1869

The 167-foot wooden propeller BOSCOBEL burned about 2 miles below St. Clair, MI. Three lives were lost. The ship was only about 2 years old and was in service of the New York Central Railroad, though owned by the Peshtigo Lumbering Co. of Chicago, IL. The burned hulk was raised in 1876 and rebuilt as a schooner-barge at Algonac, MI. She lasted until 1909 when she sank on Lake Huron.

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1887

BULGARIA (wooden propeller; 280 feet; 1,888 gross tons) was launched at West Bay City, MI, by J. Davidson as Hull #16.

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1899

The Great Lakes Towing Company’s RED CLOUD (wooden propeller tug; 62 feet; 40 gross tons; built in 1883 at Buffalo, NY) was sailing on Lake Erie for Lorain, OH, when a storm forced her to head for port at Cedar Point, OH. However, she was thrown on a reef and broke in two as a total loss. The crew made it to Sandusky, OH.

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1905

The GEORGE STEPHENSON was blown aground at Pointe aux Pins on Lake Superior and struck by her consort barge JOHN A. ROEBLING. Both were released and returned to service.

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1910

The MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO. 2 (Hull #450) was launched at Cleveland, OH, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Marquette & Bessemer Dock & Navigation Co. She was the replacement for MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO. 2 of 1905 (Hull #428), which foundered on Lake Erie on December 7, 1909.

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1919

The WILLIAM A. MCGONAGLE loaded a record 15,160 tons of soft coal at Toledo, OH, for delivery to Gary, IN. The record lasted less than 24 hours, as the D.G. KERR, under the command of Captain Harry Harbottle, loaded 15,532 tons of coal at the same Toledo dock for delivery to Gary.

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1920

H.H. PORTER sailed on her maiden voyage for the Brier Hill Steamship Co. (Pickands Mather, manager) light from Lorain, OH, to load iron ore at Two Harbors, MN. The vessel was renamed b.) WALTER E. WATSON in 1957 and c.) NATIONAL TRADER in 1973. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, ON, in 1978.

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1942

The 250-foot STEEL VENDOR, under the command of Captain G.L. Kane, sank at 03:45 on Lake Superior with a cargo of 3,000 tons of iron ore. The lone casualty was Oiler John N. Sicken. 22 survivors were rescued by the CHARLES M. SCHWAB, under the command of Captain Alfred Drouillard, while two others were rescued by the WILLIAM G. CLYDE and Captain David M. LeRoy. Other boats standing by were the B.F. AFFLECK, ELBERT H. GARY, JOLIET, and EUGENE P. THOMAS. STEEL VENDOR was carrying 3,000 tons of steel billets, not ore, destined for the Waukegan, IL, plant of the American Steel & Wire Co., a U.S. Steel subsidiary. The billets were manufactured at the AS&W Co. plant in Duluth, MN, the home of the former Minnesota Steel Co.

DONALD STEWART, a canal trader for Canada Steamship Lines, was torpedoed by U-517 and sunk while in a convoy on the Gulf of St. Lawrence while carrying barrels of aviation fuel and bulk cement for the air base at Goose Bay, NL. Three members of the engine room crew were lost.

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1944

LIVINGSTON, a former Great Lakes canal ship, was torpedoed and sunk by U-541 in the Atlantic Ocean about 80 miles east of Cape Breton Island. 14 lives were lost, but another 14 were spared and rescued.

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1957

The HARRIS N. SNYDER of the Boland & Cornelius fleet, under the command of Captain Elmer Murray and Chief Engineer Frank McCabe, rescued two from the waters of Lake Michigan. Not only did the crew rescue Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Colby, but they also used the unloading boom to recover their sailboat and place it on the deck of the SNYDER. The entire maneuver only required 55 minutes.

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1965

The tanker EASTERN SHELL sank the small wooden goelette MONT BLANC in a collision blamed on fog about 20 miles from Trois-Rivières, QC. All crew members of the pulpwood carrier were rescued.

