Today in Great Lakes History
Today in Great Lakes History - June 17
The wooden schooner MONTEREY which stranded on Sleeping
Bear Point on Lake Michigan in early December 1890 was released on 17 June
1891.
The SCOTT MISENER (2) was christened on June 17, 1951 for
Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was the first vessel built at Port Weller
Drydocks Ltd.. Renamed b.) JOHN E F MISENER in 1954.
The PATERSON (1) collided with the steamer EDMUND W MUDGE
in 1957 in fog on the St. Clair River opposite Marine City, Michigan.
The WILLIAM A IRVIN was towed back to Duluth on June 17,
1986, by the tugs SIOUX and DAKOTA to be on station as a museum ship at the
new $3 million convention facility.
June 17, 1998 - The tug/barge PERE MARQUETTE 41/UNDAUNTED
arrived Ludington, Michigan from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin after the remainder
of the conversion there.
The propeller OWEN SOUND was launched at Collingwood,
Ontario on 17 June 1875. She measured 900 tons and could carry 30,000 bushels
of grain.
Today in Great Lakes History - June 18
The Soo Locks opened for their first season on 18 June
1855. The first vessel through the locks was the steamer ILLINOIS of 1853.
In 1949 the WILFRED SYKES (Hull#866) was launched at
American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio, for Inland Steel Co. At the time she
was the largest and most powerful vessel on the lakes. The SYKES was also the
first boat to have a poop deck.
1964 The SAGUENAY (Hull#647) was launched at Lauzon,
Quebec by Davie Ship Building Ltd, for Canada Steamship Lines.
1968 the ALGOCEN (Hull#191) was launched at Collingwood,
Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd, for Algoma Central Railway.
On 18 June 1869, a little less than a week after being
launched, Capt. Luce sailed the schooner DAVID A WELLS on her maiden voyage
from Port Huron for Menominee, Michigan.
On 18 June 1858, the steamship CANADA left the Lakes via
the St. Lawrence rapids since she was too large for the existing locks. She
had been built by Louis Shickluna at the Niagara Drydock Company in 1853 at a
cost of $63,000. She was sold for ocean service after the Depression of 1857.
Her hull was rebuilt and she was renamed MISSISSIPPI. She foundered in a gale
in the South Atlantic on 12 August 1862.
The venerable side-wheel passenger ferry TRILLIUM
(Hull#94) was launched June 18, 1910 at Toronto, Ontario by Polson Iron
Works., for the Toronto Ferry Co.
Today in Great Lakes History - June 19
On 19 June 1889, CHARLES J SHEFFIELD (steel propeller
passenger-package freight steamer, 259 foot, 1700 gross tons, built in 1886 at
Cleveland, Ohio) was rammed broadside in heavy fog by the NORTH STAR (steel
propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2476 gross tons, built in 1889 at Cleveland,
Ohio) in Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior. The NORTH STAR kept her bow in the
hole until the SHEFFIELD’s crew clambered aboard. When she backed away, the
SHEFFIELD sank in 8 minutes. Her loss was valued at $160,000.
1954 the GEORGE M HUMPHREY (Hull#871) (named for
President Eisenhower's Secretary of Treasury) launched at Lorain, Ohio by
American Shipbuilding Co, for National Steel Co., M.A. Hanna, mgr.
In 1978, the ALGOBAY (Hull#215) was launched at
Collingwood by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. for Algoma Central Railway.
On 19 June 1836, DELAWARE (wooden passenger/package
freight side wheeler, 105 foot, 178 tons, built in 1833 at Huron, Ohio) was
carrying general merchandise and passengers in a storm on Lake Michigan when
she was thrown ashore off Niles, Illinois. She broke in two and was wrecked.
No lives were lost.
On 19 June 1900 the wooden schooner THOMAS L HOWLAND was
raised and towed to Buffalo, New York for repairs. She had been sunk by the
ice off Windmill Point in the Detroit River early in the season.
