Before noon, several attempts were made to launch the barge AGNES L. POTTER at Simon Langell’s yard at St. Clair, Michigan. Nothing happened until 15:00 when the vessel moved about 100 feet but still was not launched. The tug VULCAN arrived at 08:00 the following day and broke the line on the first attempt to pull the vessel off the ways. A 10-inch line was obtained in Port Huron, and at 14:00, a second effort only moved the barge about 4 feet. Finally, on the third attempt, the VULCAN pulled her into the water. The POTTER’s dimensions were 133 feet x 27 feet x 9 feet, 279 gross tons, and she was built for the iron ore trade. She was named for the daughter of the general superintendent of Ward’s Iron Works of Chicago. She lasted until 1906.
1872
The railroad car ferry TRANSIT was launched at Walkerville, Ontario, at the Jenkins Brothers shipyard.
1966
The SIMCOE entered service for Canada Steamship Lines. Renamed b.) ALGOSTREAM in 1994, she was scrapped at Alang, India in 1996.
1990
CUNARD CAVALIER first visited the Great Lakes in 1978 and returned later that year as b) OLYMPIC HARMONY. The ship went aground off Port Muhammad Bin Asimov, Pakistan, as d) VILLA while en route to West Africa. It was abandoned on July 13. The hull was refloated on November 30, 1990, and arrived at Singapore under tow on May 16, 1991. The ship was declared a total loss and reached Alang, India, for scrapping on February 2, 1992.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The wooden steam barge MARY MILLS was launched at P. Lester’s yard at Marysville, Michigan.
GRACE DORMER (wooden propeller passenger and package freight ferry, 71 feet, 66 gross tons, built in 1868 at Buffalo, New York) had just finished loading a cargo of fish at St. James, Beaver Island, when she caught fire and burned. One life was lost. The vessel was rebuilt and lasted until she burned at the boneyard at Grand Island, New York, in 1925.
1943
The J.H. HILLMAN JR. (Hull #524), the 14th of 16 Maritime-class ships being built for Great Lakes Service, was launched at the Great Lakes Engineering yard at Ashtabula, Ohio. After having the stern of the CANADIAN EXPLORER, ex-CABOT of 1965, attached, her forward section later sailed as ALGOMA TRANSFER.
FRANK ARMSTRONG departed light from Ashtabula, Ohio, on her maiden voyage in command of Captain H. Chesley Inches, bound for Superior, Wisconsin, to load iron ore.
1954
CLIFFS VICTORY successfully completed her sea trials.
PATERSON (i) entered service with 440,000 bushels of wheat from Port Arthur, Ontario. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 1985.
1964
The A. & J. FAITH, idle at Cleveland and under arrest, was struck by the MIKAGESAN MARU when the latter was caught by a wind gust. The former sustained $5,000 in damage. This ship was sold and renamed c) SANTA SOFIA at Cleveland in August 1964. It arrived for scrapping at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as d) COSMOS MARINER in August 1970. The latter, a Japanese freighter that made 6 trips to the Great Lakes from 1962 to 1966, was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as b) UNION SINGAPORE in 1979.
1972
U.S. Steel’s ROGER BLOUGH was moved out of the dry dock at Lorain, Ohio.
1983
The JOHN B. AIRD was christened at Thunder Bay, Ontario, for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She was scrapped overseas in 2017 as JOHN B.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The wooden propeller freighter MAINE, owned by Northern Transportation Co., had sailed from Chicago and was on Lake Ontario when Fireman Orsebius Kelley stoked the fire at 20:00 and went to the porter’s room to get a lamp. When he returned, the boiler exploded with such force that Kelley was mortally wounded. The blast also killed engineer M.H. Downer, deckhand Joshua Kelley (the fireman’s brother), Halbert Butterfield (a 13-year-old passenger) and his mother. The MAINE still floated after the blast. She was repaired and put back in service. Including this boiler explosion, she had four major mishaps in her career. She sank in 1872, burned in 1898, and finally burned again in 1911.
1874
At about 21:00, the steam barge W.H. BARNUM, with the schooner THOMAS W. FERRY in tow, collided with the barge S.V.R. WATSON near Point Pelee on Lake Erie. The WATSON sank in 28 feet of water. She was raised about two weeks later by the Coast Wrecking Company.
1900
During her maiden voyage from St. Clair, Michigan, to Cleveland, Ohio, the wooden steam barge ALFRED MITCHELL ran aground at Bar Point Light. It was claimed that the steering gear broke, which rendered the boat unmanageable. Later that same day, the MITCHELL was released by the wrecker SAGINAW.
1952
The PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1911, was laid up due to railroad strike. She was never to operate again and was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1957.