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1968

Keel-laying ceremonies for the 437-foot bow section of the ROGER BLOUGH (Hull #900) took place at Lorain, OH. The hull was float-launched on December 21, 1968, minus ballast tanks, because the existing dry dock wasn’t wide enough to accommodate her 105-foot width.

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1970

KENNETH made a single trip to the Great Lakes in 1959. It caught fire in the engine room on this day off the coast of Israel while en route from Alexandria, Egypt, to Tripoli, Libya, as h.) CHRISTINA MARIA. The ship was abandoned by the crew, towed into Haifa, Israel, on September 6, and sold to Israeli shipbreakers later in the year.

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1976

SOODOC (Hull #210) of 1976 loaded salt at Goderich, ON, on her maiden voyage from Collingwood, ON. She was renamed b.) AMELIA DESGAGNÉS in 1990.

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1977

The BELLE RIVER (now WALTER J. MCCARTHY JR.) set a then-Great Lakes record for coal when she loaded 62,802 tons at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal on her maiden voyage. This record has since been surpassed many times.

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1981

U.S. Steel’s SEWELL AVERY was laid up for the last time at Superior, WI. She was towed to Sault Ste. Marie, ON, in 1987, where the superstructure was removed, and the hull was sunk for use as a dock.

THOMAS W. LAMONT was laid up for the last time at Hallett Dock 6A in Duluth, MN. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 1987.

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1985

PHILIP R. CLARKE plowed into the Drawbridge Cove Marina on Lorain, OH’s Black River, damaging 5–10 small craft and sinking one at the steel dock. CLARKE managed to stop before hitting the Charles Berry Bridge.

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1998

ORKANGER, a chemical tanker that first came through the Seaway in 1977, began leaking on this day while inbound at Rio Grande, Brazil, as e.) BAHAMAS with 12,000 tons of sulphuric acid. She sank in the harbor. The hull was eventually refloated but never repaired; however, it had subsequent renames and was reported as being broken up in 2003 as h.) ORIENT FLOWER.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, James Neumiller, Jody L. Aho, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled by Roger LeLievre.

1876

CITY OF PORT HURON, a wooden steam barge, sank a few miles offshore near Lexington, MI, at about noon. She was heavily loaded with iron ore and sprang a leak at about 11:00. Most of the crew managed to get on top of the cabin, while two were in the forward rigging as she went down in 6 fathoms of water. The heavy seas washed over those on the cabin. Captain George Davis and two others floated ashore on wreckage, and a fish boat picked up the five others. No lives were lost.

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1889

The new steamer CHEROKEE (wooden propeller freighter; 209 feet; 1,002 gross tons) arrived in Port Huron, MI, from M.P. Lester’s yard in Marine City, MI, for the Phoenix Iron Works to install the engine and boiler. Her outfitting was completed by Carleton and Cole of Port Huron.

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1921

The former laker RANDOLPH S. WARNER was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes during World War I. It was rebuilt with the pilothouse amidships and sank on this date about 40 miles off the Bosporus after reportedly striking an unrecovered mine.

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1926

HARSEN, loaded with a cargo of sand, capsized and sank in a storm 3 miles northeast of the Pelee Passage Light in Lake Erie. The wooden-hulled vessel was a total loss.

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1961

IMPERIAL HAMILTON caught fire while loading ethyl gasoline at Sarnia, ON, and sustained considerable damage. Six on board were injured.

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1963

The Egyptian freighter SALAH ELDIN, a former Victory ship, caught fire in the crew quarters in Hamilton, ON, but the blaze was extinguished before it reached the cargo hold. The vessel almost capsized due to the weight of the water, but it remained upright. Two crew were injured, and the chief steward died. The ship was towed out by GRAEME STEWART and JAMES BATTLE on November 22, 1963, for Quebec City, QC, and sold as is, where it became d.) MERCANTILE VICTORY after a refit at Houston, TX. Another fire on April 23, 1964, this time in the engine room on the Red Sea shortly after re-entering service in March 1964, led to an eventual resale to Spanish shipbreakers. The vessel arrived at Castellón, Spain, for dismantling on May 10, 1965.

