1891
The CORISANE (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 137 foot, 292 gross tons, built in 1873, at Marine City, Michigan) was tied up alongside MARY and she also caught fire but the flames were quickly extinguished. She was towed away from MARY by the ferry J C CLARK.
A fire started on MARY (2-mast wooden schooner, 84 foot, 87 gross tons, built in 1877, at Merriton, Ontario) when an oil stove in the kitchen exploded. The vessel was at anchor at Sarnia, Ontario and damage was estimated at $10,000.
1893
PERE MARQUETTE 3 ran aground north of Milwaukee.
1905
WILLIAM E. COREY finally was pulled free and refloated after grounding on Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands in late November.
1922
The wooden freighter JAMES DEMPSEY, built in 1883 as a) JIM SHERIFFS, was destroyed by a fire at Manistee, MI.
1942
The steamer EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND loaded the last cargo of ore for the 1942 season at Marquette.
1950
Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. of Cleveland, Ohio bought NOTRE DAME VICTORY. She would later become b.) CLIFFS VICTORY.
1951
An explosion occurred in IMPERIAL LEDUC’s, b.) NIPIGON BAY ) forward tanks. This happened while her crew was cleaning and butterworthing the tanks. Five crewmembers were injured with one eventually dying in the hospital. Multiple explosions caused extensive damage in excess of $500,000.
1963
The Canadian coastal freighter SAINTE ADRESSE went on the rocks off Escoumins, QC and was leaking in high winds while on a voyage from Montreal to Sept-Iles. Local residents helped lighter the cargo of beer and ale. The remains of the hull were visible at low water for several years.
1975
PAUL THAYER went aground in Lake Erie off Pelee Island. It was lightered to WOLVERINE and released Dec. 12 with extensive damage.
1981
FRANK A. SHERMAN laid up for the last time at Toronto, Ontario.
1984
CEDARGLEN, a.) WILLIAM C. ATWATER, loaded her last cargo at Thunder Bay, Ontario, carrying grain for Goderich, Ontario.
1985
IRVIN L. CLYMER was laid up at Superior, Wisconsin for two seasons before returning to service April 30, 1988.
1986
PAUL H. CARNAHAN and her former fleet mate, GEORGE M. HUMPHREY, arrived safely under tow at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for scrapping.
1987
The WILLIAM G. MATHER was donated by Cleveland-Cliffs to the Great Lakes Historical Society to become a museum ship at Cleveland’s waterfront.
1994
The Maltese registered YIANNIS Z. entered Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago, in leaking condition after apparently hitting bottom while enroute from Manzanillo, Cuba, to Peru. The ship was arrested for non-payment of the crew. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1970 as a) MATIJA GUBEC. The hull was sold at public auction on August 28, 1997, and apparently partially dismantled to become a barge. It was noted sinking at its moorings on October 14, 2006, under the name f) KELLYS MARK and subsequent fate is unknown.
2005
JOHN D. LEITCH hit bottom above the Eisenhower Lock and began leaking.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Father Dowling Collection, Max Hanley, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
Compiled & Maintained by Roger LeLievre
