Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

Thirty three years ago today the Lauren Castle sank with my dad onboard... see ya next time pops! ws

Maid of the Mist lifted into its newly-built U.S. dry dock Thursday

11/4 - Niagara Falls, N.Y. – The Maid of The Mist has plucked its tourist-toting vessels from the waters of the of the Niagara Gorge and placed them on their newly-built dry dock on the former Schoellkopf Power Station site, a punctuation mark for the iconic attraction to a task that has been marred by controversy.

Maid owners and employees stood alongside state and city officials, the construction workers that have been working around the clock to complete the new dry dock and members of the press watching as the 125,000 ton Maid of the Mist VII was hoisted out of the water, her sister ship the Maid of the Mist VI waiting patiently in the rushing waters of the lower Niagara, as the ship was gently placed onto wood blocks to rest for the winter.

Maid of the Mist owner James Glynn, smiling as the boat came to rest, said his company and its contractors on the job, LP Ciminelli, accomplished "what we set out to do" Thursday morning.

"It's very gratifying that we're here and everything's in place," Glynn said. "We'll be ready to start in the spring from the American side."

The Maid of the Mist, which has operated tour boats at the base of the Falls since 1846 and been owned by the Glynn family since 1971, lost its contract with the Niagara Parks Commission, the provincial agency that runs the parks system in Ontario, re-opened the Glynn's contract to bidding in 2009, the result of lawsuits and public scrutiny of the company's no-bid contract.

The Maid was outbid by Hornblower Cruises and Entertainment, a California-based cruise operator, and lost its storage facilities located on the Canadian side of the gorge along with the right to operate in Ontario. Hornblower gains rights to the site at the beginning of 2014.

With no storage facilities on the American side of the gorge, the company was in danger of losing its ability to operate the attraction.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined the Glynn's in announcing an amendment to the Maid's existing 40-year contract — inked in 2002 — that would see the state take in an additional $105 million over the course of agreement and see the Maid spend an additional $32 million to convert the historic Schoellkopf Power Station site into a dry dock facility for the boats and "enhance" the historic aspects of the site to create another attraction for visitors.

The company and several state agencies have faced a series of lawsuits from Hornblower, seeking to reopen the Maid's no-bid contract on the American side, and from the Niagara Preservation Coalition, a preservation group seeking to stop the Maid and the state from altering the historic site, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in February after a push from state officials for the designation.

In addition, the Niagara Preservation Coalition accused the Maid, the Cuomo administration and a variety of state and federal agencies of rushing through environmental review processes to meet the deadline and appease the politically connected Glynn's in court documents.

The Niagara Falls Historic Preservation Commission, the city's designated preservation board, also raised concerns this summer when they felt they were being shut out from the site and information regarding the state's plans for the historic aspects of the former power plant, which broke away from the gorge and tumbled into the Niagara in June 1956.

The commission is now working with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the New York Power Authority and Preservation Buffalo Niagara to formulate a plan for interpretive elements on the site.





Today in Great Lakes History - November 4

The Great Lakes Steamship Company steamer NORWAY passed downbound through the Soo Locks with 6,609 tons of rye. This cargo increased the total tonnage transiting the locks in 1953 to 120,206,088 tons – a new one-season tonnage record. Renamed b.) RUTH HINDMAN in 1964, she was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1978.

On 04 November 1883, MAYFLOWER (wooden propeller freighter “steam barge,” 185 foot, 623 gross tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying lumber when she stranded in a gale off Point Abino near Buffalo, New York where the waves pounded her to pieces. The crew made it to shore in the yawl. She was built as a very fine passenger steamer for the Western Transportation Line then in 1868, she was rebuilt as a “steam barge.”

On 4 November 1875, SWAN (wooden propeller tug, 11 gross tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) caught fire while lying out in the Saginaw River near East Saginaw. She was abandoned by the crew and burned to the water’s edge.

JOSEPH G. BUTLER JR (steel bulk freighter, 525 foot, 6,588 gross tons) was launched on 04 Nov 1905, at Lorain, Ohio for the Tonopah Steamship Co. (Hutchinson & Co., mgr.). She lasted until 1971, when she was stripped of her cabins and scuttled, along with HENRY R. PLATT JR., at Steel Co. of Canada plant, Burlington Bay, Hamilton, Ontario, as breakwater and fill.

CARTIERCLIFFE HALL was registered at Toronto, Ontario, on 04 Nov 1977, but didn't enter service until the spring of 1978 because of mechanical difficulties during her sea trials.

On 04 Nov, 1986, TEXACO CHIEF was renamed A.G. FARQUHARSON. She was renamed c.) ALGONOVA (i) in 1998.

CALCITE II departed Cleveland at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, 04 Nov 2000, on her last trip for USS Great Lakes Fleet. She sailed upbound for Sarnia, Ontario, where she spent the winter in lay-up. Grand River Transportation had entered into a sale agreement with USS Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. for the purchase of the CALCITE II, GEORGE A. SLOAN and MYRON C. TAYLOR. Built as the WILLIAM G. CLYDE in 1929, CALCITE II is awaiting scrapping as c.) MAUMEE.

HERON BAY proceeded under her own power to Lauzon, Quebec, for her final lay-up on November 4, 1978.

CSL's NIPIGON BAY was launched November 4, 1950.

CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON developed a sizable leak and almost sank November 4, 1925, during her tow to Superior after she struck a reef a few nights before.

ROBERT C. STANLEY's keel was laid November 4, 1942.

UNITED STATES GYPSUM of 1910 grounded at Toledo, Ohio, on November 4, 1972, resulting in damage totaling $125,000. Her propeller was removed and the rudder shaft was locked in position to finish the season as a manned barge on the coal run from Toledo to Detroit, Michigan.

JOSEPH H. THOMPSON became not only the largest vessel on the Great Lakes but also the longest dry bulk cargo vessel in the world when it entered service on November 4, 1952, departing Chicago on its first trip.

Setting the stage for the fateful storm that followed less than a week later that sank the EDMUND FITZGERALD, many locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin were setting all-time record high temperatures for the month of November during the period of November 4-6, 1975. Grand Marais, Minnesota, reached 67 degrees on November 5 and Superior reached 74 degrees on November 6, both all-time records for the month. Many other notable Great Lakes storms, including the Armistice Day storm of 1940, and the storm that sank the HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1953, were proceeded by record-setting warm weather.

On 4 November 1877, MARY BOOTH (wooden scow-schooner, 132 tons, built in 1857, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying maple lumber in a storm in Lake Michigan. She became waterlogged but her crew doggedly clung to her until she appeared ready to turn turtle. Then her crew abandoned her and she rolled over. She drifted in the lake for several days. The crew landed at White Lake, Michigan and they were near death.

The Port Huron Times of 4 November 1878: "The propeller CITY OF MONTREAL is believed to have gone down on Lake Michigan on Friday [1 NOV 1878]. The schooner LIVELY, laden with coal for Bay City, is reported ashore 6 miles above Sand Beach, having gone on at 12 o'clock Sunday night [3 NOV 1878]. The schooner WOODRUFF, ashore at Whitehall, is a total loss. Two men were drowned, one died from injuries received, and Capt. Lingham was saved. The tugs E M PECK and MYSTIC, which went from the Sault to the assistance of the propeller QUEBEC, were wrecked near where she lies, one being on the beach and the other sunk below her decks. Both crews were rescued and were taken to St. Joseph Island."

