1875
The schooner ELVA, which was built in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1861 for Capt. Sinclair, was sailing from Holland, Michigan, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, loaded with stove bolts. She capsized 12 miles from Milwaukee. Her crew took to the boats and made a landing in Kenosha and then rowed to Milwaukee. A tug was sent for the schooner and she was recovered.
The old barge HURON, which had been in use for a number of years as a car ferry for the Grand Trunk Railroad at Port Huron/Sarnia, was sold to Sandie and Archie Stewart. They planned to convert her to a dry dock by adding three feet to her sides and removing her arches. The sale price was $1,500 in gold.
1900
R.J. GORDON (wooden propeller passenger-package freighter, 104 feet, 187 gross tons, built in 1881 at Marine City, Michigan) was placed back in service carrying freight and passengers between Chicago and Grand Haven. She had burned in September 1899 at Chicago but was rebuilt during the winter.
1910
TRUDE R. WIEHE was destroyed by a fire at Portage Bay, Green Bay.
1911
Thirty plates were damaged when the WACCAMAW went aground in the St. Lawrence. The ship was later repaired at Buffalo.
1959
A collision in western Lake Erie between the CHARLES HUBBARD and the Swedish freighter SIGNEBORG resulted in damage to both ships. Both were repaired and continued in service. The latter was scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, after arriving as d) ALFREDO on November 10, 1971. The former was sunk as a breakwall at Burns Harbor in 1966 after being idle at Milwaukee for several years. The hull was reported to have been subsequently scrapped there.
1964
The French freighter MARQUETTE began Great Lakes trading in 1953 and was lengthened in 1959 with the opening of the Seaway. Fire erupted enroute from Chicago to Marseilles, France, and the vessel was abandoned in the Atlantic. The gutted ship was towed to Brest, France, and was sold to French shipbreakers. All on board were saved.
1965
A smoky fire that could be seen for miles broke out in the cargo of rubber aboard the ORIENT TRADER at Toronto, and the hull was towed into Toronto Bay and beached while firefighters battled the blaze. The Greek-flagged vessel was sold for scrap, but before it departed for overseas, it was used in several episodes of the CBC television series “Seaway.” The hull was towed into Valencia, Spain, on July 11, 1966, for dismantling.
1974
The JAMES DAVIDSON and KINSMAN INDEPENDENT (i) arrived under tow at Santander, Spain, for scrapping.
1975
The GEORGE D. GOBLE arrived at Lorain, Ohio, with an unusual deck cargo loaded at the American Ship Building Company’s yard at South Chicago, Illinois. She was carrying the deckhouses for two Interlake Steamship Company thousand-foot self-unloaders being built at AmShip’s Lorain yard. These vessels were completed as the JAMES R. BARKER and MESABI MINER.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
Compiled by Roger LeLievre.
