Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Searchers locate Henry B. Smith, victim of 1913 storm

6/9 - Duluth, Minn. – Just a few months shy of 100 years after it sank with all hands in a monstrous November storm, it appears that the freighter Henry B. Smith — one of the most sought-after lost wrecks of Lake Superior — has been found.

A group of shipwreck hunters has found a previously undiscovered wreck sitting largely intact amid a spilled load of iron ore in about 535 feet of water offshore from Marquette, Mich., and all evidence points to it being the Smith. Until last month, the 525-foot vessel had not been seen since it and its crew of 25 inadvertently sailed into the brunt of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.

“It’s the most satisfying find of my shipwreck-hunting career,” said Jerry Eliason of Cloquet, part of the group that has located a number of lost ships in recent years, though perhaps none as significant as the Smith.

“It’s a fantastic find,” said maritime historian Frederick Stonehouse of Marquette, who has written about the long-lost ship. “I’m excited at the opportunity to look at the video and see if we can learn the cause of the wreck, to write the final chapter of the ship.”

The Henry B. Smith was launched in 1906; its christening in Lorain, Ohio, on May 2 was reported in the next day’s Duluth News Tribune.

By 1913, “she had the reputation of being one of the staunchest steel ships on the lakes, and relatively new,” Stonehouse said.

That November brought one of the biggest storms recorded on the Great Lakes — one that would end up being by far the most destructive in terms of ships and lives lost, Stonehouse said. More than a dozen ships sank, and about 250 sailors died.

But as the storm picked up steam on Nov. 7 and 8, the Henry B. Smith was safe in the harbor at Marquette, taking on a load of iron ore. On the evening of Nov. 9, with loading complete, Captain James Owen decided to leave port, bound for Cleveland — even as other ships remained in the safety of the harbor.

“The lake was still rolling, but there seemed to be a lull in the wind, the velocity having dropped to 32 mph,” Duluth native, shipwreck expert and longtime University of Minnesota Duluth professor Julius Wolff wrote in “Lake Superior Shipwrecks.” “The gale already had hit the Soo with winds more than 50 mph for 36 hours and should have blown itself out. But, this was no conventional storm. In taking his vessel out of the safety of Marquette Harbor, Captain James Owen sailed into eternity.”

Sailors on other boats reported seeing deckhands on the Smith still battening down hatches as it went onto the open lake, Stonehouse recounts in his book “Went Missing.” Other witnesses watched the ship make a turn to port, as if Captain Owen had found the storm too strong and decided to head for the lee of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Then the Smith and its crew of 25 vanished into the maelstrom, and entered Great Lakes lore as a “ghost ship.” With many other ships sunk or in peril, and communications still primitive by today’s standards, it was several days before the Smith’s absence drew widespread concern.

Unidentified wreckage started washing ashore in the Marquette area, Stonehouse writes in “Went Missing,” and on Nov. 14 a local man reported finding an oar marked “Henry B. Smith” and other debris along the beaches east of Marquette. Over the following days, more debris traced to the Smith turned up farther east, toward Munising.

Then on Nov. 21, a passing steamer recovered the body of the Smith’s second cook wearing a life belt, 50 miles west of Whitefish Point. It was one of only two bodies recovered of the crew of 25, Stonehouse reports. The second, that of the ship’s third engineer, was found on Michipicoten Island the following May.

In June 1914, papers around Lake Superior — including the News Tribune — carried news of a sensational find: A message in a bottle, purportedly from the lost Smith, describing the ship breaking in two 12 miles east of Marquette.

“However, as the note was dated November 12 and the Smith had sailed on the 9th, presumably sinking that night, the authenticity of the find was doubted,” Wolff wrote. Lake Superior would reveal no more clues to the ship’s fate.

So how did the hunters find the Henry B. Smith with few clues amid the vast waters of Lake Superior?

Eliason is cagey about that, because he hopes to locate other lost wrecks using the same method and doesn’t want to tip his hand just yet. But it wasn’t a case of just taking a sonar unit out on the lake and spending days “mowing the lawn” — running a grid pattern over a large search area, hoping to turn up something. This time, the group pinpointed a very specific area to search, Eliason said, and in fact located the Smith just 20 minutes after dropping the sonar unit into the water.

It was the culmination of years of hunches, research and repeated information requests to obscure government agencies and archives — work that finally paid off with the acquisition of a veritable mountain of raw data.

Eliason’s wife, Karen, a software engineer, played a key role in interpreting that information.

“My son says I’m a shipwreck savant and my wife is a computer savant,” Jerry Eliason said. “It was a matter of processing the data, writing the formulas.”

“It was fun because we were doing something together, and the topic was very interesting,” Karen Eliason said. “This was a really sweet one.”

The data-processing pointed them toward a possible wreck about 30 miles north of Marquette.

“I thought, ‘That’s kind of in the same part of the world where the Henry Smith went down,” Jerry Eliason said.

So on May 24 he, along with fellow shipwreck hunters Kraig Smith of Rice Lake, Wis., and Ken Merryman of Minneapolis, headed out on the lake. Using a sonar unit developed by Eliason’s son, Jarrod, they quickly pinpointed the target wreck and dropped down an underwater camera.

That day and the next, with wreck-hunter Dan Fountain of Marquette joining in to help muscle the camera and its 500-foot tether, the photos and video captured enough details to convince the group that the ship is the Smith — though it did not capture the name on the side of the ship, something the group plans to try for on a return trip later this summer.

But the wreck’s location, its size, the iron ore cargo and details they were able to spot on camera — such as a unique “flying bridge” atop the pilothouse — leave no doubt in the minds of the wreck hunters and Stonehouse that it’s the Henry B. Smith.

“While we still don’t have absolute proof it’s the Henry B. Smith, it’s the only (lost) ship in the area of that size that had iron ore,” said Merryman, who like the others in the group has decades of experience searching for Lake Superior wrecks. Stonehouse also said the Smith is the only missing wreck that would match the location and other evidence.

While a lot of work went into identifying the search location, the relative ease in locating the wreck once out on the lake was a big departure from past finds.

“A number of wrecks we’ve found have been over the span of 20 years searching, multiple times a year,” Kraig Smith said. “Going and finding a wreck 20-some miles offshore in the span of a couple hours is extraordinary.”

What now?

Now that the Smith has been found, there is work to be done. Finding the wreck “asks more questions than it answers,” Stonehouse said. “(The shipwreck hunters) climbed Mount Everest” in finding the wreck, he said. “Now you have to see what you can see from there.”

First up is returning to the site this summer to further document the wreck with underwater cameras on long cables from the surface; the ship’s depth puts it out of reach of divers without extremely specialized — and expensive — technology.

It appears that the ship is broken in the middle, Merryman said, with the forward part listing a bit but very intact.

“It’s a beautiful wreck” with great visibility, he said. “No zebra mussels; clean.”

The stern has more damage, Merryman said. Perhaps a boiler exploded, or pressure built up during the sinking burst out.

More time at the wreck should answer many questions, but the shipwreck hunters are starting to piece together possible scenarios for the Smith’s demise.

“It’s very clear to me that this one appeared to have broken on the surface, spilled its iron ore contents over the bottom, and then landed on the iron ore,” Eliason said.

