1854

E.K. COLLINS (wooden passenger-package freight side-wheeler; 256 feet; 1,095 gross tons; built in 1853 at Newport, MI) caught fire and beached near the mouth of the Detroit River, where she burned to the waterline. About 23 lives were lost. About 43 people were rescued in small boats and by the steamers FINTRY and GLOBE. There was some speculation that arson was the cause of the fire. The hull was recovered in 1857 and rebuilt as the barge ARK.

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1871

PHILO PARSONS (wooden side-wheel steamer; 221 tons; built in 1861 at Algonac, MI) burned to a total loss in the Great Chicago Fire. She burned so completely that her remains were not located in the Chicago River until 1877. She was the vessel commandeered by Confederate raiders in a plot to capture the iron gunboat USS MICHIGAN on Lake Erie during the American Civil War. The fire destroyed many fine vessels while they were docked in the harbor. These included the new propeller NAVARINO, the schooner GLENBULA, the schooner ECLIPSE, the schooner BUTCHER BOY, the bark VALETTA, the schooner ALNWICK, the bark A.P. NICHOLS, the bark FONTANELLA, the fore-and-aft schooner STAMPEDE, the schooner N.C. FORD, and the schooner CHRISTINA NEILSON. The only recorded casualties among the sailors were on the ALNWICK; her mate died, and the captain burned his hands severely.

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1899

The tug RECORD sank at Duluth, MN, after a collision with the whaleback steamer JAMES B. NEILSON, and one life was lost.

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1906

PASADENA (wooden barge; 250 feet; 1,761 gross tons; built in 1889 at Cleveland, OH, as a propeller bulk freighter) was carrying coal in tow of the steamer GLADSTONE, bound for Superior, WI (some sources say she was loaded with iron ore for Cleveland, OH). The PASADENA went out of control in a gale, and her skipper had the tow line cut. Her anchors failed to hold. She was thrown against the eastern pier near the upper entry to the Keweenaw Waterway and pounded to pieces in a few hours. Two lives were lost, but eight (some sources say seven) made it to shore on the floating wreckage.

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1922

The MATHEWSTON (Hull #47) entered service. On her maiden voyage, she sailed from Port Arthur, ON, with 11,634 tons of barley and wheat. She was renamed b.) RALPH S. MISENER in 1954 and c.) MATHEWSTON again in 1967 before being scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1970.

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1964

A fire aboard the West German-flagged freighter ERATO at Detroit, MI, left two dead when they were trapped in their stern quarters. Another three sailors were injured. The two-alarm blaze was brought under control, and the ship was eventually repaired at Toledo, OH. It arrived Bombay, India, and was laid up as d.) VIJAYA DARSHANA on May 26, 1983, and eventually scrapped there beginning in May 1986.

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1971

DIDO went aground leaving Goole, United Kingdom, for Porsgrunn, Norway, but returned to Goole the next day after being refloated. The 22-year-old Norwegian freighter was listed as a total loss and sold for scrap. It was taken to Hull, United Kingdom, a year later and dismantled. The ship had been a pre-Seaway trader as early as 1951 and made 14 voyages to the Great Lakes from 1959–1963.

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1976

The keel was laid for the 660-foot forward section of the BURNS HARBOR, eventually completed as b.) LEWIS WILSON FOY for the Bethlehem Steel Co. of Cleveland, OH. She was purchased by Oglebay Norton and renamed c.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991 and eventually d.) AMERICAN INTEGRITY in 2006.

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1985

The Canadian registry for MENIHEK LAKE was officially closed with the notation “sold Spain.” She was scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

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1988

WILLIAM G. MATHER arrived in tow of the Great Lakes Towing Co. tugs WYOMING and ALABAMA at the G&W Shipyard at Collision Bend in the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH, to be refurbished.

