979:   CARTIERCLIFFE HALL, formerly a.) RUHR ORE, was towed by the tug WILFRED M. COHEN to Collingwood, ON, for repairs from a June 5 fire and arrived at Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. She was later renamed c.) WINNIPEG in 1988 and d.) ALGONTARIO in 1994.

1981
1981:   ROGER BLOUGH was laid up at Sturgeon Bay, WI, through 1986 because of economic conditions.

1981:   CANADIAN PIONEER was christened at Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd. by Mrs. Louise Powis, wife of the chairman and president of Noranda Mines for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. The vessel was renamed b.) PIONEER in 1987.

1986
1986:   Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. at Collingwood, ON, closed the yard after 103 years of shipbuilding. “Collship” was famous for its spectacular side launches. 214 ships were built at Collingwood.

1988
1988:   While unloading steel in South Chicago, IL, from the a.) CANADA MARQUIS, a shoreside crane lifting a payloader into the hold collapsed onto the ship. CANADA MARQUIS had a hole in her tank top and damage to her hatch coaming. She later sailed as e.) BIRCHGLEN for CSL.

1989
1989:   POLARLAND began visiting the Great Lakes in 1968 and returned as b.) ISCELU in 1980, c.) TRAKYA in 1981, and d.) TRAKYA I in 1982. The ship was lying at Hualien, Taiwan, as e.) LUNG HAO during Typhoon Sarah and got loose in the storm prior to going aground on this date in 1989. The hull broke in two and was a total loss.

1989:   SACHA, a Liberian-registered SD14, began Seaway trading in 1973. It returned as b.) ERMIONI in 1982. The ship stranded on the wreck of the ORIENTAL PEARL while approaching Bombay, India, from Tampa as d.) SAFIR on December 22, 1984, and sustained considerable damage. This was repaired, but SAFIR was lost after stranding on a reef off Tiran Island in the Red Sea on this date in 1989.

2006
2006:   TORO went aground in the St. Lawrence River off Cornwall Island with damage to the bulbous bow and #2 hold. The ship, en route from Thunder Bay, ON, to Progreso, Mexico, with a cargo of wheat, was released on September 18 and repaired at the Verreault shipyard in Les Méchins, QC, before resuming the voyage on October 27. The vessel had previously visited the Great Lakes as a.) LA LIBERTE, c.) ASTART, and d.) ULLOA. It was still sailing as g.) XING JI DA as of 2011.

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