The group already appears to have firmly debunked that dubious message in a bottle, which placed the Smith in a very different location.

Eliason said he’d been considering retiring from wreck hunting, given the enormous time and effort it requires. He wasn’t expecting to come up with more significant finds on Lake Superior. “This was a gift from the lake gods,” Eliason said.

Merryman said that as the group left port last month, he had a feeling something special was in the making.

“When things need to happen, they happen,” he said. “It’s the 100th anniversary. This would be a great memorial, a commemoration of all the people who died in the storm.”

Duluth News Tribune




Today in Great Lakes History - June 9

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) hosted Admiral George Dewey on her inaugural trip from Cleveland, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, on 09 June 1900. Admiral Dewey had just returned from his conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish American War and was a national hero. TASHMOO entered regular service for the White Star Line two days later.

The Lubeck, Germany-built, 305-foot Greek freighter CASTALIA of 1953 struck the north tower pier of the Mackinac Bridge at 7 p.m. on 09 June 1968, in dense fog. The bridge was not damaged and the ship took on water, but was able to proceed to Chicago without assistance.

LIGHTSHIP 103 was delivered to the 12th District Headquarters at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1921, to begin her Great Lakes career.

June 9, 1983, ALGOWEST loaded a record 1,047,758 bushels of wheat at Thunder Bay, Ontario.

ROGER BLOUGH began sea trials in 1972.

June 9, 1911, The ANN ARBOR NO 1 was raised by Smith Wrecking Company of Muskegon after being considered a menace to navigation by the Coast Guard (she had been sunk by the south breakwater at Frankfort, Michigan, after burning on March 8th). She was taken to Muskegon, and repaired sufficiently to become a sand scow for the Love Construction Company. The cost of raising her was $8,000. On 9 June 1884, ANNAPEE (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 71 foot, 118 gross tons, built in 1867, at Ahnapee (Wolf River), Wisconsin) was bound from Torch Lake, Michigan, for Milwaukee with a load of railroad ties and cordwood when she stranded in fog on North Point in Lake Michigan, 2 1/2 miles from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Later a strong wind blew her into the rocks and she broke up. No lives were lost and part of her cargo was saved.

On 9 June 1882, the LIZZIE A. LAW (wooden schooner, 196 foot, 747 gross tons, built in 1875, at Port Huron, Michigan) collided with the R.B. HAYES (wooden schooner, 147 foot, 668 gross tons, built in 1877, at Gibraltar, Michigan) near the foot of Lake Huron. Although the LAW suffered severe damage, she completed her trip to Buffalo and was repaired there. The LAW lasted until 1908, when she was lost in a storm.

1909 ASSINIBOIA and CRESCENT CITY were washed through the Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie when the upbound PERRY WALKER struck the lower gate. All three ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.

1963 The newly built SILVER ISLE of Mohawk Navigation and the PRINS ALEXANDER of the Oranje Line, collided in fog and rain on the St. Lawrence near Kingston. Both ships required repairs. The former was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2010 as ALGOISLE while the latter struck a reef and sank in the Red Sea as f) POLIAIGOS on December 28, 1980.

1979 The French freighter MELUSINE first came to the Great Lakes in 1962 and returned as b) LENA in 1978. It sank the French fishing vessel ANTIOCHE III in the English Channel with the loss of 4 lives on this day in 1979. LENA was scrapped at Ferrol, Spain, in 1982, after suffering engine damage on a voyage from Bilbao, Spain, to Detroit.

1998 COMMON VENTURE began Great Lakes trading in 1980. It broke loose of its moorings in a cyclone as f) PEARL OF DAMMAN and grounded at Kandla, India, on this date in 1998. The ship was loaded with sulphur and sustained considerable damage. Following a sale for scrap, the 27 year old carrier arrived at Alang, India, September 12, 1998, for dismantling.

1998 TOKAI MARU was a first time Seaway caller in 1977 and a return visitor as b) EASTERN HERO in 1993. This ship was also blown aground off Kandla, India, by the same cyclone. It was now d) SURPRISE and became a total loss. This ship arrived at Alang October 8, 1998, and was broken up.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Algoma Provider scrap tow departs for Turkey

6/10 - With the tug VB Artico on the bow, the former Algoma Provider – its name shortened to OVI for her last voyage, stack markings painted over and a homeport of Freetown (Sierra Leone) lettered on the stern – was towed from Montreal early Sunday morning bound for a Turkish scrapyard. The 730-foot vessel was built at Collingwood, Ont., for Canada Steamship Lines in 1963 as Murray Bay and also sailed for the Upper Lakes fleet as Canadian Provider. She made only a few trips last fall under Algoma Central colors and the Algoma Provider name. With the departure of the Provider, there are only two steam-powered vessels left in the Canadian lakes and Seaway fleet, Algoma Montrealais and Algoma Quebecois. The former is sailing this year, but the later remains laid up.



Today in Great Lakes History - June 10

On 10 June 1891, the tug AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller tug, 46 gross tons, built in 1865, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the tug ALVA B (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 83 gross tons, built in 1890, at Buffalo, New York), which was not in motion, about 2.5 miles west of the Cleveland breakwater. The ALVA B hooked up a line and started towing the AMERICAN EAGLE in, but she sank a half-mile from the harbor entrance.

On 10 June 1891, the CHARLES W. WETMORE (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,399 gross tons) left the shipyard at West Superior, Wisconsin, on her maiden voyage, bound for Liverpool, England with a cargo of grain. During her trip to the Atlantic Ocean, she shot the St. Lawrence River rapids. In Liverpool, she loaded machinery for Puget Sound. She only lasted until September 1892, when she stranded one mile north of Coos Bay, Oregon in fog. Bad weather stopped salvage attempts and the vessel was abandoned.

Bethlehem's LEWIS WILSON FOY loaded her first cargo June 10, 1978, at Burlington Northern #5, Superior, Wisconsin, with 57,952 tons of Hibbing taconite pellets for Burns Harbor, Indiana. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991.

In 1892, the keel for the ANN ARBOR NO 1 (Hull#55) was laid at Toledo, Ohio by Craig Shipbuilding Co.

The ANN ARBOR NO 4 was sold to the Michigan State Ferries in 1937, and renamed b.) CITY OF CHEBOYGAN.

On 10 June 1877, while lying at her dock at Detroit, the wooden side-wheeler R N RICE burned. The damage was estimated at $30,000. After this fire, she was rebuilt as a barge.

The propeller MONTGOMERY burned in the early morning hours of 10 June 1878. The fire started while she was laying at the dock in Point Edward, Ontario. The carferry INTERNATIONAL towed her out into the St. Clair River and cast her off to drift. Fortunately there were no injuries. She finally was beached opposite Batchelor's Mill on the Canadian side by the tugs CRUSADER and J H MARTIN. At 10:00 a.m., she was still burning. The MONTGOMERY was a steam barge of 1,104 tons, built in 1856, and owned by Capt. John Pridgeon. She was fully loaded with 29,000 bushels of corn, 320 barrels of flour, 540 barrels of corn meal, 200 bags of timothy seed and 111 bales of broom corn, besides other freight. The local papers claimed that the spectacle presented by the burning vessel as she drifted down the river was "grand and beautiful". The light was so brilliant that the entire city of Port Huron was illuminated and many people came out to watch. The following day, the wreck was towed to the American side of the river just below Avery's Mill. Whatever was left of her cargo was taken off and sold. Her engines and boiler were so badly warped and twisted from the intense heat that they were worthless except as scrap.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer dredge MARKHAM (Hull#904) was launched in 1959, at Avondale, Louisiana, by Avondale Marine Ways Inc.