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2000

UNDAUNTED and barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 departed Calumet Harbor, IL, loaded with pig iron for Marinette, WI, under favorable conditions and were later caught by heavy weather. During the storm, the 5,000 tons of pig iron and the barge’s four pieces of heavy loading equipment were washed into Lake Michigan. Both the tug and barge suffered damage in the incident.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1820

ASP (wooden schooner; 57 tons; built in 1808 at Mississauga, ON) was carrying lumber and staves when she sprang a leak near Long Point on Lake Ontario. She waterlogged and then capsized. The upturned vessel was driven across the lake and finally went ashore off the Salmon River at Mexico, NY, and broke up quickly. Nine of the 11 onboard lost their lives. She was originally built as the British-armed schooner ELIZABETH.

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1871

On October 8–9, NAVARINO (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer; 184 feet; 761 tons; built in 1870 at Manitowoc, WI) was lying at a dock when the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. The vessel tried to pull away from the dock and get to the safety of Lake Michigan, but the wind, which was being drawn into the fire, held her against the dock. She burned to a total loss; no lives were lost. Her machinery was later salvaged and used in the new propeller MENOMINEE.

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1895

AFRICA (wooden propeller steam barge; 135 feet; 352 gross tons; built in 1873 at Kingston, ON) was towing the schooner SEVERN in a storm on Lake Huron when she struck a reef 15 miles south of Cove Island Light on Lake Huron. AFRICA broke up in the storm, and all 11 of her crew were lost. SEVERN went ashore in Bradley Harbour and broke up. The crew was rescued by a fish tug from Stokes Bay, ON.

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1907

CYPRUS cleared Superior, WI, with a cargo of iron ore for Lackawanna, NY, on only her second trip. The vessel sank two days later, and there was only one survivor. The hull was found on the bottom of Lake Superior in 2007 in 460 feet of water.

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1911

COL. JAMES M. SCHOONMAKER sailed from the Great Lakes Engineering Works on her maiden voyage to Toledo, OH, where she loaded coal bound for Sheboygan, WI. The SCHOONMAKER was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when she came out. For much of the decade, this vessel either broke or held many bulk cargo records. She was renamed b.) WILLIS B. BOYER in 1969. Since 1987, the BOYER has served as a museum ship in Toledo with her original name restored.

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1920

JAMES DAVIDSON (Hull #288) was launched at Wyandotte, MI, by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. for the Globe Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH (G.A. Tomlinson, manager).

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1922

TURRET CROWN ran aground off Cove Island in Georgian Bay but was later salvaged.

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1931

CHARLES H. BRADLEY (wooden propeller; 201 feet; 804 gross tons; built in 1890 at West Bay City, MI) was carrying pulpwood and towing the barge GRAMPIAN. She was traversing the Portage Canal in the Keweenaw Peninsula when she ran onto a bar and stranded. The barge kept coming and plowed into her stern. The BRADLEY caught fire and burned to the waterline. The wreck still lies in 6–17 feet of water just off the mouth of the Sturgeon River.

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1944

The German freighter LUDOLF OLDENDORFF, a Great Lakes trader as a.) WESTMOUNT (i) and e.) TRACTOR, was sunk by British aircraft at Egersund, Norway.

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1968

BUCKEYE, under tow for scrapping overseas, began drifting in rough weather when the anchors were unable to hold off Port Colborne, ON. The ship was blown aground west of the city, and the hull remained stuck until November 29.

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1976

GULF MACKENZIE (Hull #435) was launched at Sorel-Tracy, QC, by Marine Industries Ltd. Renamed b.) L. ROCHETTE in 1985, she departed the lakes and was renamed c.) TRADEWIND ISLAND in 1995 and d.) KEMEPADE in 2003.

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1983

The CHIMO was moved to Port Weller Dry Docks, where workers began to cut her apart forward of her aft-located pilothouse and engine room. Upon completion, Upper Lakes Shipping renamed her b.) CANADIAN RANGER.

Pioneer Shipping Ltd.’s SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER arrived in the Welland Canal on her delivery trip en route to her formal christening at Thunder Bay, ON. She was sold off the lakes and renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995 before being brought back to the lakes as VOYAGEUR PIONEER in 2006. She was renamed KAMINISTIQUA in 2008.

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1984

PATERSON was sold to Shearmet Recycling, a Thunder Bay, ON, shipbreaker, and was broken up at their Mission River dock.

