Today in Great Lakes History –  June 27

1890 .1890:   At 4:04 p.m. on 27 June 1890, the Beatty Line’s MONARCH (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 240 foot, 2,017 tons) was launched at Sarnia, Ontario. The launching was watched by numerous people on the decks of various steamers and on...
Today in Great Lakes History –  June 26

Today in Great Lakes History –  June 26

1867 1867:   On 26 June 1867, WATERS W. BRAMAN (wooden propeller tug, 89 tons, built in 1858, at Boston, Massachusetts, for the U.S.Q.M.C. and named RESCUE) was near Pelee Island in Lake Erie when fire started in her coal bunker and quickly spread. Her crew abandoned...
Today in Great Lakes History –  June 25

Today in Great Lakes History –  June 25

1878 1878:   At 1:00 a.m. on 25 June 1878, the 161 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner PESHTIGO and the 143 foot, 3-mast wooden schooner ST ANDREW collided and sank near Cheboygan, Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac. Newspapers of the time claimed that forest fire smoke...

Today in Great Lakes History – June 24

1903 1903:   JOHN CRAIG was seriously damaged in a grounding on Simmons Rock in the Straits of Mackinac. Once refloated, the wooden steamer was taken to St. Ignace and declared a total loss. It was subsequently rebuilt as PANAMA only to be lost in a storm on November...

Today in Great Lakes History –  June 23

1873 1873:   On 23 June 1873, B. F. BRUCE was launched at Crosthwaite’s yard in East Saginaw, Michigan. She is not properly a schooner, but what is known as a “three-and-after” in nautical terms. Her capacity was 50,000 bushels of grain (800 tons)...