1940 – PAIPOONGE was cut in two and left the Great Lakes for saltwater service in 1919. It was registered in Latvia as d) KAUPO when it was sunk as a blockship at Dieppe, France, on this date in 1940. The hull was reported as refloated and scrapped in 1946-1947.

1942 – CONTINENT came to the Great Lakes in 1939-1940. The Newfoundland owned freighter was on a bareboat charter to the U.S. Army when it sank, following a collision with the American tanker BYRON D. BENSON, while enroute from New York to Bermuda.

1967 – The former Norwegian Seaway salty FRO was abandoned in sinking condition as c) WINSOME after a fire broke out in the cargo holds and spread throughout the ship on June 10, 1967. The vessel was enroute to Bangkok, Thailand, when it sank in the South China Sea.

1968 – JOHN T. HUTCHINSON suffered damage above the waterline when it was in a collision with the SUSANNE REITH at the head of Lake St. Clair. The latter, a West German salty, was on her first trip to the Great Lakes. This ship was eventually scrapped after arriving at Alang, India, as m) ALFA I on October 18, 2000.

1977 – RUTHIE MICHAELS came inland in 1970 and last reported in as d) EUROBULKER on June 10, 1977. The ship was enroute from Djibouti, to Bandar Shahpoir, Iran when it disappeared with the entire crew of 29. The ship is believed to have sunk off the coast of Oman perhaps as late as June 12.

1998 – The Greek flag bulk carrier OLYNTHIA first traveled the Seaway in 1978. It ran aground off Veraval, India, as d) OCEAN CRUISER in a tropical cyclone while bound for the United Arab Emirates. While released, it appears that the 26-year-old ship never sailed again and was broken up at Bharnvar, India, due to the damage.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lakes stone trade up 5.8 percent in May

6/11 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.5 million tons in May, an increase of 5.8 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were also in line with Mays total in recent years.

Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 3 million tons, an increase of 11.5 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings at Canadian quarries dipped by nearly 20 percent 510,000 tons.

Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 5.7 million tons, a decrease of 6.9 percent compared to a year ago, and 7.8 percent below the average for the January-May timeframe in recent years.



Lawmakers ask Army Corps to rush Saginaw River emergency dredging project

6/11 - Saginaw, Mich. – A group of federal lawmakers want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve $1.2 million in emergency dredging to re-open the Saginaw River to shipping. The lawmakers say this year's heavy spring rains sent sediment down the river and restricted shipping to and from businesses in the Saginaw area.

Both of Michigan's U.S. senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, joined U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, in sending a letter on May 30 to Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the Army overseeing civil works operations and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Specifically, the storms resulted in shoaling of the Saginaw River turning basin, reducing its depth from 20 feet to 12-13 feet," they wrote. "This change means that larger vessels cannot get up to businesses in Saginaw, and smaller vessels have to back up the river, making for dangerous navigation."

Using a $1.2 million estimate from the Corps of Engineers on the cost of emergency dredging of the turning basin, the federal lawmakers asked for funds to be allocated to the Saginaw River project as quickly as possible.

"Your prompt attention to this serious situation is essential," the lawmakers wrote. "It is imperative that the Saginaw River navigation channel is restored to its required depths."

The study would aim at determining whether or not the Corps of Engineers should re-dredge the shipping channel that runs from the Saginaw Bay to the turning basin, located near the northern border of Saginaw. That study is expected to cost about $594,000, and the county would be asked to pay about half of the up-front cost if the study were funded on the federal level.

The Board of Commissioner's County Services Committee recommended the county move forward with the study. County attorneys were asked to look over the 15-page agreement before the matter returned to the full board for consideration at its June 18 meeting.






Today in Great Lakes History - June 11

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) entered regular service for the White Star Line at Detroit, Michigan, on 11 June 1900.

On 11 June 1903, HORACE H. BADGER (wooden 3-mast schooner, 129 foot, 263 gross tons, built in 1867, at Conneaut, Ohio as a 2-mast schooner, formerly KATE GILLETT) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie. She was driven onto the breakwater at Cleveland, Ohio and broke up in the storm waves. The crew of seven was rescued by the Life Saving Service. This vessel had been wrecked twice before; once at Cross Village, Michigan, in 1895, and again near Alpena, Michigan in 1896.

ATLANTIC SUPERIOR (Hull#222) was float-launched at Thunder Bay, Ontario, by Port Arthur Ship Building Co. Ltd., in 1982, for Federal Commerce & Navigation Ltd., Montreal, Quebec (Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., mgr.), built for the Caribbean trade.

MESABI MINER was christened at Duluth, Minnesota in 1977; she became the fourth thousand-foot bulk carrier on the Great Lakes and Interlake Steamship Co.'s second.

CARL D. BRADLEY (Hull#718) cleared Lorain, Ohio, in her gray and white livery in 1917, on her maiden voyage light bound for Calcite, Michigan, to load limestone. She was the first Great Lakes commercial ship equipped with both Morse code telegraphy as well as ship-to-shore radio in 1922, which was standard on only 20 vessels by 1924. Renamed b.) JOHN G. MUNSON in 1927, c.) IRVIN L. CLYMER in 1951, she was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota, in 1994-5.

June 11, 1981 - The BADGER steamed out of Ludington en route to Milwaukee under an MDOT subsidy that was approved earlier in March.

The propeller E. B. HALE was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, at the yard of Quayle & Sons on 11 June 1874. Her length was 217 foot keel, 227 foot overall. She was owned by Capt. Bradley, Mr. Thomas Quayle and Mr. Loomis, and she cost $100,000.

The wooden rabbit J. S. RUBY was launched at Fair Haven, Michigan, on 11 June 1881. Her dimensions were 106 feet 6 inches x 21 feet x 7 feet. She was towed to Port Huron for the installation of her boiler and engine that were built by the Phoenix Iron Works. She lasted until burned to a total loss off Stag Island in the St. Clair River on November 9, 1891.

1872 – Fire broke out aboard the passenger steamer KINGSTON about 18 miles upstream after the ship had left Brockville for Toronto. The ship was beached and the superstructure was destroyed but there were only two casualties. The hull was rebuilt at Montreal and later sailed as BAVARIAN, ALGERIAN and CORNWALL before being scuttled in Lake Ontario about 1929.

1936 – AYCLIFFE HALL sank in fog shrouded off Long Point, Lake Erie after a collision with the EDWARD J. BERWIND. All 19 on board were rescued. After salvage efforts failed, the rigging was blown clear by explosives. The EDWARD J. BERWIND was repaired and last sailed as LAC STE. ANNE in 1982.

1942 – HAVTOR, a Norwegian freighter, first came to the Great Lakes in 1932 and returned as late as 1939. It was sunk by a German submarine enroute from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and 6 of the crew were lost.