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2001

The Maltese-flagged freighter SYLVIA ran over a buoy below the Eisenhower Lock, and the mooring chain was wrapped around the propeller. The cable was freed, and the ship proceeded to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs, arriving October 19 and returning to service on October 27. The ship had previously been inland as a.) CHIMO when new in 1981 and later returned as d.) SYLVIA in 2000. The vessel was noted as h.) INTERCROWN and registered in Cambodia as of 2010.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1877

ELIZA R. TURNER (wooden schooner; 156 feet; 409 gross tons; built in 1867 at Trenton, MI) was carrying wheat from Detroit, MI, to Buffalo, NY, when a storm drove her aground nine miles west of Long Point on Lake Erie where she was wrecked. The skipper and cook drowned, but the remaining eight were saved.

ABEONA (wooden scow schooner; 100 tons; built in 1863 at Lambert, ON) was carrying lumber and shingles downbound on Lake Huron when she stranded during a storm one mile west of Port Austin, MI, where she reportedly later broke up.

PORTLAND (two-masted wooden schooner; 118 feet; 250 tons; built in 1847 at Pillar Point, NY) stranded and went to pieces north of False Presque Isle on Lake Huron. Salvage attempts only retrieved her anchor and chain.

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1878

The tug CRUSADER of Oswego, NY, burned and sank in the middle of the Straits of Mackinac about 21:00.

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1891

The SUSAN E. PECK collided with the schooner GEORGE W. ADAMS above the Soo Locks. The PECK, loaded with wheat for Buffalo, NY, sank in a matter of minutes and completely blocked the navigation channel. General Orlando M. Poe, in charge of the Soo Locks, estimated that 275 boats lost an estimated 825 days and five hours waiting for the wreck to be cleared.

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1902

GARDEN CITY (wooden propeller bulk freighter; 133 feet; 352 gross tons; built in 1873 at Ogdensburg, NY) caught fire on the Saginaw River between Bay City, MI, and Saginaw, MI, while sailing up the river for winter lay-up. She sank four miles above Bay City near the old interurban railroad bridge.

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1905

CHARLES H. BURTON (three-masted wooden schooner; 158 feet; 514 gross tons; built in 1873 at Bangor, MI) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie when she was driven ashore 4.5 miles east of Barcelona, NY, and broke up. No lives were lost. She had been built on the hull of the bark GLENBULAH that had burned in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

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1906

The PERE MARQUETTE NO. 5 was sold to the Barry Transportation Co. for $75,000. The PERE MARQUETTE NO. 5 was the last of the breakbulk boats operated by the Pere Marquette Railway Co.

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1923

HURONTON, a Canadian freighter, sank in Lake Superior off Caribou Island following a collision on the foggy lake with the CETUS. The vessel went down in 800 feet of water in 18 minutes, but all on board were rescued.

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1927

MICHIPICOTEN of the Owen Sound Transportation Co. was destroyed by a fire at Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island.

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1956

Two F-86 Saber jets collided over Lake Michigan. The ERNEST T. WEIR, under the command of Captain Ray R. Redecker, rescued one of the pilots (Lt. Kenneth R. Hughes) after he spent three hours in the water. ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, WILLIAM A. IRVIN, and GEORGE W. PERKINS participated in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the second pilot.

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1963

The wooden freighter VAUQUELIN caught fire and sank in the St. Lawrence northeast of Quebec City, QC, off Cap-au-Saumon. The vessel had previously sailed as a.) LA RIVIERE MALBAIE.

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1969

The T2 tanker CARIBBEAN SKY visited the Seaway for three trips in 1960–1961 before being converted to a bulk carrier. Her engine exploded and disintegrated during dock trials after repairs at Antwerp, Belgium, under the name f.) LAKE PLACID with the loss of one life. The hull settled but was pumped out and declared a constructive total loss. It was towed to Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 1971, repaired, and returned to service as g.) GARANDA. The after end again proved to be troublesome and was cut off and scrapped. The bow was joined to after end of the Panamanian tanker AKRON, and the ship returned to service under this name. It was finally dismantled in Pakistan during 1981.

