New CSL St-Laurent expected Wednesday
2/10 - According to the Canadian Coast Guard, CSL St-Laurent is expected in Montreal on Wednesday. Monday morning, she was in the Canso Strait area.
René Beauchamp
Algomarine arrives for Lay-up
2/10 - Owen Sound, Ont. - The Algomarine arrived in Owen Sound Monday for winter Lay-up. She struggled through the ice for almost 5 hours before reaching her lay-up dock. The Algomarine was assisted by the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley through the 8-12 inches of ice in the harbor.
State plans to dive shipwreck found by Muskegon duo
2/10 - Lansing, Mich. – By this coming summer, we will know for certain if the shipwreck discovered by two Muskegon treasure hunters is in fact the holy grail of all Great Lakes' shipwrecks – Le Griffon – that disappeared 336 years ago.
Kevin Dykstra and Frederick J. Monroe met in Lansing Thursday with state archaeologists Dean Anderson and Wayne Lusardi. Also attending the meeting were Sandra Clark, Director of Michigan Historical Center as well as Tom Graf from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
After viewing several photos, and discussing details of the wreck, the State has decided it wants to dive the site later this year, and hopefully determine the identity of the vessel.
State Maritime Archaeologist, Wayne Lusardi, who is an expert on Great Lakes shipwrecks, says he does not believe the wreck Dykstra and Monroe discovered is the coveted "Le Griffon".
"Based on some of the objects that are visible in the photos, and based on the description of the wreck by the discoverers, suggest strongly that it is not the Griffon, but rather a 19th, early 20th century vessel," said Lusardi.
If it's determined after the dive that the vessel isn't the Griffon, both Dykstra and Monroe say they won't be upset.
"If it isn't the Griffon, then it opens up for another story which will be very positive," said Monroe. "We're going to go look at this boat together and make some decisions on it."
"Whether it turns out to be the Griffon or not, it's still a historic shipwreck," said Dykstra. "Wayne Lusardi seemed real anxious to get out there and take a look at it."
Lusardi believes that the shipwreck Dykstra and Monroe found has not been found previously by anybody else.
State officials say they're planning another meeting soon where the state will determine the date when they plan to dive the wreck.
WZZM
Student discovers rare Eastland disaster footage
2/10 - Chicago, Ill. – An amazing piece of Chicago history has been uncovered. A graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago came across the first-known film footage of the Eastland disaster while doing online research.
The footage was found while searching a Dutch museum archive collection. The 55-second clip was part of a 14-minute film about World War I.
Ironically, the discovery comes at the approaching 100-year anniversary of the Eastland disaster. The boat capsized on the Chicago River on July 24, 1915, killing 844 people.
To view the clip:
www.eastlanddisaster.org/news/First-Known-Archived-Film-Footage-of-the-Eastland-Disaster-LocatedWLS
National Museum Announces Spring Lecture Series
2/10 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes has announced its program line-up for the spring Annual Lecture Series at the museum in Toledo.
Roger LeLievre, publisher, author, photographer, will discuss the history of “Know Your Ships,” the bible of Great Lakes vessel watching on Wednesday April 8. He will also be signing copies of the 2015 edition of “Know Your Ships.”
Carrie Sowden, Archaeological Director of the Peachman Lake Erie Shipwreck Center of the Great Lakes Historical Society, has been leading underwater archaeology efforts on Lake Erie for the past 11 years. She will discuss the infamous collision between the Cortland and the Morning Star that caused the loss of both vessels, Wednesday April 29.
Clint Mauk, Toledo’s unofficial historian, has been researching and documenting Toledo area history for decades. Although many in the area have seen his presentations previously, Mauk’s penchant for storytelling often brings back previous attendees. He will speak on Toledo’s experiences during Prohibition on Wednesday May 20.
All lectures are held at the National Museum of the Great Lakes at 7 p.m. on the day noted. Space for the lectures is limited so RSVPs are recommended. Call 419-214-5000 for more information or to reserve your space.
National Museum of the Great Lakes
Bramble is part of what defines Port Huron
2/10 - Port Huron, Mich. – Without a doubt, the retired U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble has many stories to tell.
Stories about receiving nuclear fallout in the Bikini Atoll as part of government testing in 1946. About what it was like in 1957 being one of the first ships — and the only survivor of its two companions — to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle. About being stationed in the Caribbean during the drug wars of the late 1980s.
These well-documented historic events led to the nomination and unanimous approval of the 180-foot buoy tender and icebreaker on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
But there are other memories, infinitely more in number, in the personal reminiscences of men who have lived and served on the Bramble.
These stories lend to the ship what could be called a kind of soul, former Bramble commanding officer Bob Lafean said.
"It's hard to describe unless you've actually been there. You do things that most people you talk to have never experienced," the Port Huron resident said. "We understand how the ships have their own identity, their own soul and ... they take care of you."
That feeling might be more difficult to locate precisely than the well-marked offerings tourists receive on their guided tours of the museum ship.
