Robert S. Pierson arrives at Fraser Shipyards
The Robert S. Pierson arrived at Fraser Shipyards early Tuesday and went right into the drydock after being towed from Goulais Bay, near Sault Ste. Marie, ON, by the tug Avenger IV. Although nothing official has been released, waterfront reports indicate the Pierson lost her rudder in the vicinity of Gros Cap more than a week ago. It is not known if the rudder has been located. She had departed Algoma Steel for Two Harbors on October 13 when the incident occurred. The tugs Missouri, North Carolina and Helen H assisted in the arrival.
U.S. Coast Guard hosting ghost ship 2024 in Sturgeon Bay
STURGEON BAY — The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay will host their annual ghost ship event at Sawyer Park Pier in Sturgeon Bay from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. Guests will be able to board the vessel at Sawyer Park Pier in Sturgeon Bay, on the south side of the canal adjacent to the Maple-Oregon Bridge.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. for young guests and become spookier with more frights and scares at 6 p.m. Parental guidance is required for sailors under the age of 12 to board the cutter. Hot chocolate and candy will be available at the pier.
The event is free, but a nonperishable food donation is recommended. All nonperishable items received will be donated to a local food bank.
“This is always a great event for folks of all ages,” said Cmdr. Dan O’Brien, commanding officer, Mobile Bay.
“Mobile Bay has hosted the ghost ship event in Sturgeon bay for decades. We are excited to continue this fun tradition in support of the local community,” O’Brien said.
The Mobile Bay is a 140-foot icebreaking tug based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Since its commissioning in 1979, it has helped maintain open shipping lanes throughout the Great Lakes by breaking ice during the winter months.
With the addition of its 120-foot barge in 1992, Mobile Bay has also served as a buoy tender responsible for the maintenance and setting of more than 110 aids to navigation in Green Bay and northwestern Lake Michigan.
Chi-Cheemaun Arrives at Owen Sound for winter
Another season of sailing between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island is over for the MS Chi-Cheemaun. The passenger ferry made its final scheduled run of the year Sunday evening and arrived at its winter quarters at Owen Sound Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the ship’s marine evacuation system will be deployed for training and recertification purposes.
“This exercise is part of Owen Sound Transportation Company’s ongoing commitment to safety and emergency preparedness. The purpose of the exercise is to practice deploying evacuation equipment and response tactics,” the company explained in a statement. “Marine Navigation and Engineering cadets from Georgian College will be participating as passengers as the marine evacuation system slide is deployed and the zodiac tows the raft to shore.”
Bayshore Broadcasting
Sturgeon Bay shipwreck is named a national historic place
STURGEON BAY – The wreck of a ship that sank in a tornado off of Egg Harbor 126 years ago but ended up in shallow water off the West Side of Sturgeon Bay now has joined 30 other Door County shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Wisconsin Historical Society announced this past week that the wreck of the Pride is now listed on the national register. It was placed on the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places on May 24 and now is the 31st shipwreck in Door County waters on the state and national registers.
The Pride’s remains can been seen in about 8 feet of water in the Sturgeon Bay channel, partially embedded in the channel bottom almost exactly due north of the intersection of West Juniper Street and North Lansing Avenue, about 250 feet from that intersection or 200 feet off shore.
A press release from the historical society said that while its hull is broken, it remains intact up to the turn of the bilge and all of its components except the masts remain on site. The hull sides, deck shelf and bulwarks have fallen outward, the centerboard trunk has been displaced and the deck, deck planking and beams have lifted and now sit perpendicular to the hull off the port side.
“The vessel provides historians and archaeologists with the opportunity to study construction techniques of schooners used in the Great Lakes shipping and lumber trades,” its listing on the register says. “The Pride site has produced archaeological knowledge about early wooden schooner construction and has the potential to yield a wealth of information about early schooner construction on the Great Lakes.”
But although the Pride now rests in the Sturgeon Bay channel, its last voyage ended off Egg Harbor.
The Pride was built in Black River, Ohio, in 1866, and used by its owners mainly to ship bulk general goods on Lake Erie, according to the Wisconsin Shipwrecks website. By 1868 the schooner had a new owner and was homeported in Chicago, and eight subsequent ownership changes saw it hauling loads of lumber, building materials and other goods on the Great Lakes from home ports in Kenosha and Racine, including smaller loads of building stone between Kenosha and Sturgeon Bay for a time.
Capt. Jacob Wilson bought the ship in 1893 from the Hervig brothers of Racine, after it had been for sale for six years, and used it to move lumber and bulk goods from its new home port of Milwaukee.
The Pride’s final voyage departed from Milwaukee on Aug. 20, 1898. On Aug. 22, it dropped anchor in Egg Harbor to get a contract to haul a load of wood.
But at dinner time, the Pride was struck by a squall that caught it broadside, then by a tornado that whipped the ship around and capsized it “with such force that its two masts became imbedded to the lake bottom,” the Wisconsin Shipwrecks website says.
Capt. Wilson survived by clinging to the side of the hull before being rescued, but his son and first mate, Thomas Wilson, was lost in the sinking; his body was found in the water more than a week later. Wilson’s Newfoundland dog survived the wreck, but was trapped inside the cabin until being rescued.
Aug. 24, two days after the sinking, the schooner was righted and towed to Sturgeon Bay to be moored at the Leathem & Smith Towing & Wrecking Co., which took ownership of the vessel in exchange for the costs. However, while tied up at the dock, the wreck sprung a leak, broke loose and drifted away, landing on Dunlap Reef in the middle of the channel (across from what is now Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding), where it posed an obstacle to other ships trying to navigate the channel.
In 1900, the Pride was moved and run ashore with consideration for restoring it, but no further work was performed on it and it was abandoned and fell apart where it lies today.
This isn’t the only wreck of a ship named Pride in the waters of Door County. According to Wisconsin Shipwrecks, a three-masted, 87-foot schooner Pride sank just off the north shore of Washington Island in 1901 after 52 years of service, having been built in Ohio in 1849. That vessel’s remains are broken up and scattered under 40 to 50 feet of water. It currently is not on the state historic register.
State and federal laws protect the wreck of the Pride in Sturgeon Bay. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. For more information on the Pride, visit wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2803 or wisconsinshipwrecks.org.
Green Bay Press Gazette
Behind the Scene at the New Soo Locks
View a video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQZoipueb5U
Gales of November 8-9
A great slate of presentations this year. Also a form to order a raffle ticket for a ride on the Edwin H. Gott. Help support Duluth’s Maritime Museum
Bottom of Form
[David Schauer]
National Museum offers “Fitzgerald Experience 2024”
Toledo, OH – In honor of the 49th Anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975, the National Museum of the Great Lakes is offering a weekend of special tours. The Fitzgerald Experience is a guided tour of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship, using the lake freighter and its similarities to the Edmund Fitzgerald to discuss the events of November 10, 1975, theories about the sinking and stories about the 29 crew members who were lost. This tour is approximately 75 minutes long.
Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Each tour will be limited to 8 people. Guests also receive a museum store discount of 10% (non-members) / 20% (members) off in-store purchases. Tours are offered every half hour from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 9 and from noon – 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 10.
Your tour purchase includes admission to the National Museum of the Great Lakes.
Due to its historical accuracy, the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship is not ADA accessible. Narrow, steep staircases are common throughout the Schoonmaker and may provide difficulties in accessibility for some.
The Schoonmaker is also not heated and much of the tour is on uncovered decks. We encourage you to dress appropriately for the weather. If we determine that the weather has made these tours impossible, we will provide a refund of the ticket price (minus fees). If the program is cancelled, we are not planning a make-up date.
You can process a refund (minus fees) and cancel your ticket up to 7 days before the event. Go here to buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-fitzgerald-experience-2024-tickets-1043046027747?aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail&ref=eemail&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite
