Today in Great Lakes History – September 7

1872
1872:   The launch of the 188-foot wooden schooner ELIZABETH A. NICHOLSON was set for 16:00 at E. Fitzgerald’s shipyard in Port Huron, MI. Just beforehand, a telegram was received at the shipyard from Captain Nicholson, the owner of the new vessel, which read, “Wait a while. We are coming.” The launch was delayed until another dispatch was received which said to go ahead anyway. The boat Captain Nicholson was on had broken down. The launch went well. The vessel was painted deep green with her name in gilt. All present cheered the sight, but there was no party afterward. All of the food and beverages for the celebration were with Captain Nicholson on the disabled vessel.

1883
1883:   LAURA BELL (wooden schooner; 138 feet; 269 gross tons; built in 1870 at Toledo, OH) was carrying coal from Cleveland, OH, to Marquette, MI, when she stranded off Shot Point east of Marquette in Lake Superior. Her crew spent 3 days in her rigging, and all but one was rescued by a tug from Marquette.

1883:   The COLORADO (wooden schooner-barge; 118 feet; built in 1866 at Fairport, OH) was in tow of the steamer DON M. DICKINSON along with the schooner-barge N.P. GOODELL in a gale on Lake Huron. As the gale worsened, the string of vessels went to shelter in the harbor at Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach), MI. The COLORADO broke loose as they entered the harbor. Deckhand Abbot Way jumped onto the breakwater with a line to secure the COLORADO, but the line broke as soon as it went taut. It broke three times, and the barge drifted out into the gale, stranding Mr. Way on the breakwater with 6-foot waves washing over it. He managed to get to the harbor light at the end of the breakwater and climbed up above the waves, where he was stranded for 2 hours until the crew of the Life-Saving Service station got to him. COLORADO beached herself with no loss of life. She was later recovered and lasted until 1902, when she was abandoned.

1901
1901:   WAWATAM ran aground on Gratiot Beach above Port Huron, MI, with the whaleback barge 102 in tow.

1916
1916:   The PERE MARQUETTE 3 ran aground 10 miles north of Milwaukee, WI.

1921
1921:   The D.G. KERR pulled up to the ore dock at Two Harbors, MN, to load exactly 12,507 gross tons of iron ore in the record-breaking time of 16.5 minutes. This was accomplished through the cooperation of the dock superintendent, the dock employees concerned, the ship’s captain and crew, and the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. as a means of “showing up” the competition. Her time of arrival and departure to and from the dock took only 19 minutes. For comparison, a good average loading time at that time was about 3 hours and 45 minutes.

1929
1929:   CHARLES C. WEST went aground on Gull Rock Reef, damaging both frames and plates. The repair bill topped $46,000.

1942
1942:   OAKTON of the Gulf & Lake Navigation Co. was torpedoed and sunk in the St. Lawrence River by U-517 about 15 miles west of Cape Gaspé. It was struck amidships on the port side and went down stern first without any loss of life except the ship’s St. Bernard dog. The ship had a load of coal on board from Sandusky, OH, to Cornerbrook, NF, when hit. Two other Greek ships, MOUNT TAYGETUS and MOUNT PINDUS, were struck in the same attack with the loss of six lives.

1956
1956:   The former Canada Steamship Lines freighter WINONA stranded on a sandbank at Aparii, Philippines, on the island of Luzon as b.) EDDIE while en route to Japan with a cargo of logs. The ship broke in two and was a total loss.

1965
1965:   AMARYLLIS was driven ashore about 1.5 miles north of the Palm Beach Inlet off West Palm Beach, FL, during Hurricane Betsy. The crew lived on board for another 4 months keeping up steam in the hope of being refloated, but the ship was eventually abandoned as a total loss. The vessel, en route from Manchester, England, to Baton Rouge, LA, in ballast, visited the Great Lakes in 1959. The hull became increasingly unpopular with local residents and, in 1975, a gravel road was built to the ship to truck the scrapped steel away. The remains were later floated off and sunk off West Palm Beach as an artificial reef.

1975
1975:   Loaded with iron ore pellets on the St. Marys River, WILLIAM G. MATHER was forced out of the channel by a saltwater vessel and struck bottom. Upon proceeding further onto Lake Huron, it was discovered that her pumps were unable to cope with incoming water caused by the damage. She was beached at Frying Pan Island near DeTour, MI, in 19 feet of water when it became evident she couldn’t make dock.

1978
1978:   The ROGER M. KYES lost all power in Lake St. Clair, requiring tug assistance from the Great Lakes Towing Co. tugs MARYLAND and MAINE, which escorted her to the Great Lakes Steel dock. She was renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

1979
1979:   INDIANA HARBOR loaded a record 61,649 tons of iron ore at Two Harbors, MN.

1981
1981:   CADILLAC of 1943 was laid up for the last time at Toledo, OH. She was later transferred to a West Coast marine operation in preparation for conversion to a proposed container ship for service between Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; and Quebec City, QC. However, these plans never materialized.

1996
1996:   The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the propulsion system of the BADGER a mechanical engineering landmark.

1997
1997:   NORTH ISLANDS, a Cypriot-flagged SD14, came through the Seaway in 1994 and loaded peas at Thunder Bay, ON, for Cuba. The vessel went aground on this date near San Antonio, Chile, after losing her propeller. The ship broke in two, but all 30 on board were rescued by a helicopter from the Chilean Navy.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Tin Stackers: The History of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company, 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.