At 5:30 PM, on 19 June 1872, the wooden package
freight/passenger propeller MONTANA (236 foot, 1535 gross tons) was finally
afloat at Port Huron, Michigan. She was successfully launched at the Port
Huron Dry Dock Company on Saturday, 15 June, but she got stuck in the mud. The
tugs VULCAN, PRINDEVILLE, BROCKWAY and BURNSIDE were all employed to free her
and the MONTANA's engines were also going. It took four days of pulling,
hoisting and dredging to free her. The effort to get her free and afloat cost
Alexander Muir, her builder, over $3,000 (in 1872 dollars). She lasted until
1914, when she burned near Alpena, Michigan.
Today in Great Lakes History - June 20
On 20 June 1893, GEORGE STONE (wooden propeller
freighter, 270 foot, 1841 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Co.
(Hull #98) at West Bay CIty, Michigan. She lasted until 1909 when she
stranded and burned on Lake Erie.
The WILLIAM P COWAN cleared Lorain, Ohio on her maiden
voyage in 1918. Renamed b.) AMOCO ILLINOIS in 1962. Scrapped at Windsor,
Ontario by M & M Steel Co. in 1987.
In 1903 the twin screw rail car ferry GRAND HAVEN
(Hull#92) was launched at Toledo, Ohio by the Craig Ship Building Co., for the
Grand Trunk Carferry Line, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On June 20, 1953, the Canada Steamship Lines bulk
freighter BURLINGTON collided with and sank the Paterson steamer SCOTIADOC in
Lake Superior.
On June 20, 1959, the SEAWAY QUEEN began her maiden
voyage. The vessel was appropriately named, as at the time she was the largest
Canadian vessel on the Great Lakes, the 2nd largest on the Great Lakes overall
(behind the EDMUND FITZGERALD), and she entered service the same week that
Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicated the
St. Lawrence Seaway. She was one of the more popular and classic looking
vessels on the Great Lakes.
June 20, 1936 - The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was blocked in
Manitowoc following an accident which disabled the Manitowoc Tenth Street
Bridge, making it impossible to raise the structure.
June 20, 1993 - The BADGER struck the Ludington breakwall
while arriving Ludington. She was sent to Sturgeon Bay for repairs. Ten
operatating days and twenty-one sailings were lost.
The 230 foot wooden freighter JAMES DAVIDSON (Hull#4) was
launched at West Bay City, Michigan for James Davidson at his shipyard on 20
June 1874. JAMES DAVIDSON was wrecked in Lake Huron in 1883.
The MINNEHAHA, a wooden "clipper" schooner, was launched
at James A. Baker's shipyard in Oswego, New York on 20 June 1857. Her
dimensions were 110 foot keel, 125 foot overall, x 25'6" x 10'6". She could
carry 13,000 bushels of grain. Mr. James Navagh, her master builder, received
a gold watch and chain worth $200 in appreciation of his fine work on this
vessel.
On Wednesday night, 20 June 1877, the schooner EVELINE
(wooden schooner, 118 foot, 236 gross tons, built in 1861 at Litchfield,
Michigan) was struck by lightning about sixty miles out from Alpena, Michigan.
The bolt shattered the mainmast, throwing three large pieces over the vessel's
sides. The large spar was split perpendicularly in two and the lightning bolt
followed the grain of the wood in a circular manner until it reached the main
boom jaw, which is enclosed in a band of iron fastened by a large bolt. This
bolt was literally cut in two. The mate, George Mayom, had the left side of
his body blistered and the skin burned off from the shoulder to the foot. His
right leg, hands and arm were also severely burned, and he suffered internal
injuries and bled freely. The vessel made it to port and she was repaired. She
lasted until September 1895 when she sank off Kewaunee, Wisconsin.
