1924
1924: The rail car ferry ONTARIO NO. 1 had a rough overnight crossing of Lake Ontario. The ship was diverted to Toronto with three feet of ice on the deck and anchored off Port Credit. With no seagate, it had to sail into the wind and could not make its docking at Cobourg as scheduled.
1943
1943: ORNEFJELL came to the Great Lakes beginning in 1933 and returned as b) AKABAHRA after being sold in 1937. It was torpedoed and sunk on the Mediterranean in position 37.07 N / 4.38 E.
1970
1970: On January 7, 1970, the e.) ONG, a.) REDHEAD of 1930, had her Canadian registry closed. The tanker had been sold for use as a water tender at Antigua in the Lesser Antilles and had departed Toronto on December 1, 1969
1974
1974: 07 January 1974 – EDMUND FITZGERALD (steel propeller bulk freighter, 711 foot, 13,632 gross tons, built in 1958, at River Rouge, Michigan) lost her anchor in the Detroit River when it snagged on ice. It was raised in July 1992. The anchor weighs 12,000 pounds and now resides outside the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan.
1977
1977: BARFONN had visited the Seaway beginning in 1959 and returned as b) ORIENT EXPLORER in 1967 and as c) AEGEAN in 1971. It caught fire at Colombo, Sri Lanka, as d) TONG THAY and became a total loss. The vessel was taken to Singapore Roads, laid up, sold for scrap and arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for dismantling on March 24, 1978.
1980
1980: GUDUR [Built 1965 by A/B Finnhuda Varf Stockholm, Sweden Renamed GARDA 1969-1971 UK-337329 BILL CROSBIE 1971-C-337329] As BILL CROSBIE: Took on severe list while on voyage Halifax, Nova Scotia for Ireland, on January 4, 1980, in position 45.40N x 39.50W, after cargo shifted in heavy weather. Abandoned by crew on January 7, 1980, but was towed January 9, 1980, into St. John’s, Newfoundland. There she heeled over and sank at her berth on same day.
1997
Interlake Announces the Conversion of the Mauthe
Interlake Steamship Company Announces the Conversion of the Steamship J.L. Mauthe (from a press release dated 01/07/97)
Cleveland based Interlake Steamship Company, which owns and operates a fleet of ten ships, has announced plans to convert a 647′ x 70′ bulk carrier to a self-unloading barge. The ship selected for this major conversion is the steamship J.L. Mauthe. The Mauthe was built in 1953 for the Interlake Steamship Co. by Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan. The vessel was last operated in 1993. Since July 1993, the Mauthe has been laid up in Superior Wisconsin.
Interlake has entered into an agreement with Bay Shipbbuilding Company, a division of Manitowoc Marine Group, located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the conversion of this ship to a self-unloading barge. The basic design of this barge will include a 260′ unloading boom and an innovative cargo hold, tunnel belt and loop belt system capable of discharging a wide variety of cargoes.
Interlake expects to have other necessary agreements in place by mid-January which will permit the commencement of the conversion.
The barge is expected to be available for service in late 1997.
Reported by: Interlake Steamship Company
1997
The J.L. Mauthe arrived at Bay Ship at 1900 Hours on 7 Jan 1997.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.