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1980

BROOKDALE of 1909 was towed out of Toronto, ON, by the tug GLENADA, assisted by the tug TERRY S. She was on her way to the cutter’s torch at Port Maitland, ON.

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1981

While downbound with coal in the St. Lawrence River, the JEAN PARISIEN suffered considerable bottom damage when she ran aground near Comfort Island about a mile west of Alexandria Bay, NY. She was rebuilt with a new forebody at Port Weller Dry Docks and renamed b.) CSL ASSINIBOINE in 2005.

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1986

SAVIC, the former b.) CLIFFS VICTORY, cleared New York, NY, bound for scrapping.

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1987

CHAMPLAIN and her former fleetmate CADILLAC were towed past Gibraltar heading for Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling by Cukurova Celik Endustrisi A.S.

The wheat-laden WILLOWGLEN went aground on the north side of Ogden Island in the St. Lawrence. The ship was released on October 13 and later went to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

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1989

HULL NO. 1, the former b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE, being towed by the Polish tug JANTAR, arrived in Aliaga, Turkey, to be scrapped there.

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Contributors & Sources

Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1839

DEWITT CLINTON (wooden passenger/package freight side-wheeler; 147 feet; 413 tons; built in 1836 at Huron, OH) foundered off Milwaukee, WI, with the loss of five lives. She was recovered the following year and lasted until 1851. She and her near-twin ROBERT FULTON were reportedly the first Great Lakes steamers built primarily as freighters with relatively few passenger accommodations.

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1866

GREAT WEST (wooden three-masted bark; 175 feet; 765 tons; built in 1854 at Buffalo, NY) was carrying wheat in a storm on Lake Michigan when she stranded on Racine Reef. She was reported to be a total loss, but she may have been recovered and then lost near Chicago, IL, in 1876. When launched, she was the largest sailing vessel on the lakes, and much was made of her beautiful lines. She was diagonally braced with iron and stood 174 feet tall from her deck to her masthead. So, if she were sailing today, although she’d be able to sail under the Mackinac Bridge, she’d be stopped at the Blue Water Bridge, whose roadway is only 152 feet above the water.

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1890

MEDINA (wooden propeller tug; 66 feet; 57 gross tons) was launched by O’Grady & Maher at Buffalo, NY. She cost $12,000.

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1911

The rail ferry CHIEF WAWATAM arrived at St. Ignace, MI, and began service shortly thereafter.

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1913

THOMAS H. CAHOON (three-masted wooden schooner barge; 166 feet; 431 gross tons; built in 1881 at East Saginaw, MI) was carrying lumber in tow of the steamer C.W. CHAMBERLAIN. They were bound from Sault Ste. Marie to Byng Inlet, ON. However, during a storm, the CAHOON stranded and went to pieces on Kenny Shoal by the southwest corner of Innes Island in Georgian Bay. No lives were lost.

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1923

The HENRY STEINBRENNER of 1901 collided with the J. MCCARTNEY KENNEDY at 16:20 off Ile Parisienne in Whitefish Bay. The accident occurred during thick, smoky weather, and both boats were severely damaged.

The canal-sized steamer GLENGELDIE, en route from Killarney, ON, to Welland, ON, with a cargo of quartz rock, hit bottom in Georgian Bay and had to be towed to Collingwood, ON, for over $15,000 in repairs to the starboard side. The ship later sailed for Canada Steamship Lines as b.) ELGIN.

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1924

SENATOR DARBYSHIRE, a wooden bulk carrier upbound and in ballast, was destroyed by a fire on Lake Ontario and sank near Point Petre Light. The crew fought the early morning blaze but eventually had to abandon the ship and was picked up by MAPLEBAY. Captain J.W. Scarrow was later a master for Canada Steamship Lines.

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1942

WATERTON was lost due to enemy action in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The former Misener freighter, operating for the Bowater Steamship Co., was attacked with two torpedoes from U-106 and went down in the Cabot Strait in 8 minutes. All on board got off safely. The ship was traveling from Cornerbrook, NL, to Cleveland, OH, with newsprint and pulpwood.