1950 – The Italian freighter MARIA PAOLINA G. had been built in Canada as FORT ISLAND in 1944. It was downbound from the Saguenay River when it struck the Canada Steamship Lines passenger steamer ST. LAWRENCE, which had turned to dock at Tadoussac. Injuries were reported by 25 people and 30 cabins were damaged aboard the CSL ship.

1978 – The hull of the former passenger steamer RAPIDS QUEEN arrived at Toronto under tow from Kingston to be sunk as a breakwall off for the Queen City Yacht Club. It is still there.

1993 – PITRIA SKY first visited the Great Lakes in 1978. It departed Singapore for Shantou in southeast China, as h) HAI HONG 3 on June 11, 1993, but went back out to sea on arrival to ride out a pending typhoon. The ship was never seen again and it disappeared with all hands.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - June 12

On 12 June 1898, SAKIE SHEPHERD (wooden propeller freighter, 100 foot, 189 gross tons, built in 1883, at Huron, Ohio) burned while at the dock in Courtright, Ontario. The fire was discovered at 1:00 a.m. and the crew just had time to escape. The schooner YOUNG AMERICA also caught fire and had damage done to her stern. The SHEPHERD was towed to Detroit where she was rebuilt and lasted until 1903, when she sank in Lake Huron.

On 12 June 1900, the UNIQUE (wooden propeller, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold at public auction at St. Clair, Michigan to satisfy a mortgage. W. J. Laidlaw of Ogdensburg, New York purchased her for $20,000 for the Rapid Transit Co. to run between Ogdensburg and Kingston, Ontario. In 1904, her upper cabins were removed and she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York City harbor.

"STUBBY", the bow and stern sections of the STEWART J. CORT welded together, passed Port Colborne, Ontario on June 12, 1970, bound for Erie, Pennsylvania under her own power. STUBBY's bow and stern sections were later separated at Erie Marine, Inc., a Div. of Litton, and joined to the 816 foot hull mid-body.

The NANTICOKE (Hull#218) departed Collingwood, Ontario in 1980, beginning her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

In 1959, the BENSON FORD of 1924 ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel on her upbound trip with coal for the Rouge Plant. After five days of lightering and with tug assistance, she was freed. Damage amounted to 41 bottom plates, which took 30 days to repair.

On 12 June 1832, the wooden schooner GUERRIER was sailing from Oswego, New York for Detroit when she capsized in a squall off Bar Point on Lake Erie. Captain Pember and the crew and most of the passengers made it to the Canadian shore, but one family was trapped in the cabin. The husband was able to keep his head above water in the upside down cabin, but through the night, one by one, his four children and then his wife slipped from his grasp and perished. The following day, Capt. Stanard took his steamer NIAGARA to the wreck and rescued the man.

On 12 June 1900, the steel tow barge BRYN MAWR (Hull#41) was launched at South Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.

The wooden propeller freighter MILWAUKEE (264 foot, 1,770 gross tons) was launched at Quayle & Sons yard in Cleveland, Ohio on 12 June 1879, for the Western Transportation Company of Buffalo, New York. She had supporting arches above decks. In 1902, she was renamed YONKERS and rebuilt as a barge in 1911. She lasted until 1917-1918 when she stranded, then burned.

1897 – I.W. NICHOLAS (ii) stranded at Point Aux Pins in fog and was released two days later. The ship needed drydocking for repairs.

1904 – The sidewheel passenger ship CANADA sank on her side off Sorel after a collision with the CAPE BRETON. Five of the 110 on board perished. The ship was refloated and rebuilt at Sorel in 1905 as ST. IRENEE which later became part of the C.S.L. Fleet.

1919 – GERMAN was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1918 and renamed b) YANKEE. It sank after a collision with the Italian steamer ARGENTIA off Fire Island, NY, while enroute from Norfolk, VA to Boston MA with coal. The hull has been found and is in two pieces on the ocean floor.

1977 – The VERA CRUZ first came to the Great Lakes in 1964 as a 10-year old Liberian flag freighter. It foundered in the Arabian Sea as c) BUKOM ISLAND on June 12, 1974, during a cyclone. The ship was enroute from Umm Said, Qatar, to Singapore with a cargo of bagged fertilizer and seven lives were lost.

1978 – YELLOWSTONE had been built as the C-4 troop carrier MARINE PERCH in 1944. After being laid up in the Reserve Fleet, it was rebuilt as a bulk carrier and renamed at Tampa in 1965. The ship was downbound in the Seaway with grain from Duluth to North Africa in May 1978 and sank after a collision in fog with the IBN BATOUTA on June 12, 1978. YELLOWSTONE was taken in tow but went down June 13 about 14 miles south of Gibraltar. Five lives were lost.

1993 – The deep-sea tug VORTICE was abandoned after fire broke out near the Canary Islands, while on a voyage from Bari, Italy, to Veracruz, Mexico. The vessel was laid up, unrepaired, and then towed to Canada for McKeil Marine. It received partial repairs but was sold and left the lakes for additional work. It returned inland as e) NORFOLK in 2005 and now serves Lafarge North America Inc. as f) SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.



Lakes Coal Trade Down 11.3 Percent in May

6/12 - Cleveland, Ohio - Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 2.6 million tons in May, a decrease of 11.3 percent compared to a year ago.

Shipments from Lake Superior ports totaled 1.6 million tons, just slightly below the level of a year ago. Included in that total were 250,000 tons loaded in Superior, Wisconsin, and transshipped to Quebec City for loading into oceangoing ships. Exports to Europe from Superior total 536,000 tons through May.

Loadings in Chicago totaled 300,000 tons, a decrease of approximately 75,000 tons compared to a year ago.

Shipments from Lake Erie ports totaled 650,000 tons, a decrease of 25 percent compared to a year ago.

Year-to-date the Lakes coal trade stands at 5.4 million tons, a decrease of 13.5 percent compared to a year ago.

Lake Carriers Association

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - June 13

On 13 June 2003, after completing her conversion from American to Canadian registry, Lower Lakes Towing's newly-acquired MICHIPICOTEN, a.) ELTON HOYT 2ND, departed the Government dock at Sarnia, Ontario. First she went to the Shell Oil dock in Corunna, Ontario to fuel, then she departed for Marquette, Michigan to load ore for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 13 June 1902, METROPOLIS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 168 foot, 425 tons, built in 1868, at Detroit, Michigan) caught fire and burned to a total loss at her dock in Toledo, Ohio. She was only used occasionally for excursions and spent most of her time tied up to the dock.

On June 13, 1983, JOHN B. AIRD began its maiden voyage for Algoma Central Railway, a load of coal from Thunder Bay to Nanticoke, Ontario.

IRVING S. OLDS carried a record 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943, from Lake Superior and transported a total of 736,800 short tons of various bulk cargoes the next year.

On the morning of June 13, 1905, running downbound on Lake Superior, the heavily-laden SYLVANIA encountered heavy fog as she approached the Soo. Confused whistle signals resulted in the SYLVANIA glancing off the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., steamer SIR HENRY BESSEMER, which sustained a 175-foot port side gash from the SYLVANIA's anchor. The BESSEMER required $40,000 in repairs and the SYLVANIA's damage totaled $10,000, which included a new anchor and shell plating which was completed at the Craig Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, Ohio.