On 4 November 1856, J W BROOKS (wooden propeller, 136 foot, 322 tons, built in 1851, at Detroit) was carrying provisions and copper ingots to Ogdensburg, New York in a storm when she foundered on Lake Ontario, 8 miles northeast of False Ducks Light. Estimates of the loss of lives range from 22 to 50. In July 1857, she was partially raised and some of her cargo was recovered. She only had a five year career, but besides this final incident, she had her share of disasters. In July 1855, she had a boiler explosion and in May of that same year, she sank in Canadian waters.

In 1980 the tug LAUREN CASTLE sank while towing the AMOCO WISCONSIN near Lee Point in Traverse Bay. Engineer William Stephan was lost.

1891: The iron freighter NORTH, which had become the first ocean ship to be cut in two and brought to the Great Lakes, arrived at Collingwood to be rebuilt as b) CAMPANA for the passenger & freight trades on the upper lakes.

1898: The wooden passenger and freight steamer PACIFIC burned at the Grand Trunk Railway dock in Collingwood along with the freight sheds and their contents. The blaze had begun the previous evening and roared for hours. The vessel was valued at $65,000.

1959: WESTRIVER arrived at Halifax for repairs after an earlier engine room explosion on Lake Superior had left the ship with significant damage.

1967: PEARL LIGHT, a World War II Empire ship, came through the Seaway for one trip in 1965. It was wrecked off Vietnam as g) HABIB MARIKAR while enroute from Dalian, China, to Chittagong, Bangladesh, with bagged cement. One life was lost.

1972: INLAND TRANSPORT went aground off Garden Island Bank, near Little Current, Manitoulin Island, and received major hull damage that led to the retirement of that Halco tanker after one more trip.

1991: CARLI METZ struck the wall below Lock 2 of the Welland Canal and the vessel had to go to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs. It had been inbound for the first time earlier in the year and returned in 1992. It was scrapped at Chittagong, Bangladesh, as d) METZ ITALIA in 2001.

1993: ZIEMIA ZAMOJSKA, while under tow, struck the raised 106th Street Bridge on the Calumet River at Chicago resulting in damage to the structure and traffic problems. The corn-laden vessel received a hole in the port bow, which was repaired at Montreal.

[Avenger]

Sad anniversary Bill. Bet it doesn't seem like 33 years does it?

[yachtsmanwilly]

Seems like yesterday... I was walking up the stairs at work to get to welding school and met the teacher half way down... "Got some bad news... call yer aunt..." Nightmarish couple of days for sure. Then today, a ABS pal on the ATB UNDAUNTED facefucked us about a fatality onboard yesterday... a deck hand was killed by a conveyor accident. They handle stone and sand on the cut down ferry Pierre Marquette 41. ws


www.ludington daily news.com

[yachtsmanwilly]

Pere Marquette 41 crewman dies in conveyor system accident

11/5 - Ludington, Mich. – Michael Douglas, 37, of Pentwater, died in a work accident Sunday aboard Pere Marquette Shipping Co.’s barge Pere Marquette 41.

The tug-barge (tug Undaunted and barge P.M. 41) was in Lake Michigan heading north about 11:45 a.m. when a call went out to the U.S. Coast Guard as a notification an employee had died in a conveyor belt accident on deck.

“A crew member reported he was deceased,” said Command Duty Officer Charles Wolfson of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan out of Wisconsin, which handled the communication with the ship and is among the departments investigating the incident.

The vessel had been en route from Muskegon to Charlevoix delivering white ash and was south of Ludington when the call came in. The tug-barge docked in Ludington, its home port, about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Pere Marquette Shipping Company shared these thoughts about Douglas.

"We are deeply saddened to report that an accident took place aboard the Pere Marquette 41, Sunday, Nov. 3 resulting in the death of respected crew member, Michael Douglas, also known as 'Tall Mike' to his friends and ship mates aboard the Undaunted.

"Michael was a devoted family man who always missed his family while at sea, but sailed as a means to provide for them. Michael worked for Pere Marquette since 2006 and served as equipment mechanic for more than four years. He was a great employee and supportive shipmate.

"He was an avid outdoor sportsman and a particularly gifted fisherman, and shared those skills with his wife and children.

"Mike was a valued member of the crew and was highly respected by everyone on board. In the simple yet meaningful expression of those who go down to the sea in ships, 'he was a good shipmate' and will be sorely missed.”

The Michigan State Police Hart Post, Ludington Police Department, Ludington Fire Department and Life EMS were among the departments involved. The victim services units for both the Mason and Oceana county sheriff’s offices helped as well, being there for the crew and helping with notifying family members.

The state police handled the police investigation, but Sgt. Ron Nelson, who was at the scene along with trooper Dan Thomas, said it was a group effort.

“The Ludington Police Department, Ludington Fire Department, Life EMS were all a big help to us,” Nelson said.

“We were there to determine what happened, to document the scene and to confirm this was an accident,” he said. “We believe it’s just a tragic accident.”

P.M. Shipping Co. began in 1997, founded by the owners of Lake Michigan Carferry. The company carries bulk materials on the Great Lakes and markets itself as being able to get into ports other vessels can’t due to its size and maneuverability. The tug-barge carries aggregates, steel, iron, stone, equipment and more.

Ludington Daily News




Today in Great Lakes History - November 5

At 2 a.m. 05 November 1884, the steamer GRACE GRUMMOND (iron side-wheel excursion steamer, 138 foot, 250 tons, built in 1856, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the survey steamer JEFFERSON DAVIS, specifically for the survey of the Great Lakes) burned at Grand Haven, Michigan. Her cargo of apples, pears and potatoes was also destroyed. No lives were lost. After the fire she was towed to Chicago to lay up until it was decided what to do with her. It is not known if she ever operated as a steamer again, but in 1887, she was rebuilt as a schooner at Milwaukee. She was one of the only sizable iron-hulled schooners ever used on the lakes. In 1904, as a tow-barge, she was sold Canadian and renamed BALTIC (C.116760). She was later used as a breakwater at Clear Creek, Ontario and was finally scrapped in 1939.

On 05 November 1852, BUCKEYE STATE (3-mast wooden bark, 132 foot, 310 tons, built in 1852, at Black River, Ohio) stranded off S. Milwaukee Point on Lake Michigan in a storm and was then broken up by waves. This was her first year of operation and she had been in service less than three months.

LOUIS R. DESMARAIS cleared Owen Sound, Ontario on her maiden voyage November 5, 1977, bound for Thunder Bay, Ontario, to load 27,117 gross tons of iron ore for Stelco at Hamilton, Ontario. Her forward end was replaced at Port Weller in 2001, and renamed b.) CSL LAURENTIEN.

On her final trip, the IRVIN L. CLYMER passed up bound at the Soo on November 5, 1990, and arrived at Duluth two days later to unload limestone at the Hallet Dock #5, after which she moved to her final lay-up berth at Fraser Shipyard and tied up, blowing one last three long and two short salute from her whistle. In 1993, she was sold to Azcon Corp. of Duluth, Minnesota for scrapping.

GRAND HAVEN was raised on November 5, 1969, from the Old River Bed, where she sank on September 19, 1969. She was raised for scrapping.

Mr. J. W. Isherwood visited the Great Lakes Engineering Works shipyard on November 5, 1910, and personally inspected the hull which was being built according to his patented design. This vessel, the WILLIAM P. PALMER, was the first vessel on the Great Lakes built to the Isherwood system of longitudinal framing.