1953
The JOHN G. MUNSON set a Great Lakes record for limestone by loading 21,011 tons of limestone at Calcite, Michigan. This record for limestone stood until being broken by the Canada Steamship Lines self-unloader MANITOULIN late in the 1966 season.
1957
The JOSEPH S. YOUNG, a.) ARCHERS HOPE of 1945, was commissioned. She was the first of seven T-2 tanker conversions for Great Lakes service. The YOUNG was renamed c.) H. LEE WHITE in 1969 and d.) SHARON in 1974. She was scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, in 1986.
1959
The tug GRAND BANK, pushing a barge, sank in Lock 4 of the Welland Canal, and the captain was lost. The vessel, built at New Orleans in 1940 as SST-123, was salvaged and, as of 1997, was operating out of Delta, British Columbia.
1973
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier FLORENCE visited the Great Lakes in June 1973. The ship was outbound when it collided, in fog, with the tanker ST. SPYRIDON, inbound from Venezuela with 32,500 tons of Bunker C oil, off Les Escoumins, Quebec. Both ships were damaged. All on board were rescued, and the two vessels were ultimately repaired. FLORENCE was scrapped at San Esteban de Pravia, Spain, in 1976 and ST. SPYRIDON at Vigo, Spain, as f) GLOBE MARITIMA in 1982.
1976
The SAM LAUD grounded entering Buffalo, New York. She was dry-docked at Lorain, Ohio, for repairs to the bottom plates of No. 1, 2 and 3 port and starboard tanks.
The H. LEE WHITE struck the Algoma Steel plant dock at the Canadian Soo, resulting in damage to her stern amounting to $108,000 at the repair yard of Sturgeon Bay.
1987
The WILLIS B. BOYER museum ship was opened to the public in Toledo, Ohio. She was built by Great Lakes Engineering Works (Hull #82) in 1912 as a.) COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER. Renamed b.) WILLIS B. BOYER in 1969 and COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER in 2011.
1995
While the United States celebrated its Independence Day, a small fleet gathered 20 miles off of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior as the bell from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was raised and taken aboard the Purvis Marine Tug ANGLIAN LADY. The bell would later be taken to Michigan State University in Lansing where it would be cleaned with the name EDMUND FITZGERALD applied to the bell once again. The bell was later taken to the museum at Whitefish Point and put on display as a memorial to remember the 29-man crew. The next day, divers placed a new bell inscribed with the names of the 29 men lost in the sinking.
1996
The veteran Buffalo fireboat EDWARD M. COTTER, built in 1900, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. National Parks Service.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Denny Dushane, Lake Huron Lore Society, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
JUSTIN R. WHITING was launched at Langell’s yard at the mouth of the Pine River in St. Clair, Michigan. Her dimensions were 144 feet x 26 feet, 2 inches x 11 feet, 6 inches. Although built to be a self-powered steam barge, she was towed as a regular barge during her first season of operation.
1881
IDA CORNING (two-mast wooden barge, 168 feet, 444 gross tons) was launched in East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built for L.P. Mason & Company of East Saginaw. In 1858, her rig was changed to that of a two-masted schooner. She lasted until abandoned at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1928.
1940
MAGOG, part of convoy HX-52, was hit by gunfire from U-99, torpedoed and sank stern first. The crew was eventually rescued by the Finnish freighter FIDRA. There are conflicting dates for this event, but many sources agree on this date for the loss of the former CSL canaller.
1945
PAUL H. CARNAHAN was launched as a.) HONEY HILL, a T2-SE-Al World War II tanker, for the U.S. Maritime Commission.
1969
The crew of the W.F. WHITE rescued eight from a foundering pleasure boat off Southeast Shoal, Lake Erie.
1973
The British freighter TRELEVAN visited the Seaway in 1961. It caught fire while pumping oil bilge in the engine room at Halifax as d) BAFFIN BAY and was a total loss. The ship was sold for scrap to Marine Salvage of Port Colborne but resold to Spanish shipbreakers and arrived at Valencia, Spain, under tow for dismantling on October 4, 1973.
1975
The T-2 tanker NASSAU CAY, formerly the IMPERIAL TORONTO, visited the Seaway in 1960. It was converted to a dry bulk carrier in 1961 and was abandoned by the crew, in sinking condition, as f) NICHOLAS C. some 200 miles off Beira, Somalia, and was not seen again. The ship was en route from Sorel to Basrah, Iraq, when it ran out of fresh boiler water and had been drifting.
1979
The Swedish freighter MONICA SMITH was built in 1952 and came to the Great Lakes that year. It returned on a regular basis through 1966 and again as b) MONICA S. in 1967. It sank in the Mediterranean soon after leaving Cartagena, Spain, for Port Said, Egypt, as c) MESSINA II.