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1967

The tugs MICHAEL MCALLISTER and AMERICA towed the retired passenger ship NORTH AMERICAN through the Welland Canal en route to a new career as a training ship for the Seafarers International Union at Piney Point, MD.

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1972

NORSE CORAL was new when it entered the Seaway in 1962 and returned as b.) TOTEM STAR in 1963. The ship opened the Seaway season on April 8, 1964, and returned to our shores as c.) SILVERBEACH in 1965. It sustained heavy damage off Victoria, BC, while inbound from Hong Kong, China, to Vancouver, BC, on this date due to a collision with the C.E. DANT. The two ships were locked together. They were towed to Victoria the next day and then separated on September 6. The damage was repaired, and the former lakes trader survived until scrapping at Xingang, China, in 1986.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Jody L. Aho, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled by Roger LeLievre.

1882

The schooner CALEDONIA, wrecked the previous autumn near the Fishing Islands on Lake Huron, was raised and arrived in Port Huron, MI, under tow to be rebuilt.

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1896

The Canadian passenger ship BALTIC, built in 1867 as FRANCES SMITH, burned at the dock in Collingwood, ON. The hull drifted to shallow water and remained there for several years.

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1898

The MONTGOMERY (wooden schooner-barge; 204 feet; 709 tons; built in 1856 at Newport/Marine City, MI, as a passenger-package freight steamer) sank in 21 feet of water on Lake St. Clair after colliding with the whaleback barge 137 (steel barge; 345 feet; 2,480 gross tons; built in 1896 at West Superior, WI) which was being towed by the ALEXANDER MCDOUGALL (steel propeller semi-whaleback freighter; 413 feet; 3,686 gross tons; built in 1898 at West Superior, WI). The MONTGOMERY was raised and repaired. She lasted another 2 years before breaking up in a storm in 1901.

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1899

The DOUGLASS HOUGHTON grounded at Sailors Encampment and sank when rammed by her barge, JOHN FRITZ. The HOUGHTON completely blocked St. Marys River traffic for 5 days. More than 300 boats were delayed at an estimated loss of $600,000.

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1905

ABERCORN (wooden propeller “rabbit” boat; 126 feet; 261 gross tons; built in 1873 at Marine City, MI) burned at the dock at Goderich, ON, while unloading coal. She reportedly caught fire from the explosion of a signal lamp.

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1942

BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS cleared Lorain, OH, on her maiden voyage for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co.

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1948

J.P. MORGAN JR. returned to service after repairs suffered in an accident in June.

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1960

NEW QUEDOC arrived at McLouth Steel in Trenton, MI, on her maiden voyage with a load of Labrador iron ore. The vessel was renamed b.) QUEDOC in 1963 and scrapped under that name at Curacao Island in the Lesser Antilles in 1985.

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1964

A. & J. MID-AMERICA, a Seaway caller in 1963, was driven ashore at Lantau Island near Hong Kong, China, by Typhoon Ruby. The vessel was refloated on October 5 but came ashore again days later during Typhoon Dot on October 13. Refloated on October 21, the vessel returned to service and was scrapped as e.) UNION TIGER at Inchon, South Korea, after arriving in April 1968.

The former HEMSEFJELL, a pre-Seaway trader, was also blown aground at Hong Kong as d.) PROSPERITY during Typhoon Ruby but released on October 5. It was scrapped in Thailand in 1972.

The 3-year-old bulk carrier LEECLIFFE HALL sank in the St. Lawrence River 65 miles below Quebec City, QC, following a collision with the APOLLONIA. Efforts to beach the ship failed, and three lives were lost. The hull was dynamited as a hazard to navigation in 1966. The latter, a Greek freighter, had been a Seaway trader in 1964 and was repaired at Levis, QC. The ship was scrapped at Shanghai, China, as c.) MAYFAIR after arriving on May 3, 1985.