On 05 Nov 1917, a foggy and rainy day, the JAMES S. DUNHAM (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 4,795 gross tons, built in 1906, at W. Bay City, Michigan) sank in a collision with the steamer ROBERT FULTON (steel propeller bulk freighter, 424 foot, 4,219 gross tons, built 1896, at Wyandotte, Michigan) just below Grassy Island on the Detroit River. Repairs for both vessels totaled $125,000.

On 5 November 1896, ACADIA (iron-framed wooden propeller, 176 foot, built in 1867, at Hamilton, Ontario) was driven ashore and broke up in a gale near the mouth of the Michipicoten River in Lake Superior. Her crew made it to shore and five of them spent more than a week trying to make it to the Soo.

The Port Huron Times of 5 November 1878: "The schooner J. P. MARCH is reported lost with all on board. She was lost at Little Traverse Bay on the northern shore of Lake Michigan. The MARCH was a three-masted schooner and was owned by Benton & Pierce of Chicago."

On 5 November 1838, TOLEDO (2-mast wooden schooner, 98 foot, 215 tons, built in 1836, at Buffalo) was carrying dry goods valued at more than $100,000 up-bound on Lake Erie when she was driven ashore by a gale a half mile east of the mouth of the Grand River. She broke in two. No lives were lost.

On 5 November 1869, TITAN (wooden schooner, 132 foot, 361 gross tons, built in 1856, at Oswego, New York) was carrying 17,500 bushels of wheat on Lake Michigan in a terrific gale. She was driven toward shore. Her anchors were dropped as she came close in and they held for about an hour. However, the ship finally dragged ashore, losing both of her masts and breaking up as she struck. Of the nine on board, only one survived and that one was found crawling along the beach in a dazed state. When she was new, TITAN broke the record by completing the trip from Chicago to Oswego in only 8 days and 4 hours. Her record only lasted one day since the schooner SURPRISE broke it by 6 hours the following day.

In the summer of 1875, the propeller EAST ran down and sank the tug JOE MAC, not even pausing to save her crew from drowning. The following winter Messrs. Seymour & Co., owners of the JOE MAC, obtained a judgment in a U.S. Court against the owners of the EAST. Since the EAST was a Canadian vessel, they were unable to seize her because the judgment could only be effected in American waters. On Sunday morning, 05 Nov 1876, the steam tug SEYMOUR, with a United States Marshal and posse on board, proceeded up to Allen's (presumably at Ogdensburg, New York), and there lay in wait for the EAST, which went up by the Crossover light channel into American waters. The SEYMOUR ran out and captured the vessel and brought her to Averell's wharf in U.S. waters to await justice.

CALCITE II arrived in Sarnia at 6 a.m. on Sunday, 05 Nov. 2000, for lay-up. After leaving Cleveland the previous day, she anchored in Western Lake Erie, so she could arrive at the North Slip in Sarnia when shoreside personnel would be on-hand to assist. A chartered bus from Rogers City left about noon to take many of the crew home. Around 4:10 p.m., the downbound MYRON C. TAYLOR passed her fleetmate CALCITE II, perhaps for the last time in USS Great Lakes Fleet colors, and she blew her sister an extended 3 long and 2 short master salute. The TAYLOR was bound for Cleveland with a load of stone.

1885: The Canadian Pacific passenger and freight steamer ALGOMA cleared Owen Sound on its final trip with 11 passengers and headed for the Canadian Lakehead.

1897: IDAHO departed Buffalo and was caught in a wild storm on Lake Erie. The wooden passenger and freight carrier fell into the trough and only two survived. They had climbed the mast and were plucked from the crow's nest the next morning in a heroic effort by the crew of the MARIPOSA.

1940: SPARTA was wrecked near the Pictured Rocks after stranding on a reef in a heavy gale. The hull was abandoned on November 11 but salvaged in 1941 and never repaired.

1957: The Finnish freighter KORSO struck a drifting World War Two mine off Cape Mondjego, Portugal, and sank as a belated casualty of the conflict. The vessel had been built at Kingston, ON in 1942 as H.M.C.S. IRONBOUND and converted for mercantile use in 1948.

1962: EDWIN REITH, a West German salty, grounded near Tibbetts Point, Lake Ontario, and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1. It was released and came to Toronto to unload on November 14.

1967: The Canadian laker MOHAWK DEER, enroute to La Spezia, Italy, for scrapping, ran aground in the Gulf of Genoa near Portofino, Italy, and sank the next day.

1987: CATHARINA WIARDS sank in the Red Sea as d) TRADER after the engine room flooded during a voyage from Augusta, Italy, to China. The vessel was a year old when it came through the Seaway for the first time in 1970.

1991: OLYMPIC PEACE, a Seaway trader for the first time in 1976, arrived at Piraeus, Greece, with damage to the main engine cooling system as c) FREE PEACE. It was later seized by Banco-Hellenique and sold at auction. The ship was scrapped in China during 1994 as e) PATMOS I.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Great Lakes iron ore trade up almost 10 percent in October

11/6 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 6 million tons in October, an increase of 9.6 percent compared to a year ago. The October ore float was also 8.8 percent ahead of the month’s 5-year average, but trailed September by about 3 percent.

Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 5.3 million tons, an increase of almost 16 percent compared to a year ago. The October total included 183,000 tons shipped to Quebec City for loading into oceangoing vessels and delivery overseas. Year-to-date overseas exports from U.S. Great Lakes ports total 2,516,000 tons. Through October of last year, overseas exports from U.S. ports totaled 3,470,000 tons.

Shipments from Canadian ports to Great Lakes destinations totaled 659,000 tons in October, a decrease of nearly 31 percent compared to a year ago.

Year-to-date, the Lakes iron ore trade stands at 47.6 million tons, a decrease of 4.8 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings are 2.8 percent below the long-term average for the January-October timeframe.



Heavy October rain could help Lake Michigan and Lake Huron continue to rise

11/6 - Heavy October rain could help Lake Michigan and Lake Huron continue to rise toward the long-term average water level. Lake Michigan - Huron is still 15 inches below the long-term average, but is 11 inches higher than this time last year. Slowly the lake level is increasing. The lake levels will likely fall over the next four months. This is a normal cycle. If the lakes don't fall as much as normal this winter, the lakes are set up to be higher next summer than this summer.

Northern and western Michigan had heavy rainfall in October. The areas with the heaviest rainfall were from the Mackinac Bridge to Charlevoix, Gaylord, and Traverse City. Gaylord had its fifth wettest October. Another area of heavy rain fell in the far southwest corner of the Lower Peninsula.

All of this rain can help Lake Michigan - Huron not fall as much as usual in November. That is how the lakes may gain water levels - by not falling as much as usual.

On Lake Michigan – Huron, the projected low water level in February is expected to be 11 inches above the low water level this past winter. The above normal rainfall on the Lake Michigan - Huron drainage basin over the past eight months is the main reason for rising water levels.

Lake Michigan - Huron seems to be gaining a few inches of water each season since we turned wet last spring. If the wetter than normal weather continues, we could see Lake Michigan - Huron within six inches of the long-term average in a year or two.




