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
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
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
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
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.
1997
The J.L. MAUTHE arrived at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, at 1900 Hours to be converted to the self-unloading barge PATHFINDER.
Interlake press release, issued on this date:
Interlake Steamship Company Announces the Conversion of the Steamship J.L. Mauthe
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.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, 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