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1973

The WYANDOTTE of 1916, formerly a.) CONNEAUT, was towed down the Welland Canal on on her way to the cutter’s torch at Santander, Spain.

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1974

CHI-CHEEMAUN completed her sea trials. The ferry would eventually depart the Collingwood, ON, shipyard on September 26.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Jody L. Aho, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled by Roger LeLievre.

1871

The wooden schooner ROSA STEARNS, loaded with coal, was battling a storm for hours off Cleveland, OH. The ship was driven on the stone breakwater at about 01:00 and was pounded to pieces. The crew jumped onto the breakwater and crawled to safety as the waves crashed over them.

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1872

J.W. SARGENT was listed as missing in Detroit, MI, newspapers 9 days after she set sail from Port Colborne, ON. The schooner was assumed to be a victim of an August 29 storm that struck Lake Erie. Later on the same day that the newspaper announcement was published, the SARGENT arrived in Detroit. Captain William Simms stated that the storm drove him south to Erie, PA, where he sheltered for a few days. He sent a telegraph message to the ship’s owner, but the news was not relayed to Detroit. The SARGENT only lasted another 3 months. In November 1872, a storm got her on Lake Erie.

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1887

BLUE BELL (two-masted wooden scow-schooner; 84 feet; 122 gross tons; built in 1867 at Milwaukee, WI) was carrying lumber from Wilt’s Bay, MI, to Milwaukee when she missed the harbor entrance at Sturgeon Bay, WI, in a storm. She was driven ashore and broke up. Her crew made it to the beach with the aid of the local U.S. Life-Saving Service crew. The total loss was valued at $5,000.

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1908

The wooden steamer CHAUNCY HURLBUT began leaking and was beached at Whitefish Point in Lake Superior along a rough and rocky shore. It became a total loss, and the hull was removed in August 1910 and sunk in deep water.

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1952

The BADGER was launched at Sturgeon Bay, WI. A christening ceremony included the SPARTAN (launched earlier that year). The BADGER was named in honor of the University of Wisconsin. The BADGER was built by Christy Corporation and is powered by two Skinner 4-cylinder steeple compound uniflow marine steam engines, developing over 7,000 horsepower. She was the last of the large coal-fired steamers to be built in the U.S. and is the only ship of her type still operating on the Great Lakes. The BADGER offers seasonal passenger service from Ludington, MI, to Manitowoc, WI, from mid-May to early October.

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1955

GEORGIAN BAY collided with the steamer CHARLES HUBBARD in the fog-covered lower St. Marys River.

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1973

CHARLES E. WILSON completed her sea trials. She was later renamed b.) JOHN J. BOLAND in 2000.

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1977

BELLE RIVER delivered a record 56,073 long tons of western coal on her maiden voyage to Detroit Edison Co.’s Belle River Power Plant. Renamed in 1990, she sails today as b.) WALTER J. MCCARTHY JR.

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1989

The twin-screw railcar ferry GRAND RAPIDS left Muskegon, MI, in tow of the tugs ANGLIAN LADY and PRINCESS NO. 1, arriving at Port Maitland, ON, on September 11. Scrapping was completed in the fall of 1994.

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1992

H. LEE WHITE was in tow of the G-tugs COLORADO and LOUISIANA entering the Trenton Channel when she struck a section of the toll bridge at Grosse Ile, MI, knocking down a 150-foot span immediately east of the main river channel. The WHITE was not damaged, but a new section of the bridge had to be installed at a cost of $1.7 million. The bridge was back in service in late January 1993. The U.S. Coast Guard investigated this casualty, and their report states that it was the failure of the bridge tender to operate and open the bridge that caused this casualty. The Coast Guard found that the master of the WHITE was operating his vessel in a prudent and lawful manner, including the use of whistle signals.

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2009

ALGOPORT ran into heavy weather from Tropical Storm Dujuan while under tow of the PACIFIC HICKORY. The vessel broke up and sank in the Philippine Sea about a week’s tow from her destination of Jiangyin, China.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Jody L. Aho, Max S. Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled by Roger LeLievre.