June 13, 1930 - Shortly after leaving Menominee, Michigan, fireman Walter O'Leary of the ANN ARBOR NO 7 became ill. The carferry proceeded at full speed to the nearest doctor at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where surgery was performed to remove gallstones.

June 13, 1974 - The CITY OF GREEN BAY, formerly WABASH was sold to Marine Salvage Company to be scrapped. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1974.

On 13 June 1903, CHARLES H. DAVIS (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 145 foot, 391 gross tons, built in 1881, at Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying limestone on Lake Erie off Cleveland when she developed a leak which quickly got worse and admitted water faster than her pumps capacity. She sank near the Cleveland breakwater. She was an unusual vessel, reportedly built of pine and pointed at both ends with her planking set diagonally.

1905 – The wooden steamer YAKIMA had stranded in Lake St. Clair on June 10, 1905, but caught fire and burned on this date while waiting to be salvaged. The remains were later towed into Lake Huron and scuttled.

1906 – The newly-built J. PIERPONT MORGAN carried a record 13, 294 tons of iron ore out of Escanaba for Chicago.

1944 – CANADIAN OTTER was built at Welland in 1920 but, in 1944, was sailing as f) FUKOKU MARU as a Japanese army cargo ship. It was sunk by aircraft from U.S.S. ESSEX while in a convoy from Philippines to Japan in the overnight hours of June 13-14, 1944.

1959 – A fire in the crew quarters of the FEDERAL PIONEER, docked at Section 51 in Montreal, was quickly controlled with only minor damage and sailing was delayed by three hours. The ship was a frequent Seaway trader for Federal Commerce and Navigation, now known as FedNav, and arrived at Hsinkiang, China, for scrapping on January 21, 1971.

1978 – Seven men were lost aboard the ANCO DUKE while cleaning tanks out in the Pacific. They were likely overcome by fumes. The ship later came to the Great Lakes as c) LAKE ANETTE in 1980, as d) SATU MAR in 1984 and as e) TOVE COB in 1987. It was scrapped in Bangladesh in 1993.

1978 – The bulk carrier ARCTIC hit the Cherry Street Bridge at Toledo on its first trip and had to return to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1980 – TROYAN first came through the Seaway in 1972. The ship began leaking in heavy weather as c) SUNRISE and foundered June 13, 1980, in the outer anchorage at Bombay, India, while enroute from Japan to Damman, Saudi Arabia, with bagged cement.

2004 – The SINGAPORE STAR first came to the Great Lakes in 1982. It caught fire in the accommodation area while on the Black Sea as c) BARBADOS OKTAY on June 13, 2004. The ship was carrying scrap steel from Novorossiysk, Russia, to Eregli, Turkey. The blaze was put out with tug assistance but the ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, to be broken up on July 19, 2004.






Buoy camera catches waves and sunsets on Lake Michigan

6/13 - Holland, Mich. – Want to catch a sunset in Lake Michigan with no land in sight? Or feel what it’s like to bob in the waves during a storm?

A weather buoy that got its start thanks to Holland area businesses and groups is now broadcasting video at regular intervals three miles offshore of Port Sheldon in about 85 feet of water.

“This webcam is the first of its kind in the Great Lakes and is capable of transmitting high-resolution images and video clips over the Internet on a regular basis,” said Ed Verhamme, project engineer of LimnoTech, an Ann Arbor environmental engineering company.

Video clips and images are updated every two hours between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily.

Images are available at www.limnotechdata.com/stations/PortSheldon.

For a sample, catch a sunset on May 31: www.limnotechdata.com/stations/PortSheldon/Archive/Video/May/31/PortSheldonMay312013_20hh15mm01ss.mp4.php

The camera is experimental. There is one in Lake Michigan and another in Lake Erie, Verhamme said. The images will be used by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters to verify current conditions and to estimate visibility on the water.

The buoy was first put in the water last year two miles off Tunnel Park. It sends back wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wave height and period and surface water temperature. The program was started by the Holland Board of Public Works, Holland Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Louis Padnos Iron and Metal and LimnoTech. Supporters also included the Holland Area Sailing Council, Holland Steelheaders, the Community Foundation of the Holland Zeeland Area, Anchorage Marina and the Surfrider Foundation of Lake Michigan.

This year, charter boat groups from Holland and Grand Haven and the Grand Haven Steelheaders paid for a device that measures temperature of the lake from the surface to the bottom, Verhamme added.

A $100,000 grant from the Great Lakes Observing System is funding a large part of the purchase, deployment, maintenance and retrieval of the buoy for the next three years, though supporters are needed for the camera.

“We’re trying to see if it’s useful and bring it back next year,” Verhamme said.

The buoy was put in Lake Michigan on May 22 with the help from NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Muskegon. It’s halfway between the Grand Haven and Holland areas, two of the busiest boating and beach communities on the Great Lakes, Verhamme said.

The Holland Sentinel




Great Lakes ships forced to sail lighter through shallow waters

6/13 - Lakers continue to steam toward Cleveland laden with iron ore and limestone, but a practiced eye might notice the mighty ships riding a bit higher than normal on the horizon.

With water levels on the Great Lakes at record lows, captains are taking on less cargo and running light, trying to make sure they don't run aground.

Anxious shippers, meanwhile, are tallying the losses in tons and dollars, fearful that a $34 billion Great Lakes maritime trade is in trouble.

"We have to keep going because our customers rely on us," said Mark Barker, president of Cleveland-based Interlake Steamship Company, which supplies steel mills and power plants throughout the Great Lakes region. "At some point, you run out of water. At what point do you stop sailing?"

He worries that point is approaching.

Due to recent dry summers and the mild winter of 2011-2012, lake levels are at some of their lowest levels in known history. The conditions are most extreme in the northern lakes, especially Michigan and Huron, but the freshwater flows south and precious little of it has been reaching Lake Erie.

Water levels on the shallowest of the Great Lakes dropped two feet from January 2012 to January 2013. And while lakefront property owners may be enjoying larger beaches, the people who rely upon the lakes for commerce are seeing too much new land.

The new shallows result from a one-two punch: a long-term drought and an unprecedented 2012. A lake level that typically fluctuates with the seasons saw its water level fall every month for 12 straight months last year.

"That never happened before, going back to 1918, when record-keeping began,” said Keith Kompoltowicz, the chief of watershed hydrology at the Detroit office of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Spring rains have helped replenish Erie but the lake is expected to remain six to eight inches below average levels for at least another six months, Kompoltowicz said.

More concerning are water levels on the upper lakes, which reached their lowest levels on record in January. The Great Lakes comprise one big nautical highway, and shallow harbors on Lake Superior or Lake Michigan affect shipping to Lorain, Cleveland, Ashtabula and beyond.

Barker, whose family has run the steamship company for 100 years, said his nine ships are forced to load less ore at docks on the Superior iron ranges because of shallow harbors and channels they must traverse en route to Lake Erie customers.

With vessels that stretch up to 1,000 feet in length, shipping is a game of inches.

Barker said his lakers typically enjoy a 28- to 29-foot draft. The draft is how deep a ship is submerged in water. This spring, his ships have been forced to draft at about 25 feet to slip into harbors without scraping bottom. He must shed 250 tons of cargo for every lost inch of draft.

"If you do the math, that's 6,000 tons per trip," he said. "That's 300,000 tons over the course of a season. That's 20 percent of my cargo carrying capacity."

He's not the only one wasting space and losing money. "Any ship coming into the Cleveland Bulk Terminal is lighter than it could be," he noted.

Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Rocky River-based Lake Carrier's Association, which represents the 57-ship U.S. fleet on the Great Lakes, said the economic cost of the lost cargo ripples from shipper to customer to consumer.

"Our largest ships are losing 10,000 tons of cargo each trip," he said. "This is very, very much a crisis."

It's not a crisis that's easily addressed. Shippers blame their troubles on inadequate dredging of shipping channels by the Army Corps of Engineers. But the Corps is restricted in what it can do by Congressional mandates and a budget that puts a priority on servicing the busiest harbors, like Cleveland's.

"We typically don't have enough money to dredge all the harbors we'd like," said Mike Asquith, the dredging program manager for the Corps' Buffalo office.

Relief may come from the Water Resources Development Act, which would provide more funding for dredging on the Great Lakes. It recently passed the U.S. Senate and is under consideration in the House.

Meanwhile, Mother Nature has a big role to play. The "biggest drivers" of water levels on the lakes are rain, evaporation and runoff, Kompoltowicz said. A mild winter means little snowmelt in the watershed to run off into lakes and streams.

Add a dry summer and shippers, like farmers, are praying for rain.

Cleveland Plain Dealer




Wind tower manufacturer sending regular shipments aboard Badger

6/13 - Ludington, Mich. – Vacationers taking the SS Badger across Lake Michigan this summer will be accompanied by oversize trailers carrying massive pieces of steel. The ship is carrying wind towers produced in Wisconsin and headed to wind farms under construction in Michigan.

The Badger is carrying the huge towers under an arrangement that extended its shipping season last year.

This year, after operators of the Badger reached an agreement over coal ash dumping into the lake, the sailing season resumed two weeks earlier than usual, in early May, to accommodate shipment of the towers, manufactured by Broadwind Energy in Manitowoc.

The Badger was allowed to keep sailing after the federal Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement, filed in federal court in Michigan, under which the ship will stop dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan after next year.

Carrying oversize freight isn't new for the Badger, says spokeswoman Terri Brown."The S.S. Badger is 410 feet long and was built to carry 30 railway cars," she said. nThe ship carried more than 500 tower sections from Broadwind last year.

The Broadwind factory is busy because of orders received last year as well as the decision in Congress for an extension of the wind energy tax credit and on tariffs the U.S. government imposed on wind towers produced in China and Vietnam.

Following that move, in the company's fiscal first quarter, "our tower orders were the highest we've seen since 2009," Broadwind chief executive Peter Duprey said during an investor conference call last month. Through early May, the company had received nearly $130 million in tower orders.

As a result, the company has enough business to keep its Manitowoc and Texas wind tower factories busy through the end of 2013 and into 2014, he said.

Broadwind expects to produce 500 wind towers in 2014, which would put both factories at full capacity. "We see 2014 being a record year in our tower business, and we are very focused on expanding our production capacity in our existing footprint through some of our continuous improvement initiatives," he said.

Broadwind makes towers that rise 80 to 100 meters, or at least 262 feet. Each one consists of three to five sections.

And shipping them is a big job. Trailers hauling the towers onto the Badger in Manitowoc use special crews to load and unload the sections. The trailers themselves are so long that the back end of each has its own motor and steering system.

By using the ferry, wind project developers avoid having to haul the towers through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and across the Mackinac Bridge. Hundreds of shipments of wind components are expected to travel aboard the Badger this year.

In 2012, the ferry said its wind shipments totaled 25,000 tons and ended up saving wind project developers 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel, or roughly $120,000 in fuel costs.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel



First glimpse of Marquette shipwreck Henry B. Smith

6/13 - Marquette, Mich. – It's been almost 100 years since the freighter Henry B. Smith sank in Lake Superior. Now a team of shipwreck hunters from Wisconsin and Minnesota believe they have found her not too far from Marquette.

Thirty miles north of Marquette and 500 feet under Lake Superior lies what is believed to be the Henry B. Smith. News of the discovery has excited people, including 80-year-old Joan Hansen, whose grandfather was the chief engineer of the carrier.

"I know if my dad were alive, he'd have every TV he could find on," said Joan Hansen.

The Henry B. Smith, loaded with ore, headed to Cleveland and sailed into a massive storm on November 9, 1913. The storm produced 30-foot waves and 70-mile-per-hour winds, sinking or grounding 17 ships and claiming the lives of 250 sailors.

Only one body was recovered after the Smith sank. "My grandmother's brother identified him by his wedding ring, which was engraved with his name," Hansen explained.

After 20 minutes of looking this Memorial Day weekend, searchers discovered wreckage in the area where the Smith went down.

"(It’s) more or less upright, meaning it's not quite level, but the pilot house is up, the keel is down. It seems to be pointing north as it would be heading to the Keweenaw for shelter," explained Daniel Fountain, shipwreck hunter.

However, the question remains: How did she sink? Historians hope with more research, the damage could lead to a concrete answer.

"Damage to the mid-ship that could lead you to believe that perhaps she broke in two at the surface. Perhaps she was pushed into a trough in the waves and simply rolled over and sank," said Frederick Stonehouse, shipwreck historian.

There are plans to continue exploring the ship and analyzing the video over the summer.



Upper Michigan’s Source

[Avenger]

That bouy-cam might be one for the sidebars. Until they do the much anticipated forum upgrade.

[yachtsmanwilly]

I agree Scrod... usually too much moving around with little of anything to compare it with, or its fogged in or full of spray. NOAA probably has the correct software to straighten it out. ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

St. Lawrence Seaway cargo shipments see a slow start to the season

6/14 - Washington, D.C. – The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period March 22 to May 31 were 8.1 million metric tons, down 12 percent over the same period in 2012.

“U.S. grain tonnage shipped through Seaway locks more than doubled (132 percent) compared to last year’s figures through May 31, and there was a solid increase (7 percent) in liquid bulk products totaling almost a million metric tons. These two commodities are the bright spots in the navigation season so far,” said Rebecca Spruill, Director of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation’s Office of Trade Development.

Iron ore and coal, traditionally top producers for Seaway shipments, showed downturns of 17 percent and 7 percent respectively. Coal shipments in the Great Lakes have been dropping due to electric utility plants converting to natural gas operations. However, U.S. ports have seen an increase of exports of low sulfur coal to Europe.

General cargo was down 19 percent to 389,000 metric tons. In the liquid bulk category, petroleum products showed a 24 percent year-to-date increase to 642,000 metric tons. The dry bulk category was down 27 percent to 1.7 million metric tons. However, scrap metal and pig iron posted upturns of 69 percent and 16 percent respectively.

While the season has had a rather slow start, U.S. ports are taking the long view.

“We’re excited to dive deeper into the 2013 shipping season to see which of our many initiatives to pursue new cargo at the Port will come to fruition,” said Joe Cappel, Director of Cargo Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “Already we are experiencing increased international grain shipments and are fielding many inquiries for project cargo and break bulk shipments.”