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1974

Cleveland Tankers’ MERCURY scraped the South Grand Island Bridge on the Niagara River in heavy fog. Her forward mast snapped off, the amidship mast was tilted, and her smokestack was toppled. After the mishap, she proceeded under her own power to G&W Welding in Cleveland, OH, for repairs.

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1982

The Israeli freighter DAGAN made 18 trips to the Great Lakes from 1959 to 1967. It ran aground on Cay Sal Bank north of Cuba as f.) CORK on this date in 1982 and was abandoned the next day as a total loss.

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1983

Quebec & Ontario Transportation’s b.) BAIE COMEAU II cleared Sorel-Tracy, QC, as c.) AGIA TRIAS under Panamanian registry #1355. Her Canadian registry was closed on October 12, 1983. Her mission was to carry grain from New Orleans, LA, to Mexican and Caribbean Island ports. She was subsequently renamed d.) OCEANVIEW in 1988, e.) SEA DIAMOND in 1989, f.) GOLDEN CREST in 1990, g.) ATLANTIC WOOD in 1991, h.) LONDON FURY in 1994, and i.) DONG SHENG in 1995.

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1989

Upper Lakes Shipping’s WHEAT KING, under tow, arrived at Chattogram, Bangladesh, to be broken up.

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Contributors & Sources

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

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1870

At 03:00, the 76-ton tug ONTARIO caught fire and burned to the waterline while lying at Harrow’s dock in Algonac, MI.

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1871

The grain-laden schooner PLOVER struck a reef near Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, put a hole in her hull, and sank in deep water. Captain Jones and the crew of eight escaped in the yawl. They spent two days making their way to Sault Ste. Marie.

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1874

On her maiden voyage, the tug MARY passed Port Huron, MI, downbound with the bark FAVORITE in tow. The tug was owned by William Hardison of Port Huron.

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1880

TRADER (wooden propeller; 115 feet; 169 gross tons; built in 1865 at Marine City, MI) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan. She was battered severely and became waterlogged. Her crew abandoned her with water up to her decks. They were saved by the schooner GUIDE in a daring rescue. A few days later, her wreckage washed ashore near Holland, MI, in the “Alpena Storm,” and she was erroneously reported as another “all-hands” victim of that storm.

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1901

ALVINA (wooden schooner-rigged scow barge; 89 feet; 95 gross tons; built in 1871 at Fair Haven, MI) was being towed by the steamer WESTON and had a load of 700 barrels of lubricating oil. They were bound from Cleveland, OH, for Manistique, MI. The ALVINA was overwhelmed in a storm and sank near Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron. Her entire crew made it to shore in her yawl. Her cargo was salvaged five days later.

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1912

MARENGO, a wooden schooner under tow of the LLOYD S. PORTER, broke loose in a storm, came ashore west of Port Colborne, and was pounded to pieces by the waves. The anchor was salvaged and now sits on the lawn of Port Colborne High School.

S.K. MARTIN began leaking in heavy weather and sank in Lake Erie off Harbor Creek, NY. The coal-laden wooden steamer ran for shore but the effort fell short. The crew took to the lifeboats and was saved. The ship went down bow first and rested on the bottom in 56 feet of water.

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1918

The wooden tug ELLA G. STONE was destroyed by a brush fire that swept through the town of Cloquet, MN. Several scows, tugs, and a dredge as well as over 400 lives were lost.

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1922

The JOHN A. KLING sailed on her maiden voyage for the Rockport Steamship Co. (Reiss Steamship Co., manager) light from Manitowoc, WI, to load stone at Rockport, Michigan. She was sold into Canadian registry in 1981 and renamed b.) LEADALE before being scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in Port Colborne, ON, in 1983.

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1925

The keel was laid for the Interlake Steamship Co.’s steamer COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS.

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1941

ENARE, a Great Lakes visitor from 1932 to 1933, sustained heavy damage in an air attack in the North Sea as h.) GLYNN. The ship was subsequently sunk by a convoy escort as a hazard to navigation. It had also been a Great Lakes trader as f.) FLAKS in 1933 and 1934.

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1967

The SYLVANIA returned to service. She sank at the Peerless Cement Co. Dock at Port Huron, MI, in June after being struck by the Canada Steamship Lines package freight steamer RENVOYLE.

The Papachristidis Co. Ltd.’s FEUX-FOLLETS entered service with the distinction of being the last steam-powered vessel built on the Great Lakes. The vessel was renamed b.) CANADIAN LEADER when it was sold to Upper Lakes Shipping in 1972. It was scrapped in 2011.

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1976

Three boats discharged a record 108,379 tons of cargo on a single day at the Pinney Dock in Ashtabula, OH. The three boats were the JAMES R. BARKER (57,305 tons), the WILFRED SYKES (20,678 tons), and the JOSEPH L. BLOCK (30,306 tons).

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1981

The JEAN PARISIEN suffered considerable bottom damage when she ran aground near Comfort Island about a mile west of Alexandria Bay, NY. She was released on this day in 1981 and returned to service after repairs were completed at the Canadian Vickers yard in Montreal, QC.

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1985

The CLIFFS VICTORY was sold to the Hai International Corp. of New York, NY, for scrapping in Asia and transferred to Panamanian registry. Her name was changed to c.) SAVIC, utilizing the “S” from CLIFFS, the “VIC” from VICTORY, and inserting an “A” in between. All the other letters were painted out.

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1991

ZIEMIA GNIEZNIENSKA hit the wall at Lock 7 of the Welland Canal and dislodged a chunk of concrete. The Welland Canal was closed for three days.

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1993

The tug EDNA G. was towed from Two Harbors, MN, to Fraser Shipyards at Superior, WI, by the Great Lakes Towing Co. tug KANSAS. She is now on display as a floating exhibit in Agate Bay.

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2002

STELLANOVA and CANADIAN PROSPECTOR were in a head-on collision on the Seaway near Côte-Sainte-Catherine, QC, and both ships sustained considerable damage. The former was repaired at Les Méchins, QC, and the latter at Port Weller Dry Docks in St. Catharines, ON.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Max Hanley, Russ Plumb, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1875

The tug E.H. MILLER had her boiler explode off Alpena, MI, while racing with the tug CITY OF ALPENA — both in quest of a tow. The ALPENA, who was ahead of the MILLER when she blew up, immediately turned around to pick up survivors. The MILLER sunk in minutes. The engineer, fireman, and a boy were rescued, but the captain and cook were lost. The fireman was in such poor shape that it was thought that he would not live.

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1877

The Port Huron Times reported that the tug PRINDIVILLE and the two-masted schooner PORTLAND had both gone ashore at the Straits of Mackinac and been pounded to pieces.

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1886

SELAH CHAMBERLAIN (wooden propeller steam barge; 212 feet; 1,207 gross tons; built in 1873 at Cleveland, OH) collided with the 222-foot wooden lumber hooker JOHN PRIDGEON JR. in heavy fog off Sheboygan, WI. The CHAMBERLAIN had been towing the schooner FAYETTE BROWN and sank quickly. Five of the crew went down with the vessel when the lifeboat davits became fouled and they were unable to launch the lifeboat. The rest of the crew made it to shore in the other lifeboat after a 3-hour pull through the fog.

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1893

Chief Engineer J.H. Hogan left the DEAN RICHMOND in Toledo, OH, to take care of some family business. One day later, the RICHMOND burned off Dunkirk, NY, with a loss of 17 lives, including the replacement chief engineer.

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1902

MAUNALOA collided with her whaleback consort barge 129 on Lake Superior and sank it 30 miles northwest of Vermilion Point between Crisp Point and Whitefish Point. MAUNALOA had been towing the 129 — both vessels loaded with iron ore — when the towline parted in heavy seas. While trying to regain control of the barge, they came together, and the steamer’s port anchor raked the side of the barge, which started taking on water. The crew was taken off the barge before it sank.

The wooden steamer C.B. LOCKWOOD was swamped in a storm and sank on Lake Erie with the loss of 10 lives.

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1909

GEORGE STONE (wooden propeller freighter; 270 feet; 1,841 gross tons; built in 1893 at West Bay City, MI) was sailing from Ashtabula, OH, for Racine, WI, with a cargo of coal when she stranded on Grubb Reef in the Pelee Passage on Lake Erie. She then caught fire and was destroyed. Five of the 18 crewmen were lost.