1991
Charles Conrad announced he had formed a corporation to purchase the Ludington, Michigan, car ferry operation from Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation Company.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
YOUNG LION (two-mast wooden schooner, 73 feet, 83 tons, built in 1830 at Buffalo, New York) was carrying railroad iron and lumber on Lake Erie. About 12 miles from Erie, Pennsylvania, in rough weather, her seams opened and she quickly sank with just her topmasts left above the water. Three died, but five managed to clamber up the masts and hold on until the schooner NEW YORK rescued them.
1871
CASTALIA (two-mast wooden schooner, 119 feet, 242 gross tons, built in 1847 as a brig at Sandusky, Ohio) was on her way to pick up lumber at the camp at Bying Inlet, Georgian Bay, when she came too close to Cove Island Reef and stranded in 3 feet of water. Although not badly damaged, she was about a mile from deep water. Tugs could not get to her, and she was sailing light, so there was no cargo to lighten. She was stripped and abandoned. She finally broke up in a storm on July 12, 1871.
The Detroit newspapers Detroit Free Press and Detroit Daily Post both published articles stating that there were rumors on the docks regarding the tug TAWAS having her boiler explode on Saginaw Bay. The rumors originated with sailors from Port Huron and proved to be unfounded. However, in a sense, this rumor turned into a prediction, since TAWAS did blow her boiler about three years later (May 14, 1874) on Lake Huron off Rock Falls, Michigan. At that time, six crewmembers perished.
1893
ROSEDALE, upbound and light, ran aground off Knife River, Lake Superior, in dense fog and was almost on dry land. The vessel was released July 10 and went to Superior for repairs. It combined Great Lakes and ocean service until sunk in the Bristol Channel, via collision, on April 8, 1919.
1932
Canada Steamship Lines’ ASHCROFT was used to haul ore, grain and coal only on the upper Great Lakes until this date when she was able to enter Lake Ontario through the newly expanded Welland Canal. On that trip, ASHCROFT, loaded with grain from Fort William for Kingston, Ontario, was the largest vessel to traverse the canal to date.
1937
The keel was laid for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.’s GOVERNOR MILLER (Hull #810), at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co.
1941
RAPIDS PRINCE, en route from Prescott to Montreal, went aground in an awkward position in the Lachine Rapids and was stuck for two months. The 218 passengers were removed in motorboats.
1965
LAKE TRAVERSE, built at Duluth in 1918, sank off Tortuga Island in the Caribbean after hull plates were sprung.
1971
CACOUNA’s bow was damaged in a collision with the Greek tanker CAPTAIN JOHN on the fog-shrouded St. Lawrence River. The CACOUNA of 1964 was repaired by replacing her bow with that of her near-sister ship, the SILLERY, which was being scrapped. Later renamed b.) LORNA P and c.) JENNIFER, she foundered 20 miles Northeast of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on December 1, 1974.
1997
COLUMBIA STAR set a record for the head-of-the-lakes coal trade, loading 70,903 net tons of low-sulfur coal at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. She was renamed b.) AMERICAN CENTURY in 2006.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
GALLINIPPER (wooden schooner, 95 feet, 145 tons, built in 1846 at Milwaukee on the hull of NANCY DOUSMAN) capsized and foundered in a white squall in Lake Michigan. The wreck drifted to a point about 10 miles SSE of Manitowoc, where it sank.
1895
IDA MAY BROWN (wooden schooner, 53 feet, 20 gross tons, built 1884, at Charlevoix, Michigan) was carrying gravel when her cargo shifted in heavy weather. She capsized and later drifted to the beach near Michigan City, Indiana. Her crew was rescued by U.S. Lifesavers.
1939
The Bureau of Lighthouses was merged into the U.S. Coast Guard.
1963
The Canadian coastal tanker SEEKONK first came to the Great Lakes in 1951 on charter to the British-American Oil Co. It was later part of the Irving fleet and caught fire in the galley at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The ship was pulled from the pier by CCG TUPPER and beached at Governor’s Island. The blaze burned itself out, but the SEEKONK was a total loss and was towed to Buctouche, New Brunswick, and scrapped in 1964.
1970
PRINSES EMILIA made three trips through the Seaway for the Oranje Lijn in 1967. It sank as c) BOULGARIA on this date 25 miles off Cherbourg, France, after a collision with the HAGEN in dense fog. The vessel was en route from Hamburg to Istanbul, and 17 on board were lost.
1971
CITY OF SAGINAW 31 went to Manitowoc for a thorough overhaul. While there, a fire broke out on July 29, destroying her cabin deck and rendering her useless for further use. The blaze was caused by an acetylene torch and caused over $1 million in damage.
