1864
ALVIN CLARK (two-mast wooden schooner, 113 feet, 220 tons, built in 1846 at Truago (Trenton), Michigan) foundered in a terrific squall off Chambers Island on Green Bay. Two members of the crew were rescued by the brig DEWITT, but three lost their lives. In 1969, a schooner identified as the CLARK was raised at great expense and put on display for some time at Marinette, Wisconsin, then at Menominee, Michigan. The hull gradually deteriorated and was dismantled in May 1994.
1875
The Canadian schooner DUNSTOWN arrived at Malden, Ontario, to be put in place as a lightship. Her sides were painted in large white letters: BAR POINT LIGHTSHIP.
1902
GEORGE DUNBAR (wooden propeller freighter, 134 feet, 238 gross tons, built in 1867 at Allegan, Michigan) was loaded with coal when she was damaged by a sudden squall on Lake Erie near Kelley’s Island and sank. Seven of the crew elected to stay aboard while the skipper, his wife and daughter made for shore in the lifeboat. Those three were saved, but the seven perished on a makeshift raft.
1910
ALABAMA (steel propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 272 feet, 2,626 gross tons, built in 1909 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) made her first trip in regular service for the Goodrich Line from Chicago to Grand Haven and Muskegon. She ran opposite the VIRGINIA. Cut down to a barge in 1961, she was scrapped in LaSalle, Ontario, in 2006.
1923
The CHARLES M. SCHWAB (Hull #496) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Interlake Steamship Co. Lengthened with a new midbody and repowered with the stern section of the tanker GULFPORT in 1961. Sold Canadian in 1975, renamed b.) PIERSON DAUGHTERS and c.) BEECHGLEN in 1982. Scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario, in 1995.
1934
The retired wooden schooner LYMAN M. DAVIS was torched as a spectacle off the Sunnyside Amusement Park at Toronto, and it burned to the waterline.
1946
The tug DALHOUSIE ROVER, Captain J.R. MacLean, capsized in the Welland Canal. There were no survivors among the crew of six.
1962
The HAMILTONIAN began her maiden voyage for Eastern Lake Carriers (Papachristidis Co. Ltd.). Renamed b.) PETITE HERMINE in 1967. Purchased by Upper Lakes Shipping in 1972 and renamed c.) CANADIAN HUNTER. Scrapped at Alang, India, in 1996.
The Swedish freighter AMACITA was beached in sinking condition after hitting a shoal in the St. Lawrence near Brockville. It was refloated and towed to Kingston for hull and rudder repairs. The 10,137-gross-ton vessel also visited the Seaway as b) HERVANG in 1965 and arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as f) MALDIVE PIONEER on January 5, 1984, for scrapping.
1966
Two Canada Steamship Lines ships, LEMOYNE and MARTIAN, were in a collision while passing at Welland, and the former struck the Main Street Bridge during rush hour. The ships only received minor damage, but land and Welland Canal traffic was held up.
1976
The JOSEPH L. BLOCK was christened for Inland Steel Co.
1994
The tug A.F. FIFIELD was built at Port Dalhousie by Port Weller Dry Docks in 1955 and sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as c) J. MANIC while towing a barge from Sept Iles to Port Cartier. All on board were rescued.
Contributors & Sources
Skip Gillham, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Russ Plumb, Mike Nicholls, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II, and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series from the Marine Historical Society of Detroit.