Today in Great Lakes History - November 6

On 06 November 1880, the W. R. HANNA (2-mast scow-schooner, 86 foot, 103 gross tons, built in 1857), carrying 1,600 tamarack railroad ties to Toledo, sank in Lake Huron in a snowstorm. She sprang a leak off Pointe aux Barques and filled so fast that the pump was of no use. She broached to and rolled over when about 5 miles north of Sand Beach, Michigan, (now Harbor Beach). s the sun set the snow storm turned into a blizzard. The icy waves swept over the hull while the crew clung on as best they could. Four hours later, they drifted past Sand Beach, not 500 feet from the breakwater. They shouted for help, saw lights moving here and there on the breakwater, but no help came. When the wind shifted and started to blow the vessel out into the lake, the skipper cut away the weather lanyards and the vessel righted herself and they dropped the anchor. The weather was freezing cold; and there was no dry place left. The cabin was gone and the only spot out of water was on one side forward - a space about four feet wide by ten feet long. The waves kept washing over the waterlogged vessel, drenching the crew. The crew survived through the night. Heavy snow kept falling, cutting visibility to almost zero. Finally, at 10 a.m., the following morning, the storm broke and the propeller H. LUELLA WORTHINGTON (wooden propeller freighter, 148 foot, 375 gross tons, built in 1880, at Lorain, Ohio), which was in the harbor, saw the wreck and rescued the crew. The skipper of the WORTHINGTON stated that he had heard the cries of the crew throughout the night, but couldn't navigate in the blinding snowstorm. He was awake all night waiting for the storm to break so he could rescue the crew.

On 06 November 1867, ALBEMARLE (3-mast wooden schooner, 154 foot, 413 gross tons, built in 1867, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Cleveland, Ohio in a storm when she stranded and wrecked near Point Nipigon in the Straits of Mackinac. This was her first year of operation. She had been put into service just the previous July.

The US266029, a.) WILLIAM CLAY FORD was towed from Nicholson's River Rouge dock November 6, 1986, by tugs TUSKER and GLENADA to Port Maitland, Ontario for scrapping.

On November 6, 1913, the J. H. SHEADLE left Fort William, Ontario bound for Erie, Pennsylvania, with grain and encountered fog, gale winds and a snow blizzard in one of the fiercest storms of the century.

On November 6, 1925, the Northern Navigation passenger steamer HAMONIC lost her propeller 20 miles west of Caribou Island in Lake Superior and was wallowing in gale force winds with gusts to 80 m.p.h. She was towed to safety by Pittsburgh Steamship Co.’s RICHARD TRIMBLE.

On 06 Nov 1985, Desguaces Heme began scrapping the LEON FALK, JR. in Gijon, Spain. This vessel was built in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1945, as the tanker a.) WINTER HILL, (504 foot, 10,534 gross tons) and then was converted to a 710 foot, 12,501 gross ton bulk freighter in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1960-61.

On 6 November 1872, the wooden propeller tug MILDRED, while towing a vessel out of Alpena, Michigan, had her engine fail. Soon she was in trouble and sank. The crew was saved.

On 6 November 1827, ANN (wooden schooner, 53 foot, 58 tons, built in 1819, or 1821, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying salt, general merchandise and passengers when she was driven ashore on Long Point almost opposite Erie, Pennsylvania. 7 Lives were lost, including 5 passengers. 6 survived.

In 1912, the Pere Marquette Railroad announced plans to build a new roundhouse at Ludington, Michigan. It still stands today.

On 6 November 1874, The Port Huron Times listed the following vessels lost in the month of October and in the first week of November of that year: Propellers - BROOKLYN, FRANKFORT, NEW YORK; tug DOUGLAS; schooners - CITY OF PAINSVILLE, WANDERER, PREBLE, THOS S MOTT; and barges - CLIFTON and SHERMAN.

On 6 November 1883, GUIDING STAR (3-mast wooden schooner, 139 foot, 324 tons, built in 1869, at Oswego, New York) was carrying coal to Milwaukee in fog when she went ashore 12 miles north of Milwaukee. Four of the crew made it to shore in the yawl, but it was wrecked in the process. The rest of the crew was finally rescued by the Milwaukee Lifesavers.

Crews began painting the hull of the SAGINAW (formerly JOHN J. BOLAND) in the colors of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd. (gray) on 06 Nov 1999, at Sarnia, Ontario. The vessel had recently been purchased from American Steamship Co. Inside the vessel, crews were gutting the living quarters to remove asbestos and add fireproof walls and new flooring. The engine room equipment and the unloading gear were also refurbished.

On November 6, 1897, the Minnesota Steamship boat MARIPOSA (steel, 348', 2898 gross tons, built in 1892, Globe Iron Works, Cleveland, Ohio) under the command of Capt. Frank Root, rescued the two remaining survivors of the wreck of the package freighter IDAHO (wooden package freighter, 220', 915 gross tons, built in 1863, Peck & Masters, Cleveland, Ohio.) off Long Point, Ontario on Lake Erie. The MARIPOSA'S first mate, Capt. Myron K. Chamberlain, had sighted the two Idaho survivors clinging to the 100' spar of the sunken IDAHO. Gale winds and seas of 12'-15' overtook the IDAHO taking with it to their deaths 19 crewmen including Captain Alexander Gillies. "In what is considered one of the greatest accomplishments of ship handling and rescue by a major Great Lakes vessel,” Capt. Root and his crewmen were able to turn the MARIPOSA around ("rolling her rails under") three times in the midst of a gale, bringing their vessel right up to the spar where IDAHO Second Mate Louis LaForce Jr. and Deckhand William Gill were pulled "half dead" on board the MARIPOSA by the officers and deck crew. Both LaForce & Gill recovered. An appreciative City of Buffalo, (hometown to most of the IDAHO crew), and the Minnesota Steamship Company awarded Capt. Root a gold watch, and instructed him to award his first mate and chief engineer each an extra month's pay, and the MARIPOSA crew each an extra half month's pay for a job well done.

At 10 p.m. on November 6, 1975 the newly refurbished sidewheel ferry TRILLIUM was towed from the drydock at Ramey's Bend, Ontario, down the Welland Canal by the Canada Dredge & Dock tugs G. W. Rogers and BAGOTVILLE, arriving at Toronto on early on a foggy November 7.

1918: CHESTER A. CONGDON cleared Fort William with grain and stranded on Canoe Rock, Isle Royale in rough weather and poor visibility. The crew was rescued but the ship broke up and was listed as the first $1 million dollar loss in Great Lakes’ history.

1928: A.W. THOMPSON served as a Great Lakes consort barge before going to the Atlantic in 1918. The vessel foundered 60 miles south of Brunswick, GA, enroute from Wilmington, DE to a Gulf of Mexico port.

1968: OAK HILL visited the Great Lakes for seven trips in 1961-1962. It arrived at Singapore under tow as c) AGENOR on this date with leaking in the engine room while on a delivery trip to Chinese shipbreakers at Whampoa. The vessel was resold for scrapping in Singapore.

1969: REINHART LORENZ RUSS made 22 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1966. It sank as b) NAIS one mile off Raffles Light, Singapore, after a collision with the Norwegian tanker BERGEBRAGD (68/80,003) and one life was lost.

1981: LA LOMA, an early and frequent Seaway trader, arrived at Cape Town, South Africa, with hull damage as e) AEGEAN SUN. The ship was traveling from China to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It was assessed as beyond economical repair and laid up at Mombasa. The vessel was eventually sold to Pakistani shipbreakers and arrived at Gadani Beach under tow on April 18, 1985, for dismantling.