1973
The DAVID Z. NORTON sailed on her maiden voyage as the a.) WILLIAM R. ROESCH. She sailed light from Lorain to Superior, Wisconsin, where she loaded 18,828 tons of iron ore on July 9 bound for Jones & Laughlin’s Cuyahoga River plant at Cleveland, Ohio. She now sails as d.) CALUMET.
1977
JEAN PARISIEN (Hull #684) was launched at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Company Ltd. for Canada Steamship Lines. Port Weller Drydocks replaced her entire forward section, and she was renamed b.) CSL ASSINIBOINE in 2005.
1978
The British freighter BEECHMORE began Great Lakes service in 1959 and returned as c) MANDRAKI in 1971 and d) NAFTILOS in 1973. It was sailing as f) MARI when fire broke out on a voyage from Rijeka, Yugoslavia, to Alexandria, Egypt, on this day. The ship was beached near Dugi Otok Islands the next day and eventually abandoned. The hull was refloated in 1979 and taken to Split, Croatia, with scrapping getting underway on July 19, 1979.
1980
The BURNS HARBOR’s sea trials were conducted.
1981
CONDARRELL, upbound below Lock 2 of the Welland Canal, lost power and hit the wall, resulting in bow damage. The ship returned to Toronto for repairs but only finished the season before tying up. The vessel, built in 1953 as D.C. EVEREST, has been unofficially renamed K.R. ELLIOTT by International Marine Salvage.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series /from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
ALMIRA (two-mast wooden scow-schooner, 85 feet, 80 tons, built in 1849, at Black River, Ohio) was dismasted and capsized in a violent squall on Lake Ontario. All hands were lost. On July 27, the cargo of barreled fish was found by the schooner M.L. COLLINS. The ALMIRA was found still afloat by the schooner PETREL on July 30. She was rebuilt and sailed until December 1871, when she foundered in the ice.
1899
The schooner SOPHIA MINCH, under tow of the JOHN N. GLIDDEN, was caught in a wild Lake Erie storm and cut loose. The vessel was blown ashore west of Ashtabula and declared a total loss, only to be salvaged July 24, 1899, and repaired.
1908
JAMES G. BLAINE (formerly PENSAUKEE, wooden schooner-barge, 177 feet, 555 gross tons, built in 1867 at Little Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) was being towed in Lake Ontario by the tug WILLIAM L. PROCTOR. Her towline broke in a storm, and she was driven ashore near Oswego, New York, where the waves broke her up. No lives were lost. At the time of her loss, even though she was over 40 years old, she was still fully rigged as a three-mast schooner.
1918
A slip joint on the main steam line of the ANN ARBOR NO. 5 let go, killing four men and badly scalding one other. The dead were Lon Boyd; W.T. Archie Gailbraith, 1st assistant engineer Arthur R. Gilbert; coal passer William Herbert Freeman, 2nd engineer.
1920
MARY WOOLSON (three-mast wooden schooner, 179 feet, 709 gross tons, built in 1888, at Bay City, Michigan) was being towed by the wooden steamer CHARLES D. BRADLEY along with the schooner-barge MIZTEC when the BRADLEY slowed in mid-lake, causing both tows to ram her. The WOOLSON’s bow was heavily damaged, and she quickly sank 8 miles northeast of Sturgeon Point on Lake Huron. No lives were lost.
1923
EDWARD L. STRONG and GLENDOCHART collided between Locks 17 and 18 of the Cornwall Canal with minor damage. The former was scrapped at Port Dalhousie as e) WELLANDOC (ii) in 1963, while the latter was broken up at Hamilton as f) MANCOX in 1970-1971.
1949
NEW YORK NEWS (ii) ran aground on a shoal at the east entrance to Little Current, Manitoulin Island, due to low water and misplaced channel markers. About 800 tons of coal were lightered, and the ship is refloated on July 9.
1973
The former BROMALM, a Swedish-flagged Seaway trader in 1963 and 1964, hit bottom, began leaking and was beached off Kuantan, Western Malaysia, as c) ARISAIOS. On a voyage to Osaka, Japan, with 9,700 tons of iron ore, it was completely flooded and a total loss.
1977
LOUIS R. DESMARAIS (Hull #212) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. Cargo hold replaced at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd., and renamed b.) CSL LAURENTIEN in 2001.
AGAWA CANYON hit the abutment to Bridge 12 of the Welland Canal after losing power while downbound with salt for Kingston. The gash in the port bow was repaired by Port Weller Dry Docks.
1984
The Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation Company (MWT) resumed service to Milwaukee with disappointing results.
1992
COMEAUDOC lost power and struck the seawall at Port Huron while upbound, resulting in significant damage to the wall.
2005
An apparent steering gear or engine failure caused the salty ORLA, built in 1999, to ground off Marysville on the St. Clair River. She was able to dislodge herself.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
