1858
1858: TRENTON (wooden propeller, 134 foot, 240 gross tons, built in 1854, at Montreal, Quebec) burned to a total loss while tied to the mill wharf at Picton, Ontario, in Lake Ontario. The fire was probably caused by carpenters that were renovating her..
1871
1871: FLORENCE (iron steamer, 42.5 foot, built in 1869, at Baltimore, Maryland) burned while docked at Amherstburg, Ontario at about 12:00 p.m. The fire was hot enough to destroy all the cabins and melt the surrounding ice in the Detroit River, but the vessel remained afloat and her engines were intact. She was rebuilt and remained in service until 1922 when she was scrapped.
1889
1889: On 4 March 1889, TRANSIT (wooden 10-car propeller carferry, 168 foot, 1,058 gross tons, built in 1872, at Walkerville, Ontario) burned at the Grand Trunk Railroad dock at Windsor, Ontario on the Detroit River. She had been laid up since 1884, and the Grand Trunk Railroad had been trying to sell her for some time.
1891
1891: W.H. SAWYER [Built-1890 US-81253 by F.W. Wheeler & Co. at West Bay City, Michigan] First enrollment issued at Suspension Bridge, NY, April 16, 1890.Enrollment transferred to Boston, MA, March 4, 1891. Returned to lakes, enrolled at Chicago, IL, October 27, 1905. Stranded 1,240 feet off Harbor Beach, MI, lighthouse, Lake Huron, August 11, 1928, and sank; one life lost
1891
1891: A.C. Tuxbury [Built-1890 US-106706 by F.W. Wheeler & Co at Bay City, Michigan] First enrollment issued at Suspension Bridge, New York, April 16, 1890. Enrollment transferred to Boston, MA, March 4, 1891. Returned to lakes and enrolled at Chicago, IL, October 27, 1905. Final enrollment surrendered at Milwaukee, WI, in 1923, as “exempt”. Used as a coal barge there while undocumented. Scuttled in 1932 northeast of Milwaukee.
1904
1904: March 4, 1904 – William H. Le Fleur of the Pere Marquette car ferries was promoted to captain at the age of 34. He was the youngest carferry captain on the Great Lakes.
1910
1910: WALTON B [Built-1891 US-81323 at Duluth, Minnesota] First enrollment issued at Duluth, MN, May 4, 1891.Inland Lloyds says built at Bay City, MI, in 1874, and rebuilt at Duluth in 1891; no prior name given. Final enrollment surrendered at Duluth, MN, March 4, 1910, and endorsed \”abandoned.\”
1944
1944: The U.S.C.G.C. MACKINAW (WAGB-83) was launched by the Toledo Ship Building Company (Hull #188) at Toledo, Ohio. Her name was originally planned to be MANITOWOC. MACKINAW was retired in 2006.
1965
1965: E.L. WALLACE [Built-1906 US-203540 by Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan. Renamed: MARQUETTE 1915 US-203540, and POWERAUX ROGER 1963 US-203540] 1962 sale to Acme Scrap Co., Ashtabula, OH, attempted but did not go through. Passed downbound, Welland Canal, on September 28, 1964, in tow of tugs FOUNDATION VALIANT and FOUNDATION VIBERT, bound for Bremen shipbreakers. Arrived Hamburg, March 4, 1965
1969
1969: WILLIAM HOWLAND [Built-1943 UK-168493 by Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Renamed: MALIN HEAD 1949 UK-168493, OCEAN SWELL 1951-Norway and COCAL 1953-Brazil] Built as N3-S-A1 class cargo vessel for U.S. Maritime Commission. Sent under Lend-Lease Program to Great Britain. Tonnage change, 1951 (1832 gross – 1032 net. Stranded on coast of Uruguay, north of Cape Polonie, March 4, 1969, and became total loss. Was on voyage Buenos Aires for Brazil when lost.
1976
1976: The former British freighter GRETAFIELD of 1952 IMO-5135991, a Great Lakes visitor for the first time in 1962, hit the breakwall entering Cape Town, South Africa, as c) SIROCCO I and received extensive bow damage. It was sold to Taiwanese shipbreakers and departed May 15,1976, arriving at Kaohsiung July 5 for dismantling.
1983
1983: The former Danish freighter MARIE SKOU of 1962 IMO-5406895, inland for the first time in 1966, caught fire in the engine room and was abandoned by the crew south of Sicily as b) CLEO C. The vessel was towed to Malta on March 9 and scrapped there beginning in April.
1985
1985: CECILIA DESGAGNES, a.) CARL GORTHON, departed Sorel, Quebec, on March 4, 1985, bound for Baie Comeau, Quebec, on her first trip in Desgagnes colors.
1986
1986: The onetime Greek freighter YEMELOS, built in 1962 as MIGOLINA IMO-5234618 and renamed in 1972, first came inland in 1973. It was abandoned as e) TANFORY off Trincomolee, Sri Lanka, en route from Kandla, India, to Chittagong, Bangladesh, with salt and bentonite. The ship was presumed to have sunk.
1995
1995: The tug ERIE NO. 1, a) DUNKIRK, b) PEGGY M., c) RENE PURVIS sank at the dock in Toronto. It was raised by a crane June 18, 1995, but the cable snapped, dropping the hull on the dock breaking the tug’s back. The vessel was broken up at that location in late 1995.
2011
2011: LOUIS JOLLIET caught fire at Montreal during winter work. The ex-St. Lawrence ferry was being used as an excursion vessel.
2022
2022: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society says the ATLANTA was found 35 miles off Deer Park, Michigan, in 650 feet of water in Lake Superior. The ATLANTA sank on May 4, 1891. It was upbound with a load of coal in tow with the steamer WILHELM when both vessels got caught in a northwest gale. The towline snapped, and the sail-less ATLANTA was at the mercy of the lake. Crew took to the lifeboat and, after several hours, eventually came within sight of the Crisp Point Life-Saving Station. Unfortunately, while attempting to land their lifeboat near the station, it overturned, and only two crewmembers made it to the beach.
2023
2023: SS KEEWATIN a 116-year-old steamship that ferried passengers and goods in the upper Great Lakes is bound for the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. The museum announced Friday that it had acquired the SS Keewatin from a development group in Port McNicoll, east of Midland, where it has been a museum ship since 2012.
2023: LOGISTEC Stevedoring Inc. a leading North American marine and environmental services provider, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Canadian and U.S. marine terminal business of Fednav, including Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. and the logistics division, Fednav Direct for a purchase price of US$105 million, subject to customary adjustments. This transaction will allow LOGISTEC to strengthen its presence in Canada and the United States and add specialized expertise to its service offering.
Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, “Ahoy & Farewell II” and the “Great Lakes Ships We Remember” series.