1983: EVA MARIA C., a Seaway caller in 1976, developed leaks as c) LAGADA BEACH and sank about 200 miles northeast of Aden. The vessel was enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran, with iron and steel products.

[yachtsmanwilly]

CSL's Saguenay headed to the shipbreakers

11/7 - The Canada Steamship Lines' bulk carrier Saguenay departed layup at Montreal Wednesday morning with an AIS destination listed as Aliaga, Turkey, and most likely the infamous scrapyard there. Her arrival date was listed as Nov. 28. Saguenay was built in 1981 and is the ex-Federal Thames and Lake Superior. Her fleetmate Richelieu arrived at the Aliaga scrapyard earlier this year.

Know Your Ships




Port Reports - November 7

Indiana Harbor and Buffington - Matt M.
Wednesday evening Interlake's Lee A. Tregurtha arrived at Indiana Harbor. Following the Tregurtha down Lake Michigan, Great Lakes Fleet's Cason J. Calloway called on the Carmeuse Dock in Buffington.

Alpena, Mich. - Ben & Chanda McClain
The Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation were at Lafarge on Wednesday loading cement. The Mississagi arrived at the Alpena Oil Dock at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. It unloaded salt from Goderich, Ont. The Mississagi departed the river around 9 p.m.



Disabled Saginaw arrives in Bay City for repairs

11/7 - The tug Manitou was inbound for the Saginaw River Wednesday afternoon towing the Saginaw dead ship. Saginaw experienced mechanical issues and was towed to the Bay Aggregates dock in Bay City for repairs. The captain of tug Manitou effortlessly maneuvered Saginaw into the narrow slip at Bay Aggregates around 2 p.m. It is hoped she will be repaired and headed for the lakes before the weekend is over. Saginaw has a cargo of wheat on board.

Todd Shorkey



Lakes limestone trade up more than 23 percent in October

11/7 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.6 million tons in October, an increase of 23.3 percent compared to a year ago. The October total was also slightly ahead of the month’s 5-year average, and 4.7 percent above Septembers total of 3,475,702 tons.

Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 3.2 million tons, an increase of 29 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings at Canadian quarries dipped slightly to 449,000 tons.

One factor behind the increases was better weather this October. Last year U.S.-flag lakers collectively lost about 2,000 steaming hours in October waiting out the heavy weather after Hurricane Sandy.

Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 23.5 million tons, an increase of a few boatloads compared to a year ago, but still 5 percent below the long-term average for the January-October timeframe.

Lake Carriers' Association




Today in Great Lakes History - November 7

On 07 November 1871, M COURTRIGHT (wooden schooner, 276 tons, built in 1856, at Erie, Pennsylvania) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan. She struck bottom after her anchor dragged. She then became waterlogged. The crew abandoned in the yawl. The vessel went ashore several miles south of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The revenue cutter ANDREW JOHNSON tried in vain to pull her free but couldn't. The COURTRIGHT broke up a few days later.

On 7 November 1852, ST LOUIS (wooden side-wheeler, 190 foot, 618 tons, built in 1844, at Perrysburg, Ohio) was carrying railroad cars when she capsized and sank in a gale off Kelley's Island on Lake Erie. She was owned by Beer & Samuel Ward.

On 07 Nov 1906, the Grand Trunk carferry GRAND HAVEN (steel carferry, 306 foot, 2,320 gross tons built in 1903, at Toledo, Ohio) was put up for sale at a receiver's auction when the Grand Trunk Car Ferry Line defaulted on its bonds. It was purchased by a new Grand Trunk subsidiary, the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company. This vessel had a long career both on the Lakes and in the Caribbean. She was finally scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario in 1970.

The T-2 converted laker HILDA MARJANNE's 1961, German-built hull forward of the engine room, minus her pilot house, was towed by the tugs G W ROGERS and BAGOTVILLE to Port Weller Dry Docks arriving there on November 7, 1983. This section was to become part of the CANADIAN RANGER.

On November 7, 1989, the SAMUEL MATHER, a.) HENRY FORD II, was moved to Toledo's C & O Frog Pond on her way to the cutter's torch.

ARTHUR B HOMER (Hull#303) was launched November 7, 1959, for the Bethlehem Steel Corp., Cleveland, Ohio. She was the last ship built by Great Lakes Engineering at River Rouge, Michigan.

In 1902, BRANSFORD rammed and sank the tug RECORD with a loss of a tug crewman in the Portage Lake Ship Canal in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Renamed b.) JOHN H MC GEAN in 1916, and c.) CLIFFORD F. HOOD in 1943, the HOOD was scrapped in Bilbao, Spain in 1974.

On November 7, 1913, the storm responsible for sinking or damaging more vessels than any other began a six-day assault on the Great Lakes. The "Big Blow" of 1913, struck Lake Superior on November 7 and reached Lake Michigan by November 8, where the Pittsburgh Steamship Company vessel CLARENCE A. BLACK was severely damaged by the waves at the dock in Gary, Indiana.

On 7 November 1893, ALBANY (steel propeller package freighter, 267 foot, 1,918 gross tons, built in 1884, at Wyandotte, Michigan) collided with the iron freighter PHILADELPHIA in a thick fog. PHILADELPHIA took ALBANY in tow to try to save her, but she sank a few miles off Pointe aux Barques, Michigan. Her crew transferred to PHILADELPHIA, but they soon had to abandon her too since she also sank. Eight lives were lost, presumably when one of the lifeboats was run down by the still running, but abandoned, PHILADELPHIA.

On 7 November 1865, LILY DANCEY (2-mast wooden schooner, 92 foot, 132 gross tons built in 1856, at Goderich, Ontario) was carrying grain in a gale on Lake Huron when she was driven ashore near Port Elgin or Kincardine, Ontario. Her cargo was later recovered, but the schooner broke up by 27 November of that year.

CITY OF FLINT 32 ran aground at Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1947.

1885: ALGOMA hit Greenstone Rock off Isle Royale, Lake Superior and became a total loss. There were 46 casualties and only 16 on board were saved.

1887: OSCEOLA ran aground on Flat Rock Reef, Saginaw Bay, and all on board were rescued. The ship was abandoned as a total loss in December but refloated in the spring of 1888 and rebuilt.

1910: WASAGA caught fire and burned off Copper Harbor while seeking shelter in a storm, but all on board survived.

1921: ARAGON stranded off Salmon Point, Lake Ontario. It was released the following year but declared a total loss. The hull was sold and rebuilt and last sailed as BAYANNA in 1962.

1921: The wooden schooner barge MARY E. McLAUCHLAN sank in a storm on Nipigon Bay, Lake Superior.

1947: WILLIAM C. WARREN ran aground near Presque Isle Point, Lake Huron, while downbound with grain and had to be abandoned to the underwriters. It was not released until the following year.

1969: The Norwegian tanker CATE BROVIG hit the wall while upbound at the Eisenhower Lock and had a hole punched in the hull. The vessel was headed for Duluth. The ship first came inland in 1959 and was scrapped at Split, Yugoslavia as c) STAVROS T. in 1976.

1974: IRIS had come to the Great Lakes in 1969 and 1971. It sank as d) EUROPEAN PERSISTENCE while 510 miles southeast of Bermuda after developing leaks while enroute from Tampa to Venice. All on board were rescued.

1991: The former Swedish freighter FALKON, a first time Seaway trader in 1984, sank as c) APPOLONIA FAITH off the southwest coast of Sardinia while traveling from Valencia, Spain, to Piraeus, Greece. Two lives were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

St. Marys Challenger on final trip before shipyard

11/8 - The St Marys Challenger left Charlevoix, Mich., Thursday with what may be her final load as a steamer and heading down Lake Michigan for what is scheduled to be her final trip in and out of Chicago/ Calumet Harbor for 2013. Her current ETA would put her in the area Friday around 8 p.m. Check ais.Boatnerd.com for updates. She is expected to leave Calumet Harbor early Sunday. No official announcements have been made, but the 107-year old vessel is expected to be converted to a barge over the winter.


Lake Superior inches toward its long-term average level

11/8 - Lake Superior’s long, slow move back toward long-term average water levels continued in October, with the big lake 3 inches below its long-term mark for Nov. 1. The lake is 11 inches above its Nov. 1, 2012, level.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control said water supply to the lake was above average for the month but that the lake dropped about 2 inches in October, a little more than the usual 1-inch drop for the month.

Lakes Huron-Michigan continue to inch closer to normal, too. The lakes went down 2 inches in

October, a month they usually drop 3 inches. The lakes are 11 inches higher than they were on Nov. 1, 2012, and are 16 inches below the long-term average for this time of year.

Duluth News Tribune



Today in Great Lakes History - November 8

The NIMROD (3-mast wooden schooner, 184 foot, 559 tons, built in 1873, at Toledo, Ohio) was carrying 37,000 bushels of corn from Chicago to Buffalo. On 08 November 1874, she encountered thick fog on Lake Erie and the large double decked schooner MICHIGAN collided with her. The MICHIGAN continued on her course while the NIMROD filled with water and sank in 70 feet of water off Port Burwell-Port Stanley, Ontario. The crew escaped in the yawl and were picked up by the schooner GRANTHAM. The wreck was discovered in 1978, when Capt. Robert Hamilton, a commercial fisherman, snagged his nets on it.

COLUMBIA STAR (steel propeller bulk freighter, 1000 foot, 35,923 gross tons) was launched November 8, 1980, at Bay Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (Hull#726) . She was part of the Oglebay Norton fleet. Renamed b.) AMERICAN CENTURY in 2006.

BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS and IRVING S. OLDS arrived on November 8, 1988, at Kaohsiung, Taiwan for scrapping by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.

The Great Lakes Engineering Works built steamer STADACONA of 1909, renamed b.) W. H. McGEAN in 1920, was renamed c.) ROBERT S. McNAMARA by its new owner Ford Motor Company's Marine Division on November 8, 1962. The McNAMARA was rescued from potential scrapping when Ford purchased her for $80,000 and spent $15,000 for renovation at AmShip's Toledo yard.

J. P. MORGAN JR. arrived in Spain on November 8, 1980, for scrapping.

PETER A. B. WIDENER passed down the Welland Canal November 8, 1986, towed by the tugs TUSKER and GLENADA en route to Lauzon, Quebec. From there she was towed overseas for scrapping. When built, the PETER A. B. WIDENER and fleet mates J. PIERPONT MORGAN, NORMAN B. REAM and HENRY H. ROGERS were the first 600-footers built for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. as "The Class of 1906."

On 08 Nov 1986, B. F. AFFLECK (steel propeller freighter, 588 foot, 7,964 gross tons, built in 1927, at Toledo, Ohio), under tow of the tug THUNDER CAPE, went adrift on Lake Superior in a storm after the tug lost power. The tug AVENGER IV was dispatched to pick up the AFFLECK, which was headed for scrap, and the tanker EASTERN SHELL towed the THUNDER CAPE to Thunder Bay for repairs.

BEN HUR, a wooden schooner-barge wrecker, 314 tons, built in 1874, at Dunville, Ontario, had been purchased for the job of salvaging the schooner M. E. TREMBLE. On 8 November 1890, she was at the job near Port Huron in the St. Clair River when she was rammed and sunk by the schooner-barge SUPERIOR which was being towed by the steamer PASSAIC. BEN HUR settled on top of the schooner she was attempting to salvage and a lighter-scow she was using also went down with her.

On 8 November 1877, the bark GREAT WEST was carrying 262,000 feet of lumber from Caseville to Chicago. Much of it was piled topside. In a big storm on Lake Michigan, she lost her deck load. She then became waterlogged and finally went ashore near Hyde Park, Illinois on 10 November. The crew were all saved.

On 8 November 1877, KATE L. BRUCE (3-mast wooden schooner, 307 tons, built in 1872, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was carrying wheat in tow of the tug JOHNSON when she was let go in heavy weather. She disappeared with all eight of her crew off Alpena, Michigan. A bureau containing her papers washed ashore in August 1878. The sunken wreck was discovered in 6 fathoms of water in Thunder Bay during the Autumn of 1879.

The forebody of the former CANADIAN EXPLORER arrived in Prescott on 05 Nov 2000, under tow of the Trois Rivieres tug DUGA. It remained there for three days. The previous March, it was reported that the hull was undergoing conversion to a 498-foot grain storage barge for Les Elevateurs des Trois Rivieres, Quebec. (The engine room portion of the former CANADIAN EXPLORER was mated to the forward section of the HAMILTON TRANSFER in 1998, and is now the CANADIAN TRANSFER.)

1981: EMERALD, the former LACHINEDOC, sank in the Persian Gulf during heavy weather while carrying steel mesh and aggregates. Nine members of the crew were missing while another three were rescued.

2007: SPIRIT OF NANTUCKET, the former NANTUCKET CLIPPER, struck an uncharted object in the Intercoastal Waterway and had to be beached. The ship was repaired at Norfolk, VA and resumed its journey to the Pacific for a new career as an Alaska cruise ship after earlier Great Lakes, St. Lawrence and East Coast service.

[Avenger]

Today in Great Lakes History - November 9

In 1971, the French freighter PENCHATEAU unloaded 3,000 tons of fluorspar at Erie Dock at Cleveland. This was (1) the first salty unloaded at this dock, (2) the first cargo handled from directly overseas, and (3) the first time Huletts unloaded directly into trucks. The operation required 9 hours (previous efforts using clamshell buckets to unload required two days).

On 09 November 1869, EXCELSIOR (wooden propeller river steamer and ferry, 40 foot, 28 tons, built in 1861, at Lewiston, New York) caught fire and was destroyed while taking on wood. She was owned by Samuel Hunt of St. Charles, Michigan and was primarily used as a ferry on the Saginaw River.

EDWIN H. GOTT's keel was laid November 9, 1977, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

The aft section of the ATLANTIC SUPERIOR (Hull#222) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. November 9, 1981. The section was towed to Thunder Bay, Ontario for completion.

In the fall of 1962, the W.F. WHITE left the Lakes, under tow of the tug MARION MORAN, for coal shuttle service in the Chesapeake Bay area passing down the Welland Canal November 9th. She returned to the Lakes under tow of the DIANA MORAN in 1965. Sold Canadian in 1976, renamed b.) ERINDALE, she was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario in 1985.

The keel for the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was laid November 9, 1953, at Lorain, Ohio.

NORMAN B. REAM was laid up at Duluth, Minnesota on November 9, 1960. In 1965, she would be sold and renamed b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE.

In 1971, the CITY OF MIDLAND 41 was laid up due to coal strike.