“We have also been targeting cargos related to the energy sector and feel there is a real opportunity for our terminals to participate in the supply chains for domestic oil and gas production. At the same time, we’re busy overseeing the construction activity at our new 180-acre Ironville dock terminal and can’t wait to welcome our first vessel to the facility this fall. This dock and the adjacent area present a perfect opportunity for a large scale industrial user dependent on marine transportation to establish a new operation.”

“Our tonnage is down slightly from last year’s fast start, but we are 15 percent ahead of our previous five-year average,” said Rick Heimann, port director for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. “We have seen significant increases in bulk commodities and project cargoes, and had the added bonus of being able to handle the world’s largest crawler crane for the second time in two years as it was shipped back to Germany from the BP Refinery Expansion in Whiting, Ind. Looking ahead, we expect to see an increase in barge traffic coming up through the inland water system in June but the outlook for Seaway shipments is more uncertain at this point.”

Through May, the Port of Indiana handled 30-times more project cargo than 2012 YTD as well as significant increases in shipments of fertilizer (+37%), soybeans (+15%) and various dry bulk cargoes, including slag shipments which were up nearly five times more than the previous year’s five-month total.

www.marinedelivers.com



Grain trade bright spot in slow start to Seaway shipping season

6/14 - Ottawa, Ont. – Grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway started to rebound in May and were a reason for optimism after a slow start for the shipping season.

According to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, total cargo shipments on the waterway were just over 8 million tonnes from March 22 until May 31, down 11.68 per cent compared to the same period last year. An icy spring slowed trade of stone and other construction materials through system channels like St. Marys River, which had a knock-on effect on the Seaway, while iron ore and coal shipments decreased due to lower steel production.

Total grain shipments, however, began to rebound in May bringing the year-to-date shipments to 1.8 million tonnes, up 7.67 per cent over the same period in 2012.

“After a slow start, Canadian grain shipments started trending in a more positive direction in May and American grain has returned to its normal levels after a disappointing 2012. We are seeing demand from North Africa markets for both products,” said Bruce Hodgson, market development director for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. “Both countries had delayed plantings this year, so we are optimistic that there will be a strong surge towards the end of the year when the new crops are in the system.”

Hodgson added that recent deals between agri-businesses over grain assets at the Port of Thunder Bay showed that the major players still view the Great Lakes-Seaway System as a valued route to ship their products to the Atlantic Ocean and to overseas markets.

According to Tim Heney, CEO of the Thunder Bay Port Authority, “The Glencore merger has closed and the former Viterra C elevator has been acquired by Richardson effectively doubling their capacity in the port. Parrish & Heimbecker has entered into a joint venture with Cargill at the port and ADM has purchased Canada Malting. We remain confident that Thunder Bay and the Seaway will remain a competitive route for grain shipments for many years to come.”

Separately, the Port of Windsor has had a strong start to its season with total shipments of 1.6 million tonnes from March 22 until May 31, up 28 per cent compared to last year. Increased shipments of construction aggregates, liquid asphalt and canola all contributed to the rise.

“Activity at the Port of Windsor has been brisk with stone, sand and other construction aggregates from Ohio flowing across Lake Erie for the major infrastructure projects underway in the region, particularly the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway,” said David Cree, CEO of the Windsor Port Authority. “We are also very encouraged by the volume of liquid asphalt and canola, which have both recorded strong starts to the season. Liquid asphalt is shipped through the recently enlarged Sterling Fuels Marine terminal and reflects the increased demand generated by local road construction.”

www.marinedelivers.com




Port Reports - June 14

Marquette, Mich. - Rod Burdick
Herbert C. Jackson loaded ore at the Upper Harbor Thursday evening after unloading a split cargo of stone to the Upper and Lower Harbors during the day.

Sturgeon Bay, Wis. - Wendell Wilke
Bay Shipbuilding was busy on Thursday. Both the new research vessel Sikuliao (built at Fincanteri's sister yard in Marinette and to be based in Alaska) and the St. Marys Cement barge St. Marys Conquest were assisted into drydock. Still in the forward end of the drydock is the Tidewater Marine hull Bay Shipbuilding 772 under construction. Also in the yard is the Tidewater’s hull 771, at the fitout wall. The name Dean Edward Taylor is evident on the hull. Also dockside is the tug Prentiss Brown, which mates up with the St. Marys Conquest. The tug Barbara Andrie remains in the small graving dock.

Buffalo, N.Y. - Brian W.
American Mariner was at the traffic buoy, inbound for Lackawanna, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.



SKIPPER HAD HIS GAME ON !!

Always expect the un expected!


Wind causes captain to steer Badger into PM Lake

6/14 - Ludington, Mich. – The actions of a skilled captain and crew prevented what could have been a serious situation for the S.S. Badger Thursday. As the Badger was leaving dock, a wind gust caused it to go off course. Instead of taking the ship on its usual course through the harbor channel, Capt. Jeff Curtiss compensated by heading south into Pere Marquette Lake and then turning the ship around. Within 15 minutes it was underway back through the channel, at about 11 a.m.

This morning’s winds were reported at 17 mph out of the north. As the Badger left the channel, the ship could be seen listing slightly to port.

Lake Michigan Carferry spokeswoman Terri Brown said the Badger has been running slightly behind schedule due to some mechanical problems it encountered in Manitowoc early Thursday morning.

“The crew was able to get the problem fixed within a couple hours,” she said, “but it has caused a slight delay. We expect to make up for the delays in the next few sailings.” Instead of its usual departure time of 9 a.m., the Badger left at 10:45 a.m. Thursday.

Brown said ticket sales for this season have increased compared recent previous years. The Badger also has seen an increase in commercial traffic, especially in the transport of wind turbine parts.

Mason County Press



Today in Great Lakes History - June 14

On this day in 1985, Captain Edward Rogowski passed away. Captain Rogowski started sailing as a deckhand on the 514 foot JOHN SHERWIN in 1936. He retired in 1982 as the first captain of the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, the 1,013 foot PAUL R TREGURTHA.

On this day in 1957, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter HARVEY H. BROWN, Captain Percy E. Mc Ginness, delivered the first cargo of coal to the new taconite loading port of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota.

ROGER BLOUGH departed the shipyard in ballast on her maiden voyage for U.S. Steel Corp. the night of June 14, 1972, for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load 41,608 gross tons of taconite ore pellets. She was nearly a year late because of a fire in her engine room.

On June 14, 1988, the CONSUMERS POWER of 1927, with her former fleet mate JOHN T. HUTCHINSON, departed Lauzon, Quebec, in tow of the Panamanian tug/supply ship OMEGA 809, bound for a scrap yard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The steamer PRINCESS was sold to Little and Fitzgerald on 14 June 1873. She was built in 1858, at Algonac, Michigan by Z. Pangborn.

The wooden scow TINKER was launched at Leighton & Dunford's yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 14 June 1876.

1954 – W.F. WHITE crushed the tug OHIO against a pier in Buffalo and the latter was a total loss. The tug was refloated and scrapped at Cleveland in 1955.

