Today in Great Lakes History – September 17

1830
1830:   WILLIAM PEACOCK (wooden sidewheel steamer; 102 feet; 120 tons; built in 1829 at Barcelona, NY) suffered the first major boiler explosion on Lake Erie while she was docked in Buffalo, NY. 15–30 lives were lost. She was rebuilt two years later and eventually foundered in a storm in 1835 near Ripley, OH.

1875
1875:   The barge HARMONY was wrecked in a gale at Chicago, IL, by colliding with the north pier, which was underwater. This was the same place where the schooner ONONGA was wrecked a week earlier, and HARMONY came in contact with that sunken schooner. No lives were lost.

1898
1898:   KEEPSAKE (two-masted wooden schooner; 183 feet; 286 gross tons; built in 1867 at Newport [Marine City], MI) was carrying coal from Ashtabula, OH, when she was struck by a terrible storm on Lake Erie. Her rudder was damaged, a sail was torn away, and her bulwarks were smashed. The CITY OF ERIE saw her distress signals at 03:30 and came to help. With the CITY OF ERIE’s searchlight shining on the doomed schooner, a huge wave swept over the vessel, taking away everything on deck and snapping both masts. The crew, some only half-dressed, all managed to get into the lifeboat. They rowed to the CITY OF ERIE and were all rescued. Three days later, the other lifeboat and some wreckage from the KEEPSAKE were found near Ashtabula by some fishermen.

1900
1900:   A storm carried away the cabin and masts of the wrecked four-masted wooden bulk freight barge FONTANA. The 231-foot vessel had been wrecked and sunk in a collision at the mouth of the St. Clair River in the St. Clair Flats on August 3, 1900. She had settled in the mud and gradually shifted her position. She eventually broke in two. After unsuccessful salvage attempts, the wreck was dynamited.

1909
1909:   The towline connecting the ALEXANDER HOLLEY and SIR WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN broke in a Lake Superior storm, and the former, a whaleback barge, almost stranded on Sawtooth Shoal. The anchors caught in time, and it took five hours to rescue the crew.

1949
1949:   Tragedy struck when the Canada Steamship Lines cruise ship NORONIC burned at Pier 9 in Toronto, ON. By morning, the ship was gutted, 104 passengers were known to be dead, and 14 were missing. Because of land reclamation and the changing face of the harbor, the actual site of NORONIC’s berth is now in the lobby of the Harbour Castle Westin Hotel.

1955
1955:   GRIFFON (Hull #18) was launched at St. Catharines, ON, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Beaconsfield Steamship Ltd. of Montreal, QC. She was later renamed b.) FRANQUELIN in 1967 and c.) EVA DESGAGNES in 1987 before being sold foreign in 1989 and renamed d.) TELCHAC. The vessel was scrapped at Tuxpan, Mexico, in 1992.

1980
1980:   HERMION began Great Lakes trading shortly after entering service in 1960. The vessel stranded as d.) AEOLIAN WIND about 0.5 miles from Nakhodka, Soviet Union, during a voyage from North Vietnam to Cuba on this date in 1980. The ship was refloated on October 8 and scrapped in 1981 at Nakhodka.

1985
1985:   PATERSON suffered a crankcase explosion as she was bound for Quebec City, QC, from Montreal, QC. She was repaired and cleared on September 21. The vessel was renamed b.) PINEGLEN in 2002.

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.