1874
1874: On 26 February 1874, the tug WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE JR. was launched at Port Huron Dry Dock. Her dimensions were 151 feet overall, 25 foot 6 inches beam, and 13 foot depth. Her machinery was built by Phillerick & Christy of Detroit and was shipped by rail to Port Huron. She cost $45,000. Her master builder was Alex Stewart.
1876
1876: On 26 February 1876, the MARY BELL (iron propeller, 58 foot, 34 gross tons, built in 1870, at Buffalo, New York) burned near Vicksburg, Michigan.
1915
1915: BUCKEYE STATE [Built-1873 US-2858 By: Thomas T. Arnold, Saginaw, Michigan] The Rig changed to barge at Buffalo, NY, February 26, 1915.
1918
1918: ANNA C MINCH [Built-1903 US-107846 by American Shipbuilding Co. at Cleveland, Ohio, Renamed: ANNA C MINCH-1926 C-153113] As ANNA C MINCH suffered mooring damage against Cleveland, OH, breakwall, when struck by steamer MATTHEW ANDREWS and PHILIP MINCH, February 26, 1918.
1947
1947: The T-2 tanker ROYAL OAK came to the Great Lakes in 1966 as b) TRANSBAY and was rebuilt at Lorain. The vessel departed later in the year as c) TRANSHURON. But as a) ROYAL OAK, it caught fire on this day in the Pacific off Esmeraldas, Ecuador, and had to be abandoned by the crew. The vessel was later reboarded and the fires extinguished. The listing vessel almost sank but it was salvaged and rebuilt for Cities Service Oil.
1965
1965: The Liberty ship BASIL II IMO-5372800 came through the Seaway in 1960. It ran aground on a reef off New Caledonia as d) EVER PROSPERITY. The vessel was traveling in ballast and had to be abandoned as a total loss.
1976
1976: JOSEPH L. BLOCK (Hull#715) was launched February 26, 1976, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp.
1977
1977: The completed hull of the BELLE RIVER (Hull#716) was floated off the ways February 26, 1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Corp. Renamed b.) WALTER J. MC CARTHY JR in 1990.
1981
1981: MONTCLIFFE HALL [Built-1959 Liberia-383572 as EMS ORE by Schlieker-Werft Willy H Schlieker K.G. at Hamburg, Germany. Renamed: MONTCLIFF HALL-1977 C-383572, CARTIERDOC-1988 C-383572 and CEDARGLEN-2002 C-383572] As MONTCLIFF HALL a worker’s torch started a fire which severely damaged the navigation bridge and the two decks below it. The incident occurred on February 26, 1981, while the vessel was in winter lay-up at Sarnia, Ontario. The fire did major damage to the pilothouse and accommodations area, but the repairs were completed in time for the ship to resume trading on May 27, 1981. It resumed sailing as CARTIERDOC (ii) and, later CEDARGLEN (ii). She was scrapped in Turkey in 2019.
1982
1982: TUSKER [Bulit-1958 UK by A. Hull & Co. LTD. At Aberdeen, Scotland. Renamed: TUSKER-1958 C-178473 and BODE-2001-Nigeria] As TUSKER she encountered many mechanical problems, including the dismantling of her main engines, when contaminated lubricating oil was discovered in her main engines on February 26, 1982 at St. Catharines.
1986
1986: ANGELA SMITS, a Seaway trader for the first time in 1983, developed a severe list and was abandoned by the crew on a voyage from Norway to Australia. The hull was sighted, semi-submerged, later in the day in position 47.38 N / 07.36 W and was believed to have sunk in the Atlantic.
1998
1998: FLORIDA SEAHORSE [Built-1938 C-171702 by Marine Industries LTD of Sorel, Canada as NIPIGON. Renamed: FLORIDA SEAHORSE in 1998 Reg-Panama] SEA HORSE no longer registered in Canada. The vessel also saw work on construction projects for different owners, and left the Seaway for the sea on December 12, 1988. She was the FLORIDA SEAHORSE when it sank in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, February 26, 1998. Crew rescued.
2011
2011: Fire broke out on the bridge of DINTELBORG while enroute from the Netherlands to Virginia. The ship was taken in tow the next day by the ROWAN M. McALLISTER out of Providence, R.I. The repaired Dutch freighter was back through the Seaway later in 2011. The tug was also a Seaway caller in 2012, coming inland to tow the fire ravaged PATRICE McALLISTER back to Providence.
2025
2025: Fednav Ltd. of Montreal has added three new vessels to its Handy-size laker class of vessels. They are Federal New York, built in 2024 (IMO 997543), Federal Lexi Rose (IMO 9975442), built in 2025 and Federal William Paul (IMO 9975454) also built in 2025. All were built in Oshima, Japan at the Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Each new vessel is registered in the Marshall Islands and are 199.98 meters in length and 23.760 meters in width or 656 feet in length and 78 feet in width. The new vessels are all sisterships, with each having a very large funnel and four deck cranes. These new vessels are very similar in appearance to the Federal Hamilton (IMO 9975363), built in 2023.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, “Ahoy & Farewell II” and the “Great Lakes Ships We Remember” series.
