Today in Great Lakes History – August 5

1850
The ST. CLAIR (sidewheel steamer, passenger-package freight, 140 feet, 210 tons, built in 1843 at Detroit, Michigan) was reported as lost with no details given whatsoever. The report of her loss was published three days before she was enrolled at Detroit by J. Watkin.

1866
AUTOCRAT (two-mast wooden schooner, 345 tons, built in 1854 at Caltaraugus, New York) was carrying 15,000 bushels of corn and was lying off Chicago waiting for a storm to die down. Just before dawn, the schooner J.S. NEWHOUSE was also seeking shelter when she ran into AUTOCRAT, sinking her in 7 fathoms of water. The crew was rescued by the tug UNION.

1869
LAURA E. CALVIN (three-mast wooden schooner, 130 feet, 216 tons, built in 1863 at Garden Island, Ontario, as a bark) sprang a leak during a storm and foundered 10 miles off Braddock’s Point on Lake Ontario. No lives were lost.

1907
A female passenger dived off the deck of the PERE MARQUETTE 18 of 1902 on a dare. Two of the 18’s officers leaped over to rescue her. One of the officers nearly drowned and was rescued by the passenger.

1953
The RICHARD M. MARSHALL, later b.) JOSEPH S. WOOD, c.) JOHN DYKSTRA, d.) BENSON FORD, and finally e.) US265808, entered service. From 1966 until it was retired at the end of 1984, this vessel and the WILLIAM CLAY FORD were fleetmates. There is only one other instance of two boats being owned by the same company at some point in their careers with as close or closer age difference: The CHARLES M. BEEGHLY (originally SHENANGO II) and the HERBERT C. JACKSON.

1954
A sudden blanket of fog descended on a section of the St. Lawrence near Waddington, NY, resulting in the two ships SELKIRK and DUNDEE losing their way and going aground. The former, a CSL package freighter, was turned partway around by the current and was stuck until September 2. The latter was a British ship and was also spun by the current. The proximity of the rapids made salvage a challenge. The newly-built DUNDEE continued Great Lakes visits to the end of 1962. It foundered in the Mediterranean as g) VLYHO on September 15, 1978, following an engine room explosion.

1955
FALCO, a pre-Seaway trader, hit a bridge at Montreal. The vessel later visited the Great Lakes as c) LABRADOR and was scrapped at Piraeus, Greece, as f) BONANZA in 1978.

1958
The tug GARY D. (steel propeller tug, 18 tons) was destroyed by an explosion and fire near Strawberry Island Light on Lake Huron.

1962
The motor vessel BEAVER ISLANDER completed her maiden voyage to Charlevoix. At the time, she was the largest, fastest, and most advanced ship built for the run. She served as the flagship for 37 years, a record, until the EMERALD ISLE arrived in 1997.

1971
The G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS of 1907, was sold outright to Columbia Transportation Division (Oglebay Norton Co.) along with the last two Tomlinson vessels, the SYLVANIA and the JAMES DAVIDSON.

1972
MANCHESTER VENTURE was built in 1956 and was a regular Great Lakes trader from 1956 to 1961. An explosion in the cargo hold as c) BAT TIRAN on this date in 1972 resulted in a major fire. The damaged hull was refloated in September and scrapped in Turkey in 1973.

1976
The aft section of the BELLE RIVER (Hull #716), was float launched. She was American Steamship’s first thousand-footer and the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding Co. She was renamed b.) WALTER J. MCCARTHY JR. in 1990.

1980
The Liberian freighter BERTIE MICHAELS had been a Seaway trader in 1971 and had returned as the Greek-flagged c) DIMITRIS A. in 1976. It departed Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on August 4, 1980, for Belize City and reported her position on August 5. The vessel was never heard from again and was believed to have been a victim of Hurricane Allen, which was in the area at the time. All 27 on board were lost.

1994
The recently completed French freighter PENHIR began Great Lakes trading in 1971 and returned as b) MENHIR under Liberian registry in 1979. It arrived off Tolognaro, Madagascar, on this date with hull cracks as d) WELLBORN and abandoned as a total loss.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. Compiled by Roger LeLievre.