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1927

The ONTARIO, once the largest car ferry on the Detroit River, was later reduced to a barge. It foundered on this date in 1927 on Lake Superior near Outer Island while carrying 1,100 tons of pulpwood. It had been under tow of the tug BUTTERFIELD, and all on board were saved.

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1973

SCOTT MISENER damaged 60 bottom plates when it hit bottom near Whaleback Shoal in the St. Lawrence.

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1976

The former T2 tanker and bulk carrier SYLVIA L. OSSA — remembered on the Great Lakes as the MARATHONIAN that was in a head-on collision with ROLWI in Lake Michigan — disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle with the loss of all 37 crew members.

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1980

The tug GLENADA towed the BROOKDALE from Port Colborne, ON, to Newman’s scrap yard at Port Maitland, ON, during this week in 1980.

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1983

SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER made her first trip out of Thunder Bay, ON, with grain. Renamed b.) LADY HAMILTON in 1995, she was sold to Voyageur Maritime in 2006 and is now sailing as c.) KAMINISTIQUA for Lower Lakes Towing.

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1990

ERNA WITT first visited the Great Lakes in 1958 and returned through the Seaway in 1962. The vessel sank off Port Sudan, Sudan, as k.) SHIBA on this date in 1990 after a collision with the ALTAAWIN ALARABI while inbound from Aqaba, Jordan. Three members of the crew were lost.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave 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 & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.

1871

The LEVANT (two-masted wooden schooner; 91 feet; 115 tons; built in 1854 at Chicago, IL) was loaded with lumber when she was overtaken by a severe gale and went over on her beam ends off Sheboygan, WI, on Lake Michigan. The six-man crew lashed themselves to the vessel so as not to be washed away by the waves. Throughout the night, the men died one by one. At daylight, the schooner D.P. DOBBINS found the wreck with floating bodies tied to it and three still alive (two of them were barely alive). One died during the rescue attempt, and another died within minutes of being rescued. Only Peter J. Thornum survived.

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1875

it was discovered that thieves had completely stripped the canvas and rigging from the schooner FORWARDER owned by Little & Brown. The schooner was lying about 3 miles below Port Huron, MI.

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1876

The tug NELSON burned at Chicago, IL. She was one of the smaller class of tugs, and the damage was so great that she was not considered to be worth repairing.

NEW YORK (wooden propeller freighter; 183 feet; 704 tons; built in 1856 at Buffalo, NY) was carrying lumber and towing the schooner BUTCHER BOY and barges NELLIE MCGILVERAY and A.J. CORREY from Cove Island in Georgian Bay to Buffalo, NY, when she encountered a severe storm near Pointe Aux Barques, MI. The towline parted, and the NEW YORK could not regain it in the heavy seas. She then sprang a leak, and the water rose rapidly enough to put out her fires. The crew (15 men and one woman) abandoned in the yawl as NEW YORK was overwhelmed and sank. The open boat was adrift for 5 hours when the 74-foot schooner NEMESIS came upon it. NEMESIS tried twelve times to approach the yawl in the rough seas, losing a portion of her deck load of tanbark each time that she came about, but at last, she got alongside the yawl. The NEW YORK’s crew managed to get aboard the NEMESIS except for Fireman William Sparks, who fell between the yawl and the schooner and was lost. The other vessels in the tow all made it to Port Huron, MI, safely.

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1882

APPELONA (wooden schooner; 45 feet; 37 tons; built in 1814 at Henderson, NY) was bound from Oswego, NY, for Genesee, NY, when she was struck by lightning in Lake Ontario and sank about 15 minutes. All hands were injured but abandoned her for shore, and all survived.

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1883

NELLIE GARDNER (wooden schooner barge; 178 feet; 567 gross tons; built in 1873 at Marine City, MI) was loaded with 39,000 bushels of corn while being towed by the steamer JOHN PRIDGEON JR. in a storm on Lake Huron. The GARDNER released herself from the tow in the heavy weather to run for the shelter of Thunder Bay under sail. However, she was unable to make it and turned back for Tawas, MI, but struck a reef, broke in two, and was wrecked 1 mile southeast of Scarecrow Island. Her crew made it to shore in her yawl.