Bramble owners Bob and Sara Klingler hope to bring visitors' experiences on the ship closer to that of servicemen through enhanced overnight stays for youth that include station duty.
The overnight stay program is a continuation of what was offered through the Bramble's previous owner, the Port Huron Museum.
The Klinglers last week celebrated the two-year anniversary since they acquired the Bramble from the museum. The ship will have its 71st birthday this year.
The station duty component is new, Bob Klingler said.
"You will not just sit and look," he said. "You'll be part of an operating group. You'll either wash the deck or start an engine or make a radio call, something that would actually indicate a real job to you maybe later in your life. That's the kind of thing that can change the course of a youngster's career."
The Bramble will begin taking reservations April 15 for Saturday overnight programs. The ship can accommodate two groups of 20 with their chaperones.
The Marine City couple also have been host to musters on the Bramble, gatherings among volunteers, "Coasties" and retirees from near and far.
"They all want to help the Coast Guard communities and the locals," Sara Klingler said. "Some of these guys are 70, 80 years old, and they sailed in the Coast Guard."
The meetings are typically on the second Saturday of every month. They include a status meeting and assignments for attendees.
"Not only is the meeting giving a status of the ship, but we're going to do something that day," Sara Klingler said.
In March 2016, the Bramble will be featured in a blockbuster movie, but Bob Klingler could not share much more information due to confidentiality agreements. He said the movie is not "Transformers 4," which the ship was considered for. He also said the upcoming movie is not through Paramount Studios.
A Bramble crew of about 25 was assembled to participate in a Michigan Film Industry activity in Ecorse for two weeks of filming the movie at the end of August 2014, Bob Klingler said. There was a film crew of 600 to 700 people there, he said.
"It was a big production," Bob Klingler said. "We were thrilled. Everybody had a good time."
The project is related to Gov. Rick Snyder's ongoing economic development effort to make Michigan more viable in the film industry, he said.
"With our actual involvement in being solicited for 'Transformers 4' ... our name is out in the film industry as a ship that could be a prop and used in Michigan."
The Klinglers were contacted by National Geographic last summer to use the Bramble to look for a sunken ship in the Great Lakes. Time lines were not given, but if the project goes forward, it would involve a working crew of 25 people and the launching of a submersible from the deck of the Bramble.
A private company has contacted the couple with an interest in leasing the Bramble as a harbor ice breaker, they said.
And a sea trial in lower Lake Huron leading up to the Port Huron to Mackinac Island race on July 18 is in the works, involving a combination of Bramble crew and crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sundew. Retired Bramble Capt. Charles Park of Norfolk, Virginia, will serve as captain of the sea trial, Bob Klingler said. Park was captain aboard the Bramble from 1978 to 1980.
"Our goal is to be out during a July timeframe. Our goal is to be out at the start of the race," he said.
Port Huron Museum was gifted the Bramble with help from Acheson Ventures when the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the ship in 2003 after 59 years of service.
The museum board voted to put the Bramble up for sale after years of operating it as a museum ship at a financial loss. Lafean helped to list the ship with broker Marcon International in April 2010. Four offers were made in 2011, according to museum records. All were denied, except one, for which financing fell through. There were also several showings of interest in the ship.
"The expenses alone were just so outrageous that we couldn't keep it. As nice as it was and as wonderful as it was to have the site, it would have put us in bankruptcy to keep it. And that's not fair to the rest of our sites and to the community at large," museum executive director Susan Bennett said.
Bennett said during the period that the Bramble was for sale, various people approached the museum about scrapping the ship, using it as a sand dredge in the Caribbean or using it overseas in construction projects.
"None of those were appealing to us," she said. "So Mr. Klingler, as an individual and as a businessman, he and Sara were a dream to work with. He was passionate about the ship, and it was the absolute best outcome that ever could have happened."
"To keep it here was a huge, huge thing."
The Klinglers bought the Bramble in February 2013 for close to the reduced asking amount of $200,000, Bennett said.
Bob Klingler didn't want to talk about what he paid for the Bramble, which continues to be a financial liability in terms of operating costs and insurance.
"The purchase price is kind of a private thing. It was either going to be scrap metal or cut up and go to a barge in South America," he said. "So its history and its provenance and the ability to make it live again would have been terminated. But it does cost real money to keep it running, I'll tell you that. And there's no grant money. It's all out of my pocket."
According to Patrick Andrus, historian with the National Register of Historic Places, owners of private property listed in the National Register have no obligation to open their properties to the public, to restore them, or even maintain them, if they choose not to do so.
"Owners can do anything they wish with their property, provided that no federal license, permit, or funding is involved," Andrus said in an email.
The Klinglers bought the Bramble with the intention of preserving it for future generations as well as keeping it open to the public.
"Everyone knows this ship is on the National Historic Registry, and we're not about to let anything happen to it," Sara Klingler said.
Lafean said the connection to the area many former Coasties who have served on the Bramble seem to develop is consistent with what he has seen elsewhere.
"As a general rule, it happens in all the small towns in the Great Lakes," he said. "They (Coast Guard members) are an easy fit into the community."
