1876
1876; COMET [Built-1857 US-5683 by Peck & Masters of Cleveland, Ohio] The COMET was sunk by collision with Canadian propeller MANITOBA August 26, 1875, above Whitefish Point, Lake Superior; ten lives lost. Final enrollment surrendered at Cleveland, OH, on February 25, 1876, and endorsed \”abandoned.\”
1888
1888: J.A. SMITH [Built-1871 US-45966 By Abram Smith, Algonac, Michigan] Vessel reportedly wrecked in Straits of Mackinac in fall, 1887. Final enrollment surrendered at Detroit, MI, February 25, 1888, and endorsed \”abandoned.\”
1910
1910: CREEK TRANSPORT was launched this day in 1910, as a.) SASKATOON (Hull#256) at Sunderland, England, by Sunderland Shipbuilding Co.
1918
1918: SANTA MARIA [Built 1901 US_93224 by American Shipbuilding Co. of Cleveland, Ohio as MINNETONKA US-93224. Renamed: SANTA MARIA-1906 US-93224] As SANTA MARIA was torpedoed by German submarine U-19 on February 25, 1918, in position 55.14N x 6.19W, about one mile from Loch Swilly; no casualties.
1924
1924: FRONTENAC [Built-1889 US-120750 By Cleveland Ship Building Co of Cleveland, Ohio Other name: VAUDREUIL-1919-C-141484] As VAUDREUIL she was sold to German buyers on February 25, 1924 and scrapped in Germany that same year.
1964
1964: CISSOULA, a Greek freighter that visited the Seaway in 1961 and 1965, was abandoned after a collision in fog with the Swedish vessel SOLKLINT off Selsey Bill in the English Channel. The damaged freighter was taken in tow and repaired. It was delivered to shipbreakers at Hsinkang, China, on September 24, 1969.
1968
1968: AZAR first came to the Great Lakes as c) CELESTE in 1960 and returned with one trip under this, her fifth name, in 1967. The Liberian-registered, but Canadian-built freighter went aground off Cuba enroute from Venezuela to Tampa, Florida. The ship suffered extensive damage when it caught fire on February 29 and was declared a constructive total loss. It is believed that the hull was dismantled locally.
1978
1978: The Italian freighter ANTONIO was the last saltwater ship to transit the Welland Canal in 1965. It ran aground off Chios Island, Greece, enroute from Constanza, Romania, to Vietnam as e) OMALOS. The ship was refloated on March 1 but laid up at Piraeus, Greece, and subsequently sold, at auction, for scrap. The vessel was broken up at Megara, Greece, beginning on June 13, 1983.
1979
1979: The Panamanian freighter d) FENI was damaged in a collision on the Black Sea at Sulina Roads, Romania, with ATLANTIS STAR and had to be beached. The ship was refloated on February 28 and repaired. It had been a Seaway trader as a) DEERWOOD in 1960 and returned as b) SEBASTIANO in 1969. The ship was scrapped as f) SIRLAD at Split, Yugoslavia, following an explosion off Algeria, on January 3, 1982.
1994
1994: BANDERAS visited the Great Lakes from 1975 through the 1980s. It was abandoned by the crew off the coast of Brazil as b) AEGEAN TRADER due to a fire in the accommodation area. The vessel was towed to Valencia, Spain, to be unloaded and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping as c) EGE TRADE on August 11, 1994.
2021
2021: On February 25, 2021, it became known that Rand Logistics was chartering five American Steamship Co. vessels to Grand River Navigation Co. Both firms share the same parent company, Rand Logistics Inc. Involved are the smaller vessels AMERICAN COURAGE, AMERICAN MARINER, SAM LAUD, H. LEE WHITE and JOHN J. BOLAND. ASC will still run the 1,000-foot ships.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.