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1893

DEAN RICHMOND (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer; 238 feet; 1,432 gross tons; built in 1864 at Cleveland, OH) sailed from Toledo, OH, on Friday the 13th of October with a load of bagged meal, flour, zinc, and copper ingots. She encountered hurricane-force winds of over 60 mph and battled the storm throughout the night. She was seen on October 14 off Erie, PA, missing her stacks and battling the wind and waves. The following day, wreckage and bodies were washing ashore near Dunkirk, NY. Among the dead were the captain, his wife, and three children. A few crewmembers managed to make it to shore; however, all but one died of exposure. The only survivor was found on the beach 2 days later near Van Buren Point. During the search for bodies, three volunteers lost their lives. The wreck was found in 1984.

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1895

The wooden steamer AFRICA struck a reef near Cove Island en route to Georgian Bay, broke up, and sank with the loss of all 13 crew.

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1911

ANN ARBOR NO. 4 ran aground while en route to Manistique, MI, at full speed, damaging several plates. The ANN ARBOR NO. 3 pulled her off.

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1922

ARROW, a steel side-wheeler, partially burned at the dock in Put-in-Bay, OH.

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1953

Boston Metals Company of Baltimore, MD, submitted a successful bid of $118,111 for six retired lakers to be scrapped by the U.S. Maritime Commission. The six boats were the CHACORNAC, COLONEL, MUNISING, NEGAUNEE, YOSEMITE, and AMAZON.

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1954

The Dutch freighter PRINS WILLEM V sank off Milwaukee, WI, after a collision with the barge SINCLAIR XII, pushed by the SINCLAIR CHICAGO. All 30 sailors on board were rescued, but the overseas vessel was never salvaged. It was replaced in 1956 by another PRINS WILLEM V.

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1966

The STONEFAX and ARTHUR STOVE collided in the Welland Canal between Allanburg, ON, and Port Robinson, ON. The former, a member of the Halco fleet, sank with its cargo of potash and remained on the bottom until November 25. The latter subsequently visited the Seaway as b.) TIARET and was scrapped at Nantong, China, as c.) CLARET in 1984–1985.

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1974

The keel for the JAMES R. BARKER was laid. She was to become Interlake’s first 1,000-footer and the flagship of the fleet for Moore McCormack Leasing, Inc. (Interlake Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH, manager).

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1978

The GEORGE A. STINSON departed Detroit, MI, on her maiden voyage light for Superior, WI, to load iron ore pellets for delivery to the Great Lakes Steel Division of the National Steel Corp. at Zug Island in River Rouge, MI. She was renamed b.) AMERICAN SPIRIT in 2004.

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1983

CHI-CHEEMAUN encountered 48-knot winds after departing Tobermory, ON, with 113 passengers bound for South Baymouth, ON. Due to high wind and waves, the captain decided to find shelter rather than continue on or return to port. The ferry made her way around the Bruce Peninsula southeast to Dyer Bay where she dropped anchor for the night; however, she had no overnight accommodations. Complimentary meals were served, and activities were organized by the crew. The anchor was lifted the next morning, and the ferry returned to Tobermory.

The British freighter HOUSTON CITY visited the Great Lakes in 1966. It ran aground at Mayotte Island, part of the Comoros, on this date in 1983 while en route from the Far East to South Africa as c.) ALPAC AFRICA. The ship was stuck until October 22 and scrapped at Shanghai, China, in 1984.

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1985

FURIA was trapped in Lock 7 when a section of the lock wall collapsed. The Welland Canal was closed until November 7. The vessel arrived at Shanghai, China, for scrapping as b.) YRIA on November 1, 2001, after it made a final trip inland as such in 2000.

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1987

GEORGE A. SLOAN sustained major bottom damage going aground in the Amherstburg Channel and was repaired at Toledo, OH. The ship later became b.) MISSISSAGI and was sold for scrap in fall 2021.

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Contributors & Sources

Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave 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.

Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre.