The 272-foot, 1,740-gross-ton, wooden propeller freighter SITKA was launched by F.W. Wheeler (Hull #32) at West Bay City, Michigan.
1899
H.G. CLEVELAND (wooden schooner, 137 feet, 264 tons, built in 1867 at Black River, Ohio) sank with a full load of limestone 7 miles from the Cleveland harbor entrance.
1917
The barge MIDDLESEX of the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company broke loose and stranded at Rapide Plat in the St. Lawrence. The ship was abandoned to the insurers but salvaged and returned to service as b) WOODLANDS in 1918.
1979
IRISH OAK first came to the Great Lakes in 1960 for Irish Shipping Ltd. The vessel went aground near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as c) VEGAS on this date while en route from Piraeus, Greece, to Vietnam. The hull was refloated on October 28 and reached Jeddah on November 16. It was sold for scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, and arrived there on January 29, 1980.
1980
The ARTHUR K. ATKINSON returned to service after repairing a broken crankshaft suffered in 1973. She brought 18 railcars from Manitowoc to Frankfort.
1982
EUTHALIA visited the Seaway for the first time in 1972. It caught fire in the engine room on this date as d) FORUM SPIRIT en route from Port Said, Egypt, to Piraeus, Greece, and was abandoned by most of the crew. While it was towed into Piraeus on August 14, the vessel was declared a total loss. The ship arrived at Split, Yugoslavia, again under tow, for scrapping on March 6, 1984.
1986
Operated by a crew of retired Hanna captains, chief engineers, and executives, the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY departed the old Great Lakes Engineering Works yard in Ecorse, Michigan, under her own power for Lauzon, Quebec. The HUMPHREY cleared Lauzon on September 3 with the former Hanna steamer PAUL H. CARNAHAN in tow of the Dutch tug SMIT LLOYD 109. The tow locked through the Panama Canal on September 27–30, 1986, and arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on December 10, 1986, completing a trip of over 14,000 miles. The HUMPHREY was scrapped in 1987 by Shiong Yek Steel Corp.
INDIANA HARBOR set a Toledo and Lake Erie record, loading 55,047 tons of coal at Toledo for Marquette.
1993
The second CORFU ISLAND to visit the Great Lakes came inland in 1970. This SD14 cargo carrier had been built the previous year and returned as b) LOYALTY in 1980. Later that fall, the ship arrived at Basrah, Iraq, from Duluth with severe missile damage resulting from the Iraq-Iran War. The ship was declared a total loss but remained idle there until being towed away on this date. LOYALTY arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on September 22, 1993.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The 149-foot bark MARY E. PEREW was found floating west of the Manitou Islands by the propeller MONTGOMERY. The PEREW had been sailing to Milwaukee with a load of coal when a storm came upon her so quickly on August 8 (nearly a week before MONTGOMERY found her) that the crew did not have time to trim the sails. All three masts were snapped, and the mizzen mast fell on the yawl, smashing it. The crew was stuck on the ship, unable to navigate. The MONTGOMERY towed her to Milwaukee where she was rebuilt, and she lasted until 1905.
1873
CHESTER B. JONES (three-mast wooden schooner, 167 feet, 493 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built by Chesley Wheeler. The spars and top hamper ordered for her were broken in a logjam, so the three-master received her spars at Buffalo, New York, on her first trip.
1882
At 11:00 p.m., the steam barge CHICAGO (206 feet, 935 gross tons) of 1855 was carrying coal on Lake Michigan while towing the barge MANITOWOC (210.5 feet, 569 gross tons) of 1868. In mid-lake, near Fox Island, CHICAGO was discovered to be on fire. Within 15 minutes, she was ablaze. Her crew escaped to her barge consort MANITOWOC. The CHICAGO burned to the water’s edge and sank the following day.
1899
W.L. Mercereau, known as the “Father of the Fleet,” became Superintendent of Steamships for the Pere Marquette Railway.
1900
The tug WILLIAM D. of the Great Lakes Towing Co. got under the bow of the steamer WAWATAM at Ashtabula, Ohio, and was rolled over and sank. One drowned.
1924
Sea trials for the HENRY FORD II took place. Shortly after, she left on her maiden voyage with coal from Toledo, Ohio, to Duluth, Minnesota, and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.
1936
Registration for the wooden steamer MARY H. BOYCE was closed. The ship, which had burned at Fort William in 1928, was scuttled in deep water off Isle Royale in 1936. The vessel had been an early member of the Paterson fleet.
1950
The Canada Steamship Lines passenger carrier QUEBEC caught fire near Tadoussac, Quebec, and was able to reach the dock. Of the 426 passengers on board, three lives were lost. The blaze was considered suspicious, as it began in a linen closet. The vessel was a total loss.
1961
The wooden diesel-powered tug NORTH STAR IV had visited the Great Lakes as b) ROCKY RIVER and had been used to handle the barges BLACK RIVER and PIC RIVER for the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. The vessel was serving under her fourth name when she stranded on a rock in James Bay while doing hydrographic survey work. The crew was rescued, but the vessel was a total loss. The rocky area is now called North Star Shoal.
1962
The ARTHUR M. ANDERSON departed Conneaut and headed downbound to become the first Pittsburgh boat to transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway.
1980
After being sold for scrap, the GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Soo Locks for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to load scrap.
1986
GABRIELLA came through the Seaway in 1975 when only a year old. The ship capsized on this date at Port Kembla, Australia, while discharging a 227-ton heavy lift. The vessel was turned upside down, refloated in November 1986, towed 30 miles out to sea, and scuttled on December 9, 1986.
2004
FEDERAL MAAS was damaged at the Iroquois Lock when the wing of the pilothouse struck the edge of the bascule bridge.
2005
The Cypriot freighter ULLA visited the Seaway in September 1995 with cocoa beans for Valleyfield, QC, and returned, in ballast, in November 1996 for Port Robinson. It was in a collision as f) REEF PEMBA with the GAS VISION and sank off Oman on this date. The crew was saved.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The WELLAND (sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger-package freight, 145 feet, 300 tons, built in 1853 at St. Catharines, Ontario) burned to a total loss at her dock at Port Dalhousie, Ontario. She was owned by Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railroad Co.
1873
Thomas Dunford and Frank Leighton announced a co-partnership in the shipbuilding business in Port Huron, Michigan. Their plans included operating from Dunford’s yard. When they made their announcement, they already had an order for a large tug from Mr. George E. Brockway. This tug was the CRUSADER, measuring 132 feet overall with a 100-foot keel and a 23-foot beam.
1890
The whaleback barge 107 (steel whaleback barge, 276 feet, 1,295 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co. at Superior, Wisconsin. She only lasted eight years. In 1898, she broke free from the tug ALVA B. in rough weather and was stranded near Cleveland, Ohio, and wrecked.
1899
A major blockage of the St. Marys River occurred. The steamer MATOA was towing the barge MAIDA past Sailors Encampment when the steering chain of the MAIDA parted. The MAIDA ran ashore, but the current swung her around to completely block the channel, and she sank. The lower St. Marys River was closed for several days, and 80–90 boats were delayed.
1914
The Panama Canal was officially opened to maritime traffic.
1976
JOSEPH L. BLOCK sailed light on her maiden voyage from the Bay Ship Building Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to load 32,600 long tons of taconite ore pellets at Escanaba, Michigan, for delivery to Indiana Harbor, Indiana.
1978
Under threat of a strike, the uncompleted GEORGE A. STINSON was towed out of Lorain, Ohio, by six tugs to River Rouge’s Nicholson’s Terminal & Dock Co. to finish her fit-out. She was renamed b.) AMERICAN SPIRIT in 2004.
1980
The LEON FALK JR. was laid up for the last time at the Great Lakes Engineering Work’s old slip at River Rouge, Michigan.
J.P. MORGAN JR. arrived in tow of Hannah Marine’s tug DARYL C. HANNAH at Buffalo, New York, where she was delayed until she could obtain clearance to transit the Welland Canal. Permission to pass down the canal was refused because of the MORGAN JR.’s improper condition. By September 5, the situation was rectified, and she was towed down the Welland Canal by the tugs BARBARA ANN, STORMONT, and ARGUE MARTIN bound for Québec City.
1983
The OTTERCLIFFE HALL, the last “straight-deck” Great Lakes bulk freighter built with a pilot house forward, was bareboat chartered to Misener Transportation Ltd. and renamed b.) ROYALTON. She was renamed c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988, and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She was scrapped at Alang, India, in 2004.
1985
The MENIHEK LAKE sailed under her own power to Québec City (from there by tug), the first leg of her journey to the cutter’s torch in Spain.
1991
ALGOSTEEL was outbound at Superior when a small, smoky fire broke out in the electrical panel. The ship went to anchor and then returned to port for repairs. The trip resumed on August 24.
Contributors & Sources
Joe Barr, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Jim Olsson, Max Hanley, Skip Gillham, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The captain of the two-year-old, 125-foot wooden schooner barge JOHN F. RITCHIE brought his wife, two other women, and several small children as guests on a voyage from Bay City, Michigan, to Buffalo, New York. The RITCHIE was one of a string of four barges loaded with lumber in tow of the tug ZOUAVE. As the tow entered Lake Erie, they were struck by a terrifying storm. The RITCHIE broke her towline and was cast adrift. The deck load of lumber broke loose, and everyone was in danger. The women and children were brought out of the cabin since it was considered to be a death trap, and they were lashed on deck for safety. Soon the vessel was waterlogged, and the cabin was actually washed away. On August 17, a passing steamer took everyone aboard and towed the RITCHIE into Cleveland, Ohio, where she was repaired. Amazingly, no lives were lost.
1890
The ANNIE WATT (wooden propeller, passenger-package freight “packet,” 75 feet, 62 gross tons, built in 1884 at Lion’s Head, Ontario) collided with the ship W.M. ALDERSON and sank off of Gunn Point, Ontario. Just the previous year (November 8, 1889), ANNIE WATT had burned and been declared a total loss, but she was rebuilt.
1902
The PERE MARQUETTE 18 (Hull #412) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway.
1921
The wooden steamer H.N. JEX foundered off Long Point, Lake Ontario, while carrying coal between Sodus and Kingston. All on board were rescued.
1927
NORTHERN LIGHT, a steel package freighter, left the Great Lakes for saltwater service in two sections in 1917. The vessel was ravaged by a fire that began in the coal bunker on this date at Mobile, AL. The engine was removed in 1928, and the hull was converted to a barge. It foundered off the Florida Keys on November 8, 1930.
1966
The PEAVEY PIONEER, laid up with damage from a May 31, 1966, grounding at Ashland, was traded to the U.S. Maritime Administration by Sea-Land Services for the C4 transport GENERAL H.G. FREEMAN.
1967
The third GEORGE HINDMAN went aground and sustained heavy damage in the St. Lawrence off Clayton, NY. The ship was inspected at Collingwood and considered beyond economical repair. It was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap and resold to Hyman-Michaels for dismantling at Duluth, arriving there on October 13, 1967.
Contributors & Sources
Joe Barr, Max Hanley, Skip Gillham, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
At 4:00 p.m., the schooner CARLINGFORD was launched at the Fitzgerald and Leighton yard in Port Huron, Michigan, with plenty of spectators on hand. Robert Montgomery of Buffalo, the owner, built the vessel for the grain trade. Her capacity was 30,000 bushels of grain. After launching, she still had to have her masts (96 feet, 98 feet, and 94 feet) and rigging installed. At the time, she was the largest sailing vessel built in Port Huron. Her dimensions were 165 feet overall with a 155-foot keel, 31-foot-6-inch beam, and 12-foot-8-inch depth. 50 men worked on her, and she cost $35,000.
1905
The wooden steamer CALEDONIA sank in Lake Superior while towing the barge JOHN M. HUTCHINSON. It was later refloated and returned to service.
1913
The whaleback steamer ANTIKOKAN went ashore in a spectacular grounding at Marine City but was released and returned to service.
1987
The CADILLAC was towed by the tugs GLENADA and ELMORE M. MISNER from Toledo’s Frog Pond on the first leg of her journey to be scrapped.
1994
INDIANA HARBOR went to Sturgeon Bay for repairs after going aground at Muskegon, Michigan.
Contributors & Sources
Joe Barr, Max Hanley, Skip Gillam, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT (wooden schooner, 114 feet, 213 tons, built in 1852 at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber from Menominee to Chicago when she sprang a leak during a gale and capsized off Spider Island near Death’s Door on Lake Michigan. The crew clung to her for 13 hours until rescued by the passing schooner ETHAN ALLEN.
1878
JAVA (iron twin-propeller passenger-package freight vessel, 232 feet, 1,525 gross tons, built in 1873 at Buffalo, New York) was sailing from Bay City, Michigan, for Chicago and Milwaukee with mixed merchandise, including 300 tons of fine household goods, parlor stoves, salt, etc. She was a twin-screw steamer, and the main theory of her loss in good weather was that her starboard shaft coupling came loose, and the shaft slid out the stern, allowing water to flood through the sleeve. Nevertheless, she sank quickly 15 miles off Big Sable Point on Lake Michigan in over 300 feet of water. The crew escaped in lifeboats and was picked up by passing steamers.
1906
The NORMAN B. REAM (Hull #70) was launched at Chicago, Illinois, by the Chicago Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE in 1965. She served as a storage barge in Port Huron from 1979 to 1989. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 1989.
1907
KATE WHITE (wooden propeller steam tug, 62 feet, 28 gross tons, built at Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1885 as a yacht) sank near the harbor entrance at Fairport, Ohio.
1919
The former wooden bulk carrier NEOSHO was sold for off-lakes service in 1917 and was operating as a barge, under tow of the tug NORFOLK, when she broke loose in a storm on Delaware Bay, got caught in the trough, struck a reef, and broke up.
1927
The first HENNEPIN foundered in Lake Michigan, 18 miles west of South Haven, en route to Grand Haven to load. The hull was discovered in 2006 and is upright in 230 feet of water.
1966
BAYGEORGE knocked off a lock fender in the downbound section of the Welland Canal Flight Locks and delayed navigation. Only the upbound side remained in use to handle traffic pending repairs.