On 9 November 1923, AZTEC (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 180 foot, 835 gross tons, built in 1889, at Marine City, Michigan) was destroyed by fire at her home port of Marine City. The wreck lay in the Belle River until dynamited in the 1930Õs, and what was left was placed on the previously raised barge PROVINCE which was then towed up the St. Clair River, into Lake Huron and scuttled.

On 9 November 1877, The Port Huron Times announced that the Lake schooners W C GRANT and CITY OF GREEN BAY had left Montreal on a voyage to Europe.

The Big Storm of 1913: On November 7, 1913, the storm responsible for sinking or damaging more vessels than any other began a six-day assault on the Great Lakes. The "Big Blow" of 1913, struck Lake Superior on November 7 and reached Lake Michigan by November 8.

At 10:00 p.m. on November 9, 1913, the HOWARD M. HANNA JR was blown broadside onto the Port Austin Reef (off the tip of Michigan's thumb on Lake Huron) by northerly winds in excess of 60 mph during the Great Storm of 1913. The ship finally lost power and was driven onto the reef where she broke in two at hatch number seven.

On November 9, 1913, while down bound with ore, the FRED G. HARTWELL encountered very strong southwest winds in Lake Superior. She reached a position one mile east of Iroquois Point, on Whitefish Bay and dropped her anchor to ride out the storm. Her anchor began to drag when the winds shifted to the north and increased to unprecedented gale-force velocity. This was the beginning of the "Great Storm" of 1913, which drove her aground onto a rocky bottom. The seas pounded her until her bottom plates were torn open and she sank the next day in 26 feet of water.

On November 9th during the Big Storm of 1913, the MATTHEW ANDREWS was down bound in Lake Huron with a cargo of iron ore. Captain Lempoh decided to drop anchor rather than risk trying to enter the St. Clair River during the fury of the storm. Taking bearings for anchorage from LIGHTSHIP 61 (stationed at Corsica Shoal), which unknown to him had been blown two miles off station, the MATTHEW ANDREWS grounded heavily on Corsica Shoal.

Below is a first hand account of the storm from the journal of John Mc Laughlin transcribed by his great grandson Hugh Mc Nichol. John was working on the steamer E.L. WALLACE of the Dearborn Transit Co., during the Storm of 1913. The boat was captained by John Mc Alpine and Harry Roberts as Chief Engineer. The boat was loading iron ore in Escanaba when the storm started on November 8th.

Sunday, November 9, 1913
I got up at 12 a.m. and went on watch. They were loading us but awful slow. It is blowing hard and some snow falling and colder. We got away at 11:35 a.m. There is a heavy sea on and blowing a gale. We ain't making much headway, about 2 miles in 4 hours.

More entries from the Storm of 1913 tomorrow.

[Avenger]

Deadliest Great Lakes storm credited with safety, communications, forecasting improvements

11/10 - The storm raged for nearly a week, but Nov. 9 was by far the deadliest day.

Wind speeds up to 90 mph created waves 35 feet high. Cities, including Cleveland, shut down as more than 2 feet of snow fell. Great Lakes freighters were tossed like toy boats, with large ships overturned on four of the five Great Lakes including eight on Lake Huron alone.

It wasnt just another November gale that raged 100 years ago today, but a storm with hurricane-force winds and blizzard snowfall.

All told, the White Hurricane of 1913 claimed more lives nearly 250 than all other Great Lakes disasters combined. A dozen boats were lost, and another 31 were grounded or damaged. The storm caused the equivalent of $118 million in damage in todays dollars to freighters and cargo alone, not counting damage on shore.

Could a storm cause such calamity on the Great Lakes again?

Not likely, experts say, considering modern weather forecasting and maritime communications. The public, let alone ships captains, has access to more-accurate forecasts days in advance. In fact, the 1913 storm is credited with spurring maritime and weather service officials to develop better port structures, better safety features on boats, better communications and better forecasting for the Great Lakes region.

They had ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship radio available, but most of the companies didnt have them; they didnt see any use for them. The one company that did have them in, the Shanango Line, didnt lose a boat because they all stayed where they were and sat it out, said Michael Schumacher, author of the recently published book Novembers Fury: The Deadly Great Lakes Hurricane of 1913. The weather forecasting they did have was archaic it all came out of the Washington, D.C., office based on the local weather stations reporting in each day. And what they did have for forecasts, many captains didnt pay attention to. But you can bet that, after this storm, they did figure out a way to get better forecasts and you can bet the captains did pay attention.

Even the type of steel used to make ships has changed since then. Ships at that time used a type of steel in their hulls that became brittle at temperatures below 33 degrees, probably contributing to their destruction amid high winds and waves. Since the 1940s ships have been made of a much more resilient steel.

According to Schumacher, the 562-foot passenger ship Huronic left Sault Ste. Marie in 80-degree weather but was caught in the brunt of the storm on Lake Superior. The Huronic survived, as did its passengers, but only after a close call near Whitefish Point.

Snow and sleet blinded us, Huronic passenger James B. Potter said in an interview a few weeks after the storm, recounted in Schumachers book. The docks and the engine room were solid ice. The ship was an iceberg. The wind blew 80 miles per hour and the snow striking the pitching vessel froze as it struck. The ship tossed and lurched and creaked and trembled. It was a terrible sea, a wicked sea, such as I never saw before. Inside the ship, men were thrown like toys and furniture was broken to bits.

How could such a thing happen on a (expletive) lake? Potter wondered.

Quite easily, and not that infrequently, it turns out. While the loss of property and life on the lakes is far less likely now, the weather phenomenon that occurred a century ago can and still does happen, and most often at this time of year.

In this case, two low-pressure systems converged over the Great Lakes and became an extratropical cyclone fueled in part by the lakes still relatively warm waters. The first low struck Lake Superior on Nov. 7 and moved slowly across the region through Nov. 11. Deceptive lulls in the storm, before the second low-pressure system arrived from the southeast, probably contributed to the peril as some ships ventured out from safe harbor.

The rapid drop in pressure and increase in wind speed spurred what forecasters called a weather bomb.

This situation, two low-pressure systems sort of coming together to have a combined impact, happens fairly often, especially at these transition times of year, the fall and spring, said Carol Christenson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Duluth. We get these big fall storms, the November gales, because we have such a difference in temperature between air masses. We have warm air to the south and cold arctic air coming in from the north. We get the strongest winds when we have the largest temperature differences.

Those strong winds create big waves and heavy lake-enhanced snows, the hallmarks of Great Lakes storms.

The 1913 storms impact on Duluth and the North Shore was limited because the strongest winds were from the northwest, hitting only 60 mph here. Areas at the south ends of the lakes, where the wind had more chance to build big waves, were hit the hardest.

As far as storm impact on our area, the 1913 storm wasn’t even close to the Mataafa storm (November 1905) or the Fitzgerald storm (Nov. 11, 1975) or even the Halloween Blizzard (1991) or 2007 March Monster, Christianson said. They set up differently and their centers hit different areas but the thing they all had in common was they came in the seasonal transition period.

Schumacher, however, said the 1913 storm appears to have had unique qualities, including a sudden and unexpected wind increase on Nov. 9 and then hurricane-force winds coming out of multiple directions northwest, north and northeast. And the second low-pressure system from the south moved so fast, between daily forecasts, that no one in harms way knew it was headed north and west into the Great Lakes.

It switched so fast, they had waves coming from multiple directions. They call it confused seas, Schumacher said. And then those sustained winds lasted so long, 16 hours in some cases, that the waves just kept building and building on the southern ends of the lakes. Some of the people at the time said they had never seen that happen before or since.

