Today in Great Lakes History – September 15

1872
1872:   A.J. BEMIS (wood propeller tug; 49 tons; built in 1859 at Buffalo, NY) caught fire while underway. The fire originated under her boiler. She ran for shore but sank about six miles from Alpena, MI. No lives were lost.

1873
1873:   IRONSIDES (wooden propeller passenger-package freight vessel; 220 feet; 1,123 tons; built in 1864 at Cleveland, OH) became disabled when she sprang a leak and flooded. The water poured in and put out her fires. She sank about seven miles off Grand Haven, MI, on Lake Michigan. Reports of the number of survivors varied from 17 to 32, and the number lost varied from 18 to 28.

1886
1886:   F.J. KING (wooden schooner; 140 feet; 280 tons; built in 1867 at Toledo, OH) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba, MI, to Chicago, IL. She sprang a leak and sank in a heavy southwesterly gale three miles off Rowleys Bay, WI. Her crew reached shore in the yawl. Her loss was valued at $7,500.

1915
1915:   ONOKO of the Kinsman Transit Co. foundered in Lake Superior off Knife River, MN, while downbound with wheat from Duluth, MN, to Toledo, OH. The crew took to the lifeboats and was saved. The hull was located in 1987 upside down in about 340 feet of water.

1917
1917:   The steamer WILLIAM A. AMBERG (Hull #723) was launched at Lorain, OH, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Producers Steamship Co. (M.A. Hanna, manager). She later sailed under the names b.) ALBERT E. HEEKIN in 1932, c.) SILVER BAY in 1955, d.) JUDITH M. PIERSON in 1975, and e.) FERNGLEN in 1982 before being scrapped at Port Maitland, ON, in 1985.

1925
1925:   The JOHN A. TOPPING left River Rouge, MI, light on her maiden voyage to Ashland, WI, to load iron ore for delivery to Cleveland, OH. Renamed b.) WILLIAM A. REISS in 1934, she was scrapped at Alang, India, in 1994.

1928
1928:   MANASOO, in only her first season of service after being rebuilt for overnight passenger and freight service, foundered in Georgian Bay after the cargo shifted and the vessel overturned in heavy weather. There were 18 casualties, plus 46 head of cattle, and only five survived.

1934
1934:   The ANN ARBOR NO. 6 collided with the steamer N.F. LEOPOLD in a heavy fog.

1940
1940:   KENORDOC, en route to Bristol, United Kingdom, with a cargo of lumber, was sunk due to enemy action as part of convoy SC-3 while 500 miles west of the Orkney Islands. The ship had fallen behind the convoy due to engine trouble and was shelled by gunfire from U-48. There were seven casualties, including the captain and wireless operator.

1940:   The Norwegian freighter LOTOS came inland in 1938 delivering pulpwood to Cornwall, ON, and went aground there in a storm. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on this date in 1940 about 15 miles west of Rockall Island while inbound from Dalhousie, NB for Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

1959
1959:   The buoy tender USCGC MESQUITE was stationed at Sault Ste. Marie, MI, for the final day.

1962
1962:   A collision between the HARRY L. FINDLAY of the Kinsman Line and the Greek Liberty ship MESOLOGI occurred at Toledo, OH. The latter began Seaway service in the same year and made a total of six inland voyages. It was scrapped at Aioi, Japan, as f.) BLUE SAND after arriving in November 1969.

1968
1968:   Lightering was completed on the AUGUST ZIESING; she had grounded above the Rock Cut just two days earlier, blocking the channel.

1986
1986:   MIDDLETOWN suffered a fire in her tunnels. Second- and third-degree burns were suffered by two crew members. She was renamed f.) AMERICAN VICTORY in 2006.

1987
1987:   The A.H. FERBERT of 1942 was towed out of Duluth, MN, by the Sandrin tug GLENADA. The tow encountered rough weather on Lake Superior and required the assistance of another tug to reach the Soo on September 19. On the 21st, the FERBERT had to anchor off DeTour, MI, after she ran aground in the St. Marys River when her towline parted. Her hull was punctured, and the U.S. Coast Guard ordered repairs to her hull before she could continue. Problems struck again on September 24, when the FERBERT went hard aground at the cut-off channel’s southeast bend of the St. Clair River. Six tugs — GLENADA, ELMORE M. MISNER, BARBARA ANN, GLENSIDE, SHANNON, and WILLIAM A. WHITNEY — worked until late on the 26th to free her. The FERBERT finally arrived at Lauzon, QC, in tow of GLENSIDE and W.N. TWOLAN on October 7.

1993
1993:   Robert Manglitz became CEO and president of Lake Michigan Carferry after Charles Conrad announced his retirement and the sale of most of his stock.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David 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.