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.

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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.

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.

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1901

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

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1916

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

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1921

he 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.

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1929

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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1979

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

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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.

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1996

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

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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.

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Contributors & Sources

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.

1860

The wooden passenger and freight steamer LADY ELGIN sank in Lake Michigan following a collision with the schooner AUGUSTA with an estimated 297 deaths.

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1868

HIPPOCAMPUS (wooden propeller; 152 tons; built in 1867 at St. Joseph, MI) stranded in a storm off St. Joseph and was pounded to pieces. 36 of the 41 passengers were lost. Litigation continued until November 10, 1884, when the owner was held innocent of blame in court at Grand Rapids, MI.

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1871

The schooner MORNING LIGHT was sailing from Kelleys Island on Lake Erie with a cargo of stone for Marquette, MI, in heavy weather. Trying to enter the Detroit River, the crew miscalculated their position and ran the ship aground on Pointe Mouille just below Gibraltar, MI. The crew scuttled the vessel in the shallow water to save her from harm. The following day, the tug GEORGE N. BRADY was sent out with steam pumps and hawsers, and the MORNING LIGHT was raised and towed to Detroit, MI, for repairs.

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1885

ADVANCE (wooden schooner; 119 feet; 180 gross tons; built in 1853 at Milwaukee, WI) was carrying wood when she became waterlogged and capsized in a gale and blinding rain near Port Washington, WI, in Lake Michigan. All but one of her crew of seven drowned when her yawl capsized in the surf.

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1906

The W.E. FITZGERALD (Hull #167) was launched at Wyandotte, MI, by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. for the Chicago Navigation Co. of Chicago, IL (D. Sullivan, manager).

The bulk freighter HENRY A. HAWGOOD was launched at Cleveland, OH, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Minerva Steamship Co. (W.A. & H.A. Hawgood, manager). The vessel was renamed b.) C. RUSSELL HUBBARD in 1912 and c.) W.W. HOLLOWAY in 1935.

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1913

RADIANT departed the shipyard light on her maiden voyage bound for Montreal, QC.

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1936

The Interlake steamer CRETE and the Pittsburgh steamer CORNELL collided in heavy fog above Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. After temporary repairs were made in the Weitzel Lock, the CRETE proceeded to the Chicago Shipbuilding Co. in Chicago, IL, to repair a damaged bow. The CORNELL proceeded to Manitowoc, WI, to repair damage to her starboard side just forward of her boiler house.

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1970

MILWAUKEE CLIPPER made her last run from Milwaukee, WI.

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1978

GEMINI sailed upbound through the Welland Canal, becoming the largest U.S.-flagged tanker on the Great Lakes with a capacity of 76,000 barrels. GEMINI was renamed b.) ALGOSAR in 2005 and scrapped at Port Colborne in 2016.

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1979

The Norwegian carrier INGWI first came through the Seaway in 1960 and made about 10 trips inland through 1967. The hull was reported to have fractured on this date as b.) OH DAI en route from Singapore to Calcutta, India. The ship foundered in the Bay of Bengal, but there was speculation at the time that this was an insurance fraud.

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1980

The idle railcar ferry GRAND RAPIDS sustained fire damage from a blaze in the pilings at Muskegon, MI, buckling plates on the car deck. It was extinguished by the U.S. Coast Guard and the fire department.

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1985

The downbound Panamanian NORCHEM collided with the upbound CANADIAN PROSPECTOR near Kahnawake, QC. PROSPECTOR had little damage, but NORCHEM was ripped open near her port anchor.

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2010

The tug MESSENGER came to the Great Lakes for the Gaelic Tugboat Co. in 1984 and was renamed b.) PATRICIA HOEY. It was later sold and became c.) NEW HAMPSHIRE and then d.) SEA TRACTOR II before leaving the lakes via Oswego, NY, in about 1991. It was known as e.) SHARK when scuttled as an artificial reef near Miami, FL, on this date.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Al Miller, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, 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.