Today in Great Lakes History - June 21
On 21 June 1868, the D&C Lines’ MORNING STAR (wooden
side-wheel steamer, 243 foot, 1075 tons, built in 1862 at Trenton, Michigan)
was late in leaving her dock in Cleveland, Ohio because she was loading some
last-minute freight (iron bars and glass). As she sailed on Lake Erie to
Detroit during the dark and rainy night, she collided with the heavy-laden
bark COURTLAND and sank quickly, 10 miles off Lorain, Ohio. Reports of the
loss of life range from 32 to 45. Most of the survivors were picked up by the
passing steamer R N RICE. In September, MORNING STAR was raised, towed to
Lorain and resunk in 55 feet of water, for possible future rebuilding.
Attempts were made to raise her again several times, but in the summer of 1872
she was abandoned because it was determined that the previous attempts had
reduced her to rubble.
On 21 June 1878, the small passenger steamer J HOLT which
ran between Chatham and Wallaceburg, Ontario, burned on Lake St. Clair. The
passengers and crew escaped in the lifeboats.
On June 21, 1942, the LEON FRASER entered service as the
largest vessel on the Great Lakes. The Pittsburgh Steamship Co. bulk
freighter, originally 639'6" long, retained at least a tie for that honor
until the WILFRED SYKES entered service in 1949. Shortened, converted to a
self-unloading cement carrier and renamed b.) ALPENA in 1991.
June 21, 1942, the U.S. Steel bulk freighter EUGENE J
BUFFINGTON ran hard aground on Boulder Reef in Lake Michigan and broke in two.
The vessel was subsequently recovered and, after a long career with U.S.
Steel, was finally sold for scrap in 1980.
The M/V RANGER III (Hull#385) was side launched at
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Christy Corporation, on Saturday, June 21, 1958.
The vessel was custom designed by R.A. Stearns (Bay Engineering) also of
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for the National Park Service, Isle Royale National
Park.
On June 21, 1986, during a severe thunderstorm (and
unofficial observations of a funnel cloud) in the Duluth area, the JOSHUA A
HATFIELD broke loose from Azcon Scrap Dock in Duluth and was blown across the
harbor and ended up hard aground on Park Point (Minnesota Point). She remained
stuck for nearly 3 weeks when a storm with east winds pushed the HATFIELD free
and she blew most of the way back across the harbor back to the scrap dock.
Tugs were dispatched in time to safely guide the HATFIELD back to the scrap
dock. (June seems to be a bad month for U.S. Steel in accidents, with the June
7, 1977 accident involving the WILLIAM A IRVIN, the June 15, 1943 collision
between the D M CLEMSON and the GEORGE M HUMPHREY, and the June 21, 1942
grounding of the EUGENE J BUFFINGTON on Boulder Reef.)
June 21, 1916 - The ANN ARBOR NO 5, after departing the
shipyards in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 21, 1916 where 3 buckets (blades)
were replaced on her starboard propeller, arrived Manistique, Michigan. While
maneuvering around in the harbor she struck the rocky bottom and broke off the
same three blades off her starboard propeller.
June 21, 1994 - The Ludington Daily News reported a
planned sale of the CITY OF MIDLAND 41 to Contessa Cruise Lines of Minnesota.
The deal included an option to sell the SPARTAN and Contessa was prohibited
from competing against Lake Michigan Carferry Co., but it fell through.
The 3-mast wooden schooner GEORGE MURRAY was launched in
Manitowoc, Wisconsin on 21 June 1873. At the time, she was billed as the
largest vessel ever built on Lake Michigan. Her dimensions were 299 foot long
x 34 foot beam x 14 foot depth, with the capacity to carry 50,000 bushels of
grain. She was built by G. S. Rand for J. R. Slauson of Racine, Wisconsin.
On 21 June 1900 the wooden bulk freighter R C BRITTAIN
was raised at Toledo, Ohio. She was then brought to Sarnia where repairs were
made and the engine of the tug F A FOLGER was installed in her. She had
previously sunk at Toledo and remained there for several years before being
raised. She lasted until 1912 when she burned at Sarnia.
Data from: Jody Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, David Swayze,
Father Dowling Collection, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We
Remember series
This is a small sample, the books includes many other
vessels with a much more detailed history