1977 – ALMAR came to the Great Lakes under Greek registry in 1964. It caught fire in the engine room as c) IJESHA LION at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and sustained major damage. The hull was abandoned by the owners, towed out to sea and scuttled in 1978

[yachtsmanwilly]

0430 hrs... boatnerd isn't on yet! still yesterdays' new!! ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Today in Great Lakes History - June 15

On this day in 1967, the new $6 million Allouez taconite pellet handling facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was dedicated. The first cargo of 18,145 tons of pellets was loaded into the holds of the Hanna Mining Company freighter JOSEPH H. THOMPSON.

At midnight, on Saturday, 15 June 1901, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 199 gross tons, built in 1882, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan. Her upper works were destroyed, but she was repaired and put back in service. She lasted until 1922, when her boiler exploded, killing four people and destroying the vessel.

On June 15, 1943, the D.M. CLEMSON collided with and sank the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Straits of Mackinac. Both of these 600-footers recovered for long careers. The D.M. CLEMSON was sold for scrap in 1980. The GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was recovered over a year later, renamed the b.) CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN, later converted to a self-unloader, and finished her career as d.) CONSUMERS POWER at the end of the 1985, season before being scrapped in 1988.

In 1989, the ROGER M. KYES was rechristened b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS by American Steamship Co.

The wooden 180-foot schooner JOHN A. FRANCOMB was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, on 15 June 1889. She was built by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #61). She lasted until she was abandoned at Bay City in 1934.

GRECIAN (steel propeller freighter, 296 foot, 2,348 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio by Globe Iron Works (Hull#40) struck a rock near Detour, Michigan, on 7 June 1906, but made dock at Detour before settling on bottom. After her cargo was removed, she was raised, and towed by her fleet mate SIR HENRY BESSEMER, bound for Detroit Shipbuilding Co. in Wyandotte, Michigan, for repairs, relying on air pressure in her sealed holds to keep her afloat. However, on 15 June 1906, her holds began to fill with water and she sank in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay. Her crew was rescued by SIR HENRY BESSEMER.

1933 – BRENTWOOD ran aground in the St. Marys River and was released on June 19 with about $60,000 in damage. The CSL vessel soon tied up at Midland and was scrapped there in 1937.

1943 – WILLIAM BREWSTER was on her maiden voyage when she collided with the W.D. CALVERLEY JR. and sank on her side in the St. Clair River off Algonac. The ship was not refloated until November and, after repairs, finally left the lakes in June 1944. It operated on saltwater routes until scrapping at Calcutta, India, as e) RAY MAYABUNDAR in 1967.

1962 – NYON, a Seaway visitor in 1961 and 1962, sank in the English Channel, 5 miles south of Beachy Head, after a collision in heavy fog with the Indian freighter JALAZAD. The latter came to the Great Lakes in 1969 and was eventually scuttled off Tema, Ghana, as b) JYOTI VINOD in September 1983.

1965 – BREIM, a Great Lakes visitor from Norway, got stuck in the mud below the Snell Lock at Massena, NY was released the next day after some cargo was lightered. The ship arrived at Visakhapatnam, India, for scrapping as c) CHRISTINA C. on October 24, 1983.

1988 – ALGOWEST and COUDRES D'ILE collided in fog on the St. Lawrence and the small coastal freighter sank with the loss of one life. The former now sails for Algoma as PETER R. CRESSWELL.

2001 – Fire broke out in the engine room of the Cypriot freighter FELIX 60 miles off Las Palmas, Canary Islands and the 21-member crew was removed. The ship first came to the Great Lakes as a) BEGONIA in 1978 and returned as b) TIMUR SWALLOW in 1983 and c) JENNIFER JANE in 1985. The burning vessel was anchored and the fire extinguished June 16. A total loss, the ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow as f) ELI on December 1, 2001, and was broken up.


Contract awarded to dredge three west Michigan harbors

6/15 - Detroit, Mich. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, has awarded a $454,400 contract to MCM Marine Inc., of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for dredging three southwest Michigan harbors: New Buffalo, Saugatuck and South Haven.

“We are pleased to award this contract, which will keep these Harbors of Refuge functional for recreational boaters and anglers, who are important to the economic vitality of communities and small businesses in southwest Michigan,” said Lt. Col. Robert Ells, district engineer. “The dredging will also aid the work of the U.S. Coast Guard, which has a station in South Haven.”

About 11,500 cubic yards of dredged material will be removed from New Buffalo Harbor; 22,000 cubic yards from Saugatuck Harbor; and 28,000 cubic yards from South Haven Harbor. At each of the harbors, dredged materials will be placed near the shoreline for beach nourishment.

Dredging in New Buffalo Harbor will begin in mid-June, and dredging in Saugatuck and South Haven is expected to begin in mid-July.

In late October 2012, sustained high winds out of the northwest caused by Hurricane Sandy produced heavy wave action that mobilized sand to form shoals at the entrances to these Lake Michigan harbors. The dredging to be performed under this contract will address the shoaling caused by Hurricane Sandy. This contract was awarded under the Corps’ Multiple Award Task Order Contract, MATOC, which the Detroit District established with 10 companies capable of dredging in the Great Lakes. The MATOC is designed to provide greater flexibility and expedite the bid solicitation-award process for dredging in Great Lakes commercial shipping channels and harbors.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, maintains a navigation system of 91 harbors and four connecting channels, including the channels joining lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie.

To see the most recent condition surveys for these three harbors, visit www.lre.usace.army.mil.



USCG Hollyhock gets a new commander

6/15 - Port Huron, Mich. – Waves from a passing freighter in the St. Clair River lightly rocked the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock on Friday as a new commander took over the ship.

“The crew has been amazing, the community has been amazing,” said Cmdr. Tim Brown, after a ceremony relieving him of command. “The Blue Water Area is a beautiful place to live.”

Lt. Cmdr. Justin Kimura took over command from Brown during a ceremony attended by Port Huron officials, Coast Guard members and dozens of friends and family of the commanders.

Kimura previously was assigned as the executive assistant to the Director of Law Enforcement, Maritime Security and Defense Operations Policy at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Kimura was born in Hawaii, but the assignment to Port Huron is a bit of a homecoming. His wife, Sharon, is from Grand Rapids.

Kimura’s posting on the Hollyhock won’t be his first on freshwater. He had served as the executive officer of the USCGC Mackinaw in Cheboygan for two years. Relatives came from across the country to witness the change of command. Kimura’s mother, Susan, came from Hilo, Hawaii, bringing flower leis for her son and Brown.

Jean Kimura, the new commander’s aunt, traveled to Port Huron from Oregon for the ceremony. She said the family was excited for his new assignment and impressed with the size of Port Huron. “It’s bigger than we thought and it’s very windy,” she said.

The day was bittersweet for Brown, who has served as commander of the Hollyhock since June 2010.

The U.S. Coast Guard rotates assignments depending on the position. The Hollyhock commander is assigned to the ship for three-year stints. Brown has been assigned to become the Coast Guard Academy planning officer in New London, Conn.

The $29 million, 225-foot cutter is responsible for tending buoys and other Coast Guard missions. The ship also is capable of breaking ice. The ship was launched in 2003.

Brown took time to thank his family, the crew and community for their support during his command.

“This is a crew that overcomes adversity and finds solutions where there appear to be none,” he said. “Those are dedicated American heroes that I serve with.”