Today in Great Lakes History: May 31
The CITY OF SAGINAW 31 cleared
Manitowoc in 1973 in tow of the tug HELEN M McALLISTER, this was the first
leg of her tow to the cutters torch which ended at Castellon, Spain.
The wooden barge FANNY NEIL
was launched at the Muir, Livingstone & Co. yard in Port Huron, Michigan
on 31 May 1870. As was usual in those days, her name was not made public
until the streamer bearing her name was unfurled at the launch.
May 31, 1924 -- The PERE
MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington, Michigan on her maiden voyage. Captain
Charles E. Robertson in command.
The wooden tug MOCKING BIRD
was launched at 7:00 PM on 31 May 1873 (12 days late) at the Port Huron
Dry Dock Company yard. Her master builder was Alex "Sandy" Stewart. Her
dimensions were 123' x 23' x 8.4', 142 gt. The engine (26.5" x 30") was at
the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland, Ohio at the time of launch, ready to be
installed. Although this launch was twelve days late, it still did not go
smoothly since MOCKING BIRD got stuck in the river. However, with some
assistance from another tug, she was pulled free and was afloat at the
dock by midnight. She lasted until abandoned at Marquette, Michigan in
1918.
May 30
On 30 May 1896, ALGERIA
(3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 285 foot, 2038 gross tons) was launched by
J. Davidson (Hull #75) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1906
when she foundered near Cleveland, Ohio.
The COLUMBIA STAR began her
maiden voyage in 1981 from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to load iron ore
pellets at Silver Bay, Minnesota for Lorain, Ohio. She was the last of the
1000 footers to enter service and, excluding tug-barge units or
conversions, was the last new Great Lakes vessel on the American side.
During the economic depression
known as the "Panic of '73", shipbuilding came to a stand still. Orders
for new vessels were cancelled and worked was stopped on hulls that were
on the ways. On 30 May 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that a
recovery from the "Panic of '73" resulted in a surge of shipyard work at
Marine City. "Shipyards are getting ready to start business again with
full force. Mr. Fin Kenyon has begun building a steam barge for Kenyon
Bros. [the PORTER CHAMBERLAIN]; Mr. George King is going to build a steam
barge for Mr. Henry Buttironi [the GERMANIA]; Messrs. Hill and Wescott are
going to build a side wheel passenger boat for Mr. Eber Ward [the
NORTHERNER]; Mr. David Lester will build another steam barge [the CITY OF
DULUTH]. There is one barge on the stocks built by Mr. Hill for Mr.
Morley, that will soon be ready to launch [the N K FAIRBANK]."
At about 1:00 AM on 30 May
1882, the lumber hooker ROCKET, carrying shingles from Manistee to
Charlevoix, capsized about four miles abreast of Frankfort, Michigan on
Lake Michigan. The tug HALL found the vessel and towed her inside the
harbor. The crew were saved, but the vessel was split open and was a total
wreck.
May 29
The 71 foot tug and
patrol boat CARTER H HARRISON was launched at Chicago, Illinois on 29 May
1901, for the City of Chicago Police Department.
The STADACONA (1) (Hull#66)
was launched in 1909 at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works
for the Stadacona Steamship Co. (James Playfair, mgr.). Renamed b.) W H
MC GEAN in 1920 and c.) ROBERT S McC NAMARA in 1962.
JAMES R BARKER (Hull#905) was
float launched in 1976 at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for
the Interlake Steamship Co.
Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.’s
TADOUSSAC (2) (Hull#192) prematurely launched herself on this day in 1969 at
Collingwood, Ontario by
Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.
May 29, 1905 -- The PERE
MARQUETTE 20, while leaving Milwaukee in a heavy fog struck the scow HIRAM
R BOND of the Milwaukee Sand Gravel Company. The scow sank.
In 1909 the ANN ARBOR NO 4
capsized at Manistique, Michigan as a
result of an error in loading a heavy load of iron ore.
On 29 May 1889, BAVARIA
(3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 145 foot, 376 gross tons, built in 1873 at
Garden Island, Ontario) was carrying squared timber when she broke from
the tow of the steamer D D CALVIN and began to founder near Long Point in
Lake Erie. Her crew abandoned her, but all eight were lost. The abandoned
vessel washed ashore with little damage and lasted until 1898 when she was
destroyed in a storm.
PLEASURE (wooden passenger
ferry, 128 foot, 489 gross tons) (Hull#104) was launched at West Bay City,
Michigan by F.W. Wheeler & Co. on 29 May 1894. She was a small but
powerful ferry, equipped with a 1600 HP engine. She operated on the
Detroit River year round as a ferry and small ice breaker for the
Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company. She was broken up at
Detroit in 1940.
May 28
THOMAS W LAMONT
departed Toledo on her maiden voyage for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. on
May 28, 1930 bound for Duluth, Minnesota where she loaded iron ore.
May 28, 1900 -- The PERE
MARQUETTE 15 cut down the scow
SILVER LAKE, sinking
her with the loss of one life.
On 28 May 1902, WINONA (wooden
propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 100 foot, 231 gross tons) was
launched at Port Stanley, Ontario for
the Port Stanley Navigation Company. She lasted until 1931 when she
burned to a total loss.
On 28 May 1860, ARCTIC (wooden
side-wheeler, 237 foot, 861 tons, built in 1851 at Marine City, Michigan)
drove ashore on the east side of Lighthouse Island in Lake Superior in a
dense fog. The passengers and crew were able to make it to shore before a
storm arose and pounded the
ARCTIC to pieces. The passengers and crew were later picked up by the
steamer FOUNTAIN CITY.
The ferry SARNIA made her
first trip as a carferry between Port Huron and Sarnia on 27 May 1879. She
had burned in January 1879, then was converted to a carferry and served in
that capacity during the summer. In September 1879, she was converted to a
barge.
Lake Street Bridge
seem to be a particular mark for the steamers of the Western Transit
Line. Since the boats began to run about the Chicago river without tugs,
collisions with this bridge have been numerous, owing to its location on
the bend of the south branch. To-day the steamer SYRACUSE ran into the
west approach, doing $500 damage. The BOSTON recently struck in the same
place. The steamer NIKO fouled the North Halsted Street Bridge and
carried away her pilot house and texas.
Detroit, Mich., May
28. - Fog and smoke in the St. Clair River and the narrow channels of the
flats are once more troubling vesselmen and every morning when the
atmosphere is clouded the reports come down to Detroit of numerous
groundings and mixups and some of them smack of seriousness and narrow
escapes from disastrous collisions. On Thursday morning the rivers were
overhung with mist and fully half a dozen craft struck on the mud banks,
but only one of them, the CITY OF
ROME, ran out any and had to be assisted by a wrecking tug. Captains
are well aware of the tortuous course of the flats channel and take no
chances, but slow down on the coming of the fog and crawl along. If they
happen to keep their course so much the better and if the channel bank is
run into the engines are reversed and the boat lies to for the blowing
away of the curtain. There is no help for this obstacle, lights, fog
whistles and all other signals would serve but to confuse the mariners and
so long as the narrow channels remain the lake boats will be in constant
danger of hitting the channel sides in a fog.
Good Harbor, Michigan, May
31. - The steamer OWEGO of the Erie Railway line went ashore at the head
of North Manitou Island at 8 o’clock yesterday. Her forward compartment
is full of water. The OWEGO left
Chicago Tuesday bound for
Buffalo. Her cargo consists
of grain and merchandise.
Data from: Jody
Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy &
Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series, the Detroit Free
Press and the Duluth Evening Herald. This is a small sample, the books
includes many other vessels with a much more detailed history.