1871

Captain Hicks of the schooner A.H. MOSS fired the mate, a popular fellow, in a fit of anger at the same time that a tug arrived to tow the schooner out of Cleveland, OH. The crew was upset to say the least, and when the towline was cast off and Captain Hicks ordered the sails hoisted, the crew refused to do any work. The skipper finally raised the signal flags and had the tug tow his vessel back into the harbor. When the MOSS dropped anchor, he fired the entire crew and went ashore to hire another crew.

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1886

GENERAL WOLSELEY (wooden side-wheel steamer; 103 feet; 123 tons; built in 1884 at Oakville, ON) caught fire on her way to Dyer’s Bay. She was run ashore for the crew to escape near Cape Croker on Georgian Bay and burned to the water’s edge.

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1889

The FOLGER (wooden propeller wrecking tug; 69 feet; 64 gross tons; built in 1881 at Kingston, ON) was sailing upbound past St. Clair, MI, when a fire was discovered in her engine room. Her wheelsman stuck to his post as long as possible, trying to beach her at Courtright, ON, but the flames engulfed the vessel, and all hands had to abandon her.

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1910

The steamer PERE MARQUETTE 18 sank with the loss of 29 lives. No cause for the sinking has ever been determined. The PERE MARQUETTE 17 picked up 33 survivors, losing two of her own crew during the rescue.

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1924

A fire aboard the ship SOUTH AMERICAN at Holland, MI, destroyed the upper works of the popular passenger steamer.

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1929

The ANDASTE (steel propeller self-unloading sandsucker; 247 foot; built in 1892 at Cleveland, OH) was probably overloaded with gravel when she went missing west of Holland, MI. The entire crew of 25 was lost. When built, she was the sister of the semi-whaleback CHOCTAW but was shortened by 20 feet in 1920–21 to allow her to use the Welland Canal.

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1936

For the second consecutive day, boats of the Interlake and Pittsburgh fleets collided. The SATURN collided with the HENRY H. ROGERS in heavy fog above Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior. The SATURN continued upbound to repair damage at Superior Shipbuilding. The ROGERS continued downbound to South Chicago, IL, where the anchor of the SATURN was removed from the mate’s starboard cabin.

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1940

The steamer MARITANA, under the command of Captain Charles E. Butler, went to anchor in Whitefish Bay due to weather. When she retrieved her anchor the next day, she also recovered a second anchor. The second anchor had an oak stock 12 feet across and 17 inches in diameter. The 8-foot forged metal shank was stamped with a date of 1806.

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1954

DETROIT EDISON (Hull #418) was launched at Manitowoc, WI, by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the American Steamship Co. (Boland & Cornelius, manager) of Buffalo, NY.

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1964

A collision between the GEORGE R. FINK and the Swedish freighter BROHOLM occurred in zero visibility on Lake Huron just north of the Bluewater Bridge. The latter, on her only voyage through the Seaway, received a gash on the starboard side above the waterline, while the former had only minor damage. BROHOLM arrived at Hsinkang, China, for scrapping as d.) PROODOS on September 2, 1974.

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1965

The ROY A. JODREY (Hull #186) was launched at Collingwood, ON, by Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. for Algoma Central Railway Ltd.

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1974

The WOLVERINE (Hull #903) was launched at Lorain, OH, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Union Commerce Bank (Oglebay Norton Co., manager) of Cleveland, OH.

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1977

The British freighter PERTH began service to Canada in 1951 and operated on the Great Lakes until 1960. The ship ran aground about 200 miles south of Suez, Egypt, as e.) GEORGIOS on this date in 1977 but was later refloated and taken to Suez. The ship was arrested there and subsequently sank on October 1, 1979. The hull was likely refloated and dismantled at that location.

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1980

The first of two fires suffered by the Grand Trunk car ferry GRAND RAPIDS occurred. The cause of the fire was not determined.

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1993

INDIANA HARBOR received major hull damage when she struck Lansing Shoal in Lake Michigan. The ship was repaired at Sturgeon Bay, WI.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David Swayze, Russ Plumb, 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.