The 1913 storm has kept many of its victims hidden, unfound in the century since the waves subsided. But just this past May, a group of shipwreck hunters with Northland ties found a previously undiscovered wreck sitting largely intact amid a spilled load of U.P. iron ore in about 535 feet of water offshore from Marquette. It turned out to be the 525-foot Henry B. Smith that had gone down with all 25 crewmen in the 1913 storm.

Of all the boats that went down, there wasnt one survivor. Not one, Schumacher noted. Most of the boats simply flipped over and sank. The guys didnt have a chance. That tells you what kind of fury that storm had."

Duluth News Tribune



Today in Great Lakes History - November 10

On this day in 1892, whaleback barge 102 loaded 2,073 tons of iron ore at Superior consigned to Cleveland. This was the first shipment of Mesabi Range iron ore carried by Oglebay Norton.

On 10 November 1901, the ROBERT A. PACKER (wooden freighter, 209 foot, 921 tons, built in 1882, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was found by the wrecking tug RUMBLE eleven miles north of off De Tour, Michigan, ablaze and abandoned by her crew. Captain Isaac Zess of the RUMBLE fought the flames for four hours and then was helped by the THOMAS W. PALMER. The fire was speedily extinguished with both vessels pouring water on the flames and the PACKER was tied up at the dock in DeTour, Michigan.

On 10 November 1887, A. BOODY (wooden schooner, 137 foot, 287 gross tons, built in 1863, at Toledo, Ohio) struck the Port Austin reef on Lake Huron and was declared a total loss. However, after ten days of hard work, the BOODY was finally pulled off the reef.

The EDMUND FITZGERALD foundered on Lake Superior during a severe storm November 10, 1975, at approximately 7:10 p.m. about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan, at position 47 0'N by 85 7'W in Canadian waters.

IMPERIAL ST CLAIR (Hull#57) was launched November 10, 1973 , by Port Weller Drydocks at St. Catharines, Ontario. Renamed b.) ALGOSAR in 1998, sold off the lakes, renamed c.) GENESIS EXPLORER in 2005.

The STEELTON sailed on her maiden voyage for Bethlehem Steel Corp. on November 10, 1943.

The ROBERT C. STANLEY, in her first season of operation, on November 10, 1943 during a Lake Superior storm, developed a significant crack across her spar deck and 12 to 14 feet down both sides of her hull. As the hull worked in the heavy seas, the crack widened to as much as three to four inches. The crew ran cables between the fore and aft winches that maintained a force sufficient to hold the hull together.

November 10, 1972, in the vicinity of the entrance to the East Outer Channel near Amherstburg, Ontario, the UNITED STATES GYPSUM collided with her towing tug MAINE and as a result her bow was punctured. The GYPSUM was beached to prevent sinking.

Pittsburgh Steamship's WILLIAM A. IRVIN (Hull#811) was launched November 10, 1937, at Lorain, Ohio. The IRVIN serves as a museum ship in Duluth, Minnesota since 1986.

November 10, 1892, the carferry ANN ARBOR NO 1 left the shipyard in Toledo, Ohio, bound for Frankfort on her maiden voyage. In 1895, the first major accident caused by cars coming free on the car deck of a rail ferry happened when the ANN ARBOR NO 1, was on an eastbound voyage. Approaching Frankfort in a northwest gale, she rolled so violently that many of the car fastenings broke and the cargo began to move about on the car deck. None of the early rear-loading car ferries were equipped with a sea gate to protect the stern from the seas, and seven cars of flour and butter went off the deck of the NO 1 into the lake. Captain Charles Moody resigned from the Ann Arbor as a result of this incident and returned to the Pere Marquette and Goodrich lines.

ATLANTIC (formerly MANITOULIN, wooden propeller passenger/package freight, 147 foot, 683 gross tons, built in 1880, at Owen Sound, Ontario) was bound for Byng Inlet with lumber camp supplies when she was caught in a storm and grounded in the lee of Pancake Island in Georgian Bay. Her cargo and aft cabin were thrown overboard to lighten her, but she caught fire and was destroyed. Her passengers and crew took to her boats and survived.

On 10 November 1856, ST JOSEPH (wooden propeller steam barge, 170 foot, 460 tons, built in 1846, at Buffalo, New York) stranded and was wrecked near Fairport, Ohio. No lives were lost.

November 10, 1911 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 was back in service after damaging several plates in October. The tanker MARIA DESGAGNES struck bottom in the St. Lawrence Seaway on 10 November 1999. After temporary repairs were made, the vessel was cleared to proceed to Hamilton, Ontario, to discharge its cargo of jet fuel. A survey of the seaway was completed with no indications as to what caused the vessel to ground.

On 10 November 1887, BLAZING STAR (wooden schooner, 137 foot, 265 tons, built in 1873, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was sailing on Lake Michigan in fine weather with a load of lumber. However, she grounded on Fisherman Shoal near Washington Island, Wisconsin even though the wreck of the steamer I N FOSTER was in full view on that reef. The captain was unable to locate a tug to pull the BLAZING STAR off and later she broke up in heavy weather. No lives were lost.

Below is a first hand account of the Storm of 1913, from the journal of John Mc Laughlin transcribed by his great grandson Hugh Mc Nichol. John was working on an unknown vessel during the Storm of 1913. The boat was captained by John Mc Alpine and Harry Roberts as Chief Engineer. The boat was loading iron ore in Escanaba when the storm started on November 8th.

Monday, November 10, 1913: I got up at 12 a.m. and went on watch. We were laying at anchor. It was blowing a living gale and kept it up. They hove up the anchor near 10 o'clock but monkeyed around until after dinner. We got under way. We passed the Light Ship about 3, and White Shoal at 5:15.

More entries from the Storm of 1913 tomorrow.

1900: The iron package freighter ARABIAN went aground 8 miles west of Whitefish Point, Lake Superior due to heavy weather. The ship was salvaged with only minor damage. It was later part of the Canada Steamship Lines fleet and was broken up about 1939.

1903: The passenger and freight steamer ATLANTIC was destroyed by a fire on Georgian Bay enroute to Parry Sound. The blaze apparently started in the cargo of hay that had become soaked with coal oil while riding out a late fall storm off Spruce Island west of its destination.

1922: Fleetmates GLENMAVIS and GLENCLOVA were in a collision at Montreal. Both were repaired and remained as part of the Great Lakes fleet for years as ACADIAN and GEORGE HINDMAN (ii) respectively. 1936: SIR WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN was upbound in Lake Huron and ran into a fall storm that damaged 62 automobiles as part of the deckload of new Packard & Chrysler cars.

1968: MANTADOC and FRANCOIS L.D. collided in heavy fog on the Seaway and sustained considerable bow damage. Both were repaired and the former still sails as d) MANITOBA while the latter was scrapped at Alang, India, as b) CINTA in 1987.

1989: ELPIS, Freedom Class deep sea freighter, first came through the Seaway in 1978. It raised considerable ire after stranding on a coral reef off Key Largo, FL while carrying sugar to Mexico. When it was refloated on November 12, the ship was seized by U.S. Marshals until assessment of the damage to the delicate coral reef could be made. The ship was later released and survived further trading until being scrapped at Alang, India, as c) CITY OF HOUSTON, in 2001.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Thanks Scroddy... yer a real pal!!! Keep an eyeball peeled for that book... ws