1871
1871: The bark S.D. POMEROY was anchored off Menominee, MI, during a storm. Archie Dickie, James Steele, John Davidson, and James Mechie were seen lowering the yawl to go to shore. Later, the empty yawl drifted ashore, and then the bodies of all four men floated in.
1872
1872: The wooden schooner RAPID left Pigeon Bay, ON, bound for Buffalo, NY, with 5,000 railroad ties. While on Lake Erie, a storm blew in, and Captain Henderson decided to turn for Rondeau Provincial Park. While turning, the vessel capsized. Annie Brown, the cook, was trapped below deck and drowned. The seven other crew members strapped themselves to the rail and waited to be rescued. One by one, they died. Finally, 60 hours later, the schooner PARAGON found the floating wreck with just one man, James Low, the first mate, barely alive.
1875
1875: CITY OF BUFFALO (wooden schooner; 91 feet; 128 tons; built in 1859 at Buffalo, NY, as a propeller canal boat) beached and sank after striking a rock in the St. Marys River. The tug MAGNET worked for days to release her before she went to pieces on September 19. No lives were lost.
1894
1894: The GLOBE (steel propeller package freighter; 330 feet; 2,995 gross tons) was launched by the Globe Iron Works (Hull #53) at Cleveland, OH. She was lengthened to 400 feet and converted to a bulk freighter in 1899 when she was acquired by the Bessemer Steamship Co. and renamed JAMES B. EADS. She lasted until 1967 when she was scrapped at Port Weller Dry Docks in Port Weller, ON.
1953
1953: PERE MARQUETTE 22 made her second maiden voyage since she was new in 1924. She was cut in half, lengthened, and had new boilers and engines installed.
1958
1958: EDMUND FITZGERALD began her sea trials.
1962
1962: The HOFFMAN (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers twin screw hopper dredge) collided with the Japanese saltie KUNISHIMA MARU at Toledo, ON. The blame was reportedly placed on the pilot of the saltie, and apparently, the damage was minor.
1967
1967: The former Great Lakes passenger ship NORTH AMERICAN sank in the Atlantic (40.46 N, 68.53 W) while under tow for a new career as a training ship at Piney Point, MD.
1968
1968: The AUGUST ZIESING grounded in fog 200 yards above the Rock Cut in the St. Marys River. The grounded vessel swung into the shipping channel, blocking it until lightering was completed on September 15.
1988
1988: The Cypriot freighter BLUESTONE, at Halifax, NS, since August 19, had three crewmembers jump ship at the last minute claiming unsafe conditions due to corrosion in the tank tops, but this could not be checked since the vessel was loaded.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David Swayze, James Neumiller, 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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- Globe. Peter B. Worden Collection, MHSD
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- James B. Eads, the former Globe, in the Welland Canal in 1961. Skip Meier Collection
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- August Ziesing aground at the Rock Cut. Roger LeLievre