1972
$50,000 in bottom damage occurred when the CHAMPLAIN of 1943 hit an obstruction in the Trenton Channel on the lower Detroit River.
The ocean-going general cargo carrier FELTO caught fire at Bata, Equatorial Guinea, while discharging cement. The blaze broke out in the engine room and spread to the accommodation area before the ship settled on the bottom as a total loss. The vessel had been a Great Lakes trader in 1968 and had previously come inland as a) FERDIA in 1953 and b) FAIRWAY in 1963.
1979
CANADIAN ENTERPRISE (Hull #65) was float launched at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.
1985
CHI-CHEEMAUN went aground due to fog while departing South Baymouth and was released the following day. The Georgian Bay ferry went to Collingwood for repairs.
1996
HERCEG NOVI, a Yugoslavian freighter dating from 1981, first came through the Seaway in 1989, bringing a cargo of newsprint to Detroit. It sank following a collision with the container ship MING GALAXY off Singapore on this date in 1996. Local officials ordered the removal of the hull, and this was done in pieces later in the year.
Contributors & Sources
Joe Barr, David Swayze, Skip Gillham, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
The PEWABIC, Captain George P. McKay, was downbound on Lake Huron when she was rammed by her sister ship, METEOR. The PEWABIC sank with an estimated loss of 125 lives and a cargo of copper ingots, ore, and hides valued at $500,000.
1868
The package freighter ARIZONA was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by Quayle & Martin for E.T. & J.C. Evans of Buffalo, New York.
1874
The propeller QUEBEC was launched at the Chisholm & Simpson yard at Chatham, Ontario. She was built for the Beatty Line and designed to run between Sarnia and Duluth.
1902
OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 feet, 200 gross tons, built in 1887 at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at Port Huron, Michigan. The entire upper works burned, and the lower deck was also badly burned. She had previously burned on June 20, 1901, and had been rebuilt over the winter. She was again rebuilt and lasted until 1922.
1906
GOVERNOR SMITH, a wooden package freight carrier, sank in Lake Huron about 8 miles off Pointe aux Barques after a collision with the URANUS. All 20 on board were rescued.
1909
CITY OF GREEN BAY (wooden propeller passenger-package freight, 134 feet, 257 gross tons, built in 1880 at Fort Howard, Wisconsin as the sidewheeler M.C. HAWLEY) caught fire while crossing Saginaw Bay, burned to the waterline, and sank. This wasn’t her first experience with this type of accident; on November 17, 1887, she had burned to a “total loss” in Lake Michigan.
1915
The wooden passenger and freight carrier HENRY PEDWELL burned at Wiarton, ON, but was salvaged and rebuilt at Owen Sound in 1916.
1930
The ANN ARBOR NO. 7 towed the disabled tug FRED C. GREILING from Frankfort, Michigan, to Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.
1960
BELLE ISLE II caught fire and sank after a collision with the HOLMSIDE on Lac-St. Pierre in the St. Lawrence near Trois-Rivières. The ship had originally been the “Castle Class” corvette HMS WOLVESEY CASTLE and later HMCS HUNTSVILLE for the Canadian Navy. It was rebuilt for cargo service as c) WELLINGTON KENT in 1947, becoming d) BELLE ISLE II in 1951. The hull was salvaged and towed up the Seaway to Portsmouth, ON, on November 2, 1960, and broken up at Whitby, ON, during the winter of 1965–1966. HOLMSIDE was later a casualty as b) CABINDA after hitting a jetty while inbound at Casablanca on December 28, 1980, with the loss of nine lives.
1966
JOHN E.F. MISENER went aground on Hard Island in the St. Lawrence and had to be lightered before being released on August 21.
1967
The retired Paterson steamer SASKADOC, which last operated in 1966, was downbound at the Iroquois Lock under tow of GRAEME STEWART and SALVAGE MONARCH en route to the scrapyard. It arrived at Santander, Spain, on September 24, 1967, along with the AUGUSTUS B. WOLVIN, behind the Polish tug JANTAR.
1974
The CARDINAL, a.) WINDSOLITE, was towed to the Strathearne Terminal in Hamilton, Ontario, for scrapping.
1982
The ROBERT S. PIERSON (1) was sold to P&H Shipping Ltd. and renamed e) SPRUCEGLEN.
1988
The Greek-owned, Cypriot-flagged freighter BLUESTONE arrived at Halifax to load flour, but the crew reported “hull cracks,” and the Coast Guard said repairs must be made. The vessel first visited the Great Lakes as a) ASIA SWALLOW in 1980 and returned as b) BLUESTONE for the first time in 1985. The work was carried out. The ship finally cleared September 13 and operated until arriving at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as e) VRITA N. on about August 31, 1998.
Contributors & Sources:
Joe Barr, Skip Gillham, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