Lafean said the attachment goes back to the 1800s when locals volunteered to man the rescue boats. When the Coast Guard ships came in, they, too, became part of the community fabric. "People lived in the community. They went to the local churches, shopped locally," Lafean said.
They also get married and have children, like Grinnell, Iowa-native Bob Emmert.
Emmert joined the Bramble crew in October 1995 as third class petty officer. He decided to stay on in Port Huron after his service with the Coast Guard was up in July 1998. "The attachment that I see is that it has brought a lot of people in this town, such as myself. I'm one of them," Emmert said.
Emmert was the ship cook and lived on the Bramble during his service. He likened the ship to people's childhood homes.
"There are tons and tons of memories of you and your friends, your co-workers on that boat traveling. We took it all the way down to South America and back. We were gone for about 4 1/2 months taking it up into Lake Superior doing island cleanups and going over into Lake Michigan and doing festivals working the long buoy season on it. So when I look at that, it's my history. It's my previous home," Emmert said.
"You know, you always travel around and say, 'This is where I used to live. It's kind of cool that it's still around. I'd hate for it to go anywhere."
Looking back, Sara Klingler said she and her husband have accomplished a lot in two years.
"We've gone from a ship that was silent and tied up and kind of forgotten about on the south side of town," she said. "We're getting it back to the point when the Coast Guard still had it underway and they were still using it, and not letting the mechanical or any portions of the ship deteriorate to the point where you can't bring it back to life."
Ship engineer Tony Zolinski said the ship's parts had been unused for a long time, but that everything was built "very high quality."
"If we had to shove off from the dock, if it was an absolute 911 emergency, there's no doubt that what we need to come to life would come to life, no problem," Zolinski said.
Whatever adventures await the Bramble, Bob Klingler knows one thing for sure about the ship.
"It's staying in Port Huron, and it's staying warm. The engines, motors, pumps —all that is going to live on," Klingler said. "It's pretty much out of the love of it is where the whole thing is. Everybody loves it, and it's a huge piece of history."
Port Huron Times Herald
Lookback #450 – Former Jacqueline stranded off Morocco on Feb. 10, 1985
2/10 - The French ore carrier Jacqueline was built at Port de Bouc, France, and completed in January 1959. It operated on deep-sea routes before coming through the Seaway for the first time in 1967.
The 4,210 gross ton freighter was sold and renamed b) Rhea in 1971, and was a Seaway trader as such in 1972. It moved under the flag of Cyprus as c) Kyrarini later in 1972, to Greek interests as d) Paros Trader in 1976 and under the flag of Panama as e) Nike in 1978.
Nike went aground about 1½ miles north of Tarfaya, Morocco, on Feb. 10, 1985, while waiting for a berth at Laoyoune, Morocco. The ship was inbound, without cargo, from Venice, Italy, 30 years ago today and had to be abandoned as not salvageable. The remains of the hull are still there, rusted and battered by the elements
Skip Gillham
Today in Great Lakes History - February 10
UHLMANN BROTHERS was launched February 10, 1906, as a.) LOFTUS CUDDY (Hull#341) at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. The MARKHAM (Twin Screw Hopper Suction Dredge) was delivered February 10, 1960, to the Army Corps of Engineers at Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1998, The Ludington Daily News reported that a private investment group (later identified as Hydrolink) was planning to start cross-lake ferry service from Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee running two high-speed ferries.
On 10 February 1890, NYANZA (wooden propeller freighter, 280 foot, 1,888 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #63) in W. Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. In 1916, she was renamed LANDBO and she lasted until abandoned in 1920.
In 1975, a fire onboard CRISPIN OGLEBAY a.) J.H. HILLMAN JR of 1943, caused $100,000 damage to the conveyor and tunnel while she was laid up at Toledo. The forward end of CRISPIN OGLEBAY is now ALGOMA TRANSFER (C.323003).
1973: The CUNARD CAVALIER was launched at Seville, Spain. It first appeared on the lakes in 1978.
1981: A pair of former Seaway traders collided in the Mediterranean off Algiers and one sank. The FEDDY had been inland as b) SUNSEA in 1969, c) SAGA SAILOR in 1971 and as d) ELLY in 1976. It went to the bottom with the loss of 32 lives. This ship had been enroute from Boston to Volos, Italy, with a cargo of scrap steel. The second vessel, SOUNION, survived. It had been to the Great Lakes as a) SUGAR CRYSTAL in 1968 and was back as b) SOUNION in 1979. It sailed until scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, following arrival as c) MED VITORIA on April 17, 1993.
1982: TEXACO BRAVE (ii) was pushed off course by the ice and current and struck the bridge crossing the St. Lawrence at Quebec City damaging a mast and the radar. The vessel still sails as d) ALGOEAST.
1984: Scrapping of the Italian freighter b) VIOCA got underway at La Spezia, Italy. The ship made 8 trips through the Seaway as a) BAMBI from 1959 to 1964.
1984: The AEGIS FURY arrived at Shanghai, China, for scrapping as e) WELL RUNNER. The ship first came to the Great Lakes in 1972.
