Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/18 - Duluth, Minn. – An oceangoing freighter that was detained in the Duluth harbor for six weeks in 2015 made its first trip back into the local port over the weekend.

Flying a different flag and presumed to be operating under a different owner, the Cornelia arrived Sunday and remained docked at the Holcim Trading Co. terminal at the end of Rice's Point on Monday. Holcim is an international cement supplier based in Switzerland.

The Cornelia was detained in Duluth late last year and its German owners were slapped with $1 million in penalties after pleading guilty to dumping oily wastewater into the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, based in Cleveland, was responsible for detaining the ship and conducting the investigation. It said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the ship's return to the Great Lakes.

"Business as usual," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Yaw. "As far as anything that happened last year, it was investigated. It would be similar to if a ship ran aground, went through the process to get repairs and made it back."

The Cornelia flew the flag of the South Pacific's Cook Islands into port this time, having previously been a Liberian-flagged ship. The ship no longer appears on the fleet list of the German company that owned it and pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, MST Mineralien Schiffahrt.

The Coast Guard held the Cornelia, with its captain and crew aboard, at anchor in the harbor, just out from 27th Avenue East, from early November until Dec. 18, when it finally was allowed to depart.

According to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Minnesota district in July, the Cornelia's crew discharged oily wastewater overboard at least 10 times from February to October 2015, and its chief engineer intentionally failed to record the discharges in its record book. That included at least one incident while the vessel was in the Great Lakes. The guilty plea was to violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

Attempts to reach Holcim and the local vessel agent, Guthrie-Hubner, to discuss the Cornelia's return were unsuccessful.

Duluth News Tribune





Coast Guard crew makes special stop over Edmund Fitzgerald wreck site

10/18 - Lake Superior – While the winds of November aren't yet blowing, a U.S. Coast Guard crew crossing Lake Superior this past weekend stopped above the Edmund Fitzgerald wreck site to pay tribute to the 29 lost mariners.

The wreck, which came to be internationally known through Gordon Lightfoot's soulful tune, happened during a massive storm on Nov. 10, 1975.

Last week, crew members aboard the Hollyhock, a Coast Guard cutter and buoy tender, stopped directly above the wreck site about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point. One by one, they dropped roses onto the water's surface as a memorial to the 29 men who went down with the Fitzgerald, according to the Coast Guard's Facebook page.

Read more and view photos at this link


10/18 - Detroit, Mich. – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District recently awarded a contract to automate gates at the Corps’ compensating works structure at the head of the St. Marys rapids in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

This $8.02 million dollar effort leverages Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funds provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide power to the gates and add the capability of opening and closing those gates from a control center in the Corps Soo Locks facility. Currently these gates can only be opened and closed through a timely and labor intensive process of hand cranking mechanical gears on the gates themselves.

The rapids immediately downstream of the gates provide a critical spawning area for a diverse range of fish species. This roughly 80 acre area of rapids is one of the most productive spawning locations anywhere in the Great Lakes system. The automation project will provide much greater flexibility to how the gates can be operated to optimize spawning conditions in the rapids.

“This critical project will allow us to move the gates at very controlled rates and execute more complicated gate position adjustment strategies that will maximize the productivity of spawning in these important rapids” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office.

Construction of this project is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2017, with a scheduled completion date in December of 2018. Koontz Electric Company, Inc. of Morrilton, Ark. is the prime contractor responsible for this project.

The compensating works structure contains 16 gates located across the international divide between the United States and Canada. The Corps operates and maintains the eight U.S. gates, while Brookfield Renewable Energy Group operates and maintains the eight Canadian gates. Gate movements are executed as part of the overall regulation of outflows from Lake Superior specified by the Lake Superior Board of Control, which was established in 1914 by the International Joint Commission.

USCOE


10/18 - Owen Sound, Ont. –Possibly the first Russel Brothers tugboat built in Owen Sound has come home and is floating at the Owen Sound marina, an incomplete restoration project which is for sale on Kijiji.

The Bluefin, built in 1937-38 at the Russel Brothers shipyard, was put in the water this spring. But due to personal circumstances its owner, Kristjan van Wissen, a recent marine engineering graduate at Georgian College, just listed the 40-foot tug for sale on Kijiji for $35,000.

“Bluefin could well have been the first Owen Sound built Russel vessel,” according to information found at russelbrothers.ca, a website established by local tugboat enthusiast Steve Briggs. “This vessel was definitely the forerunner of the Navy Ville class of tugs,” built for Second World War service.

“If it sells up there, great. I planned on bringing it to Toronto Nov. 1,” van Wissen said. “And if it doesn't sell, it's still a great boat and I'll make some use of it in the future,” the 37-year-old said. “There's been some interest in the add already.”

Wissen, who used to deliver boats to their owners back and forth across the Atlantic, didn't know where Owen Sound was when he signed up for the Georgian College program.

He knew nothing about Russel Brothers boats and brought his boat it to Owen Sound not knowing it was made here, he said. It was simply a convenient place to work on while going to school here, he said.

He said he and his wife, Eliza, the boat's legal owner who's also an avid sailor, have taken the Bluefin across the harbour to the old Russel Brothers factory site for picnics on that overgrown, vacant east harbourfront site.

And Wissen has been overwhelmed with the interest shown in the vessel since its been here. People have come up to him to say a family member who worked at Russel's may have even helped built that boat.

“I was really surprised that the boat sat in Goderich on land for 10 years. No one even mentioned it. And then I bring it to Owen Sound and I've been told a hundred times that I should restore it to its original condition or I should use it for charter trips outside the rail museum,” he said.

“One city councillor said he would support me if I wanted to restore it and I could have a berth outside the city rail museum and do trips on it and stuff. And I said, well, if the boat's so important, how come nobody else looked into it in the last 10 years?”

The Ontario government used it last, as a research vessel to hunt for shipwrecks. It was stripped and sat rusting on land for 10 years before it was sold to someone who then sold it to van Wissen last fall. Most of its working life it was a commercial fishing boat in Northern Ontario.

“I could tell right away that it was an incredibly well built vessel. It was far better built and far stronger than any other boat you can get, recreational vessel of that size,” van Wissen said.

The engine seemed in great shape, lots of wiring had been replaced and “so even though it was all rusty and covered in wasps nests and obviously left out in the elements for 10 years, I could see that it was actually a very good boat,” he said.

This boat was to be turned into a recreational vessel and van Wissen started doing so with some of his classmate friends. But a personal commitment arose which limits his free time, he said, which led to the decision to sell.

Bluefin was named “Annie Mac” at the shipyard before it was renamed Bluefin by its first owner, a commercial fisherman named Angus (Buddy) McLeod, according to a 1988 article about the vessel which van Wissen shared for this story.

Based on interviews with Buddy's “wife and fishing partner,” Edna, the article said the vessel was delivered by rail from Owen Sound to Nipagon in March 1938 and was used as a fishing boat for years, modified with a “turtleback” to cover the deck. That deck cover has since been removed. In the late 1960s the Bluefin was sold to his friend Harold Dampier who moved the boat to Lake Superior.

By 1980 his brother, Randie Dampier, fished with it in Lake Superior.

“By this time, Bluefin had established her reputation as a tough, economical little sea boat,” the article said.

“But that was not the only reputation that she had acquired. With her old-style, narrow, deep hull and fine lines she tended to roll a bit. Harold once told me, 'she'll never drown you but she'll beat your brains out.'”

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources bought the Bluefin in 1985 under its Fisheries Buyout Program. The vessel, next owned by the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications, was then used to hunt shipwrecks as a research vessel, captained by Peter Engelbert, who wrote the 1988 in the marine heritage newsletter, Save Our Shipwrecks.

Owen Sound Times


On October 18, 1869, GERALDINE (3-mast wooden schooner, 232 tons, built in 1856, at Wilson, New York as a bark) was carrying coal from Buffalo to Detroit in heavy weather. During the night, she collided with the schooner E. M. PORTCH five miles below "The Cut" at Long Point on Lake Erie and sank in 5 minutes. The PORTCH stood by while the GERALDINE's crew got off in the yawl. No lives were lost.

ALVA C. DINKEY departed Quebec City October 18, 1980, in tandem with her former fleet mate GOVERNOR MILLER, towed by the FedNav tug CATHY B., in route to Vigo, Spain, for scrapping.

Tragedy struck on the WILLIAM C. MORELAND's fifth trip October 18, 1910, Loaded with 10,700 tons of iron ore from Superior for Ashtabula, Ohio, the vessel stranded on Sawtooth Reef off Eagle Harbor, Michigan, on Lake Superior. Visibility had been very limited due to forest fires raging on the Keweenaw Peninsula and the lake was blanketed with smoke as far as one mile off shore. The MORELAND hit so hard and at such speed that she bounced over the first reef and came to rest on a second set of rocks. The stern section was salvaged and combined with a new forward section she became b.) SIR TREVOR DAWSON in 1916. Renamed c.) CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON in 1920, d.) GENE C. HUTCHINSON in 1951, sold into Canadian registry in 1963, renamed e.) PARKDALE. Scrapped at Cartagena, Spain in 1970.

On October 18, 1896, AUSTRALASIA (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 282 foot, 1,829 gross tons, built in 1884, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was carrying 2,200 tons of soft coal when she caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank 3 miles east of Cana Island in Lake Michigan. The Bailey's Harbor Lifesavers saved her crew.

At 8 p.m., on October 18, 1844, the steamer ROCHESTER left Rochester, New York for Toronto. She encountered a severe gale about halfway there. Captain H. N. Throop had the vessel put about to return to Rochester. The gale was so severe that all thought they were lost. When they finally arrived in Rochester, the passengers were so grateful that they had survived that they published a note of gratitude to Almighty God and Captain Throop in The Rochester Daily Democrat on 19 October 1844 -- it was signed by all 18 passengers.

On October 18,1876, the schooner R. D. CAMPBELL filled with water and capsized on Lake Michigan about 10 miles from Muskegon, Michigan. The crew clung to the vessel's rigging until rescued by the tug JAMES MC GORDAN. The schooner drifted to the beach some hours later.

1905: The schooner TASMANIA became waterlogged while under tow of the steamer BULGARIA and sank in the Pelee Passage

1911: ARUNDELL had been laid up at Douglas, MI, for about 2 weeks when fire Poke out, destroying the iron hulled passenger and freight vessel.

1917: ABYSSINIA had been under tow of the MARUBA when both ships stranded at Tecumseh Shoal in heavy seas. The grain-laden vessels had been following the north shore due to high winds when they struck bottom. The barge began leaking and was pounded apart but there was no loss of life but the steamer was refloated.

1933: The wooden steam barge MANISTIQUE caught fire on Lake Huron and the remains either sank or was scuttled.

1973: The AGIOS ANTONIOS first visited the Seaway in 1972 and, as a) SILVERWEIR, had come inland beginning in 1964. The ship had loaded iron ore at Coondapoor, on the southwest coast of India, and went aground leaving for Constanza, Romania. The vessel was abandoned as a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

SS Badger welcomed home as 2016 sailing season ends

10/19 - Ludington, Mich. – People waved from the Loomis Street boat launch, the breakwaters and waterfront walkway areas Sunday night, while others honked their car horns as the SS Badger entered the Ludington harbor.

It was the final day of the sailing season for Lake Michigan Carferry, and people were commemorating the occasion.

“This is my favorite time of the year,” said Ronnie Mosier, who lives in Ludington and has been celebrating the final trip of the Badger season for two years. “I love the sunsets. It’s so crisp, so beautiful. It’s the most beautiful place in the world, and I’ve been to Hawaii and Alaska and ... (all over). My husband spoiled me. But this is Ludington.”

At 6:32 p.m., the SS Badger passed the North Breakwater Light and the long-standing tradition of commemorating the SS Badger began.

“We love coming down, walking the channel, and waving to the Badger,” said Betty Curtis of Ludington.

Ludington Daily News


10/19 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U.S. brig Niagara, Erie, Pennsylvania’s flagship, has arrived at Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland for routine drydocking and repairs. The vessel was hauled out using the Marine Travelift on Oct. 10, and work on the vessel will be completed in approximately three weeks.

This marks the second time Great Lakes Shipyard has hauled out the Niagara using the Marine Travelift.

Owned and maintained by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Flagship Niagara is a reconstruction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s ship that led the Battle of Lake Erie victory on September 10, 1813.

As a sailing school vessel under U.S. Coast Guard inspection, the Niagara is required to be inspected out of the water twice in a five-year period, with no inspection interval exceeding three years. The Niagara's last such inspection was in the fall of 2013 at Great Lakes Shipyard.

Great Lakes Shipyard


10/19 - Traverse City, Mich. – The Inland Seas Education Association has new momentum, thanks to the arrival of a new school ship, several grants, and the initial steps in a complete renovation of its Suttons Bay facility. “I think it’s all a very big deal, with lots of potential,” says Fred Sitkins, the organization’s executive director.

The 65-foot schooner Utopia was recently gifted by Ellsworth Peterson, retired chairman of the shipbuilding firm Peterson Builders of Wisconsin.

The arrival of the schooner will allow the organization to offer more programs to students. It will be parked at the Discovery Pier in Traverse City, which Sitkins says will help the organization in its efforts to work more closely with the Discovery Center and the Traverse City community.

Built in 1946 by Peterson, Utopia’s maiden voyage in 1947 included a cruise of the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Caribbean Islands. In 1956, the ship embarked on a three-year cruise around the world. Utopia has logged more than 60,000 miles, including several Chicago-Mackinac races.

A grant from the Worthington Foundation will allow Inland Seas to purchase a remotely operated underwater vehicle and develop an underwater course for school groups and the public beginning in 2017. This program will be run from Utopia.

Two educational grants, one for $75,000 and one for $72,000, will provide funding for programs for teachers and students. The first, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will allow Inland Seas to bring in 30 teachers from Michigan and other Great Lakes states to participate in a four-day professional development opportunity next June. The field course will include daily hands-on, place-based environmental education experiences, time for studying and planning, and lodging at Northwestern Michigan College and on the schooner Inland Seas.

The teachers will also receive ongoing support and resources during the following school year as they implement what they’ve learned in their home areas. As an example, Sitkins cites the Enbridge pipeline rupture, which resulted in crude oil spilling into the Kalamazoo River. Teachers from that area could potentially learn from this field course how to address such calamities in the classroom and in the field.

The second grant is from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, and will provide what Sitkins calls “playspace education” for area teachers. “We want to get kids in the natural environment,” he says. He says a crumbling mural on the exterior of a gas station in Suttons Bay, which has deteriorated over time, is an example of what would be “a wonderful project … for an art class. We’ll give them (teachers and students) tools.”

Last month, the ISEA unveiled its plans for the Inland Seas Capt. Thomas M. Kelly Biological Station. Inland Seas has $810,000 in pledges for the project. The current facilities at 100 Dame St. in Suttons Bay will be renovated to include dorm space in the lower level of the education center and a new building capable of storing and maintaining ship and scientific equipment as well as the boat shop. The upper level of the education center will remain an invasive species museum and continue to house the Suttons Bay Visitors Center.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us,” says Sitkins. He says the ambitious five-year project will kick off next spring with construction of the new boat shop, the first domino in the process.

TraverseTicker.com


10/19 - Ogdensburg, N.Y. – The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority will break ground on a $2.6 million project today designed to expand the Port of Ogdensburg’s ability to import and export agricultural products.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for construction related to two 800-pound grain storage bins is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Port of Ogdensburg entrance at the corner of Ford and Barre streets, according to OBPA officials. The grain bin construction is part of a larger $2.6 million project that also calls for construction of a new conveyor system and the eventual rehabilitation of two rail bridges.

In April the OBPA announced that a project to improve the port’s capacity to import and export agricultural products had been moved up by a year. State Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, said at the time that the $2.6 million project was aimed at growing Ogdensburg’s agriculture import-export business.

Mrs. Ritchie said the port expansion had originally been set to begin next year, but the state moved up the construction timetable at her request.

“With its proximity to Canada, and its location as the last deepwater port for outward bound shipping from the Great Lakes, the Port of Ogdensburg can play a key role in growing our economy and helping to create new jobs,” Mrs. Ritchie said in an April press statement.

The expansion project is also designed to better position the Port of Ogdensburg to serve the needs of north country farmers and agri-businesses by making it easier to move products to newer and bigger markets by rail and water, according to officials.

The port’s agribusiness project was labeled a priority for the North Country Regional Economic Development Council, which highlighted the plan in its third round of funding awards in 2013.

Watertown Daily Times



At 2 a.m. October 19, 1901, the Barry line steamer STATE OF MICHIGAN (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 165 foot, 736 gross tons, built in 1875, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) sank in 60 feet of water about four miles northwest of White Lake harbor on Lake Michigan. The crew and captain reached shore in boats with the assistance of the White Lake Life Saving crew and the tug MC GRAFF. The vessel was sailing in good weather when a piston rod broke and stove a hole through the bottom of the boat. The water came gushing in. By the time the tug MC GRAFF came and took on the crew, the STATE OF MICHIGAN was in serious trouble. She went down shortly after the tug began towing her toward shore.

On October 19, 1871, ELIZA LOGAN (2-mast wooden schooner, 130 foot, 369 gross tons, built in 1855, at Buffalo, New York) foundered in rough weather about 12 miles off Erie, Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie. She was sailing from Toledo, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, with a load of wheat when she sank. Captain Lawson and one sailor were lost, but the six others scrambled up the rigging and held on to the crosstrees for 42 hours until they were rescued by the schooner EMU at 6:00 a.m. on the morning of 21 October.

GEORGE A. SLOAN ran aground off Bob-Lo Island in the Amherstburg Channel on October 19, 1987. She was released when she unloaded part of her cargo to the CALCITE II. SLOAN was repaired in Toledo. Purchased by Lower Lakes Towing in 2001, renamed c.) MISSISSAGI.

ALGOSEA, a.) BROOKNES, was christened on October 19, 1976, at Port Colborne, Ontario. She was renamed c.) SAUNIERE in 1982. Scrapped in Turkey in 2011.

BUFFALO was able to leave the Saginaw River once it opened to traffic on October 19, 1990. The river was closed after the tanker JUPITER exploded as the BUFFALO passed.

KINSMAN VOYAGER was launched October 19, 1907, as a.) H. P. BOPE for the Standard Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE of 1908, had the honor on October 19, 1912, of being the first vessel to navigate the opening of the Livingstone Channel named after the man who helped conceive the idea of a separate down bound channel on the east side of Bob-Lo Island in the lower Detroit River. Mr. Livingstone, President of the Lake Carriers Association at the time, piloted his namesake vessel in the channel on that historic trip. Renamed b.) S B WAY in 1936 and c.) CRISPIN OGLEBAY in 1948. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1974.

The crew on the stranded WILLIAM C. MORELAND was removed in gale force winds on October 19, 1910, by the Portage life saving crew.

On October 19, 1923, SAMUEL MATHER was driven onto Gull Rock on Lake Superior near Keweenaw Point during a snowstorm and gale winds. The crew was safely removed from the badly exposed steamer on October 21st by the Eagle Harbor life saving crew. Renamed b.) PATHFINDER in 1925, sold Canadian in 1964, renamed c.) GODERICH, d.) SOO RIVER TRADER and e.) PINEGLEN in 1982. Scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario in 1984.

Michigan Limestone's self-unloader B. H. TAYLOR sailed from Lorain on her maiden voyage on October 19, 1923. She was renamed b.) ROGERS CITY in 1957, and scrapped at Recife, Brazil in 1988.

On October 19, 1868, PARAGON (wooden schooner, 212 tons, built in 1852, at Oshawa, Ontario as a brig) was being towed up the St. Clair River by the tug WILLIAM A MOORE with a load of lumber in the company of four other barges. During a gale, the tow was broken up. While the tug MOORE was trying to regain the tows, she collided with PARAGON causing severe damage. Four were drowned, but two were rescued by the Canadian gunboat/tug PRINCE ALFRED. PARAGON was then towed into Sarnia, but she sank there and was abandoned in place.

October 19, 1919 - ANN ARBOR NO 4, while on the Grand Haven to Milwaukee run, got caught in a gale, stretching the normal 6-hour crossing to 27 hours.

On October 19,1876, MASSILON (3-mast wooden schooner with foretop and topgallant sails, 130 foot, 298 gross tons, built in 1857, at Cleveland, Ohio, as a bark) was sailing from Kelley's Island for Chicago with limestone when she sprang a leak 20 miles above Pointe aux Barques at the mouth of Saginaw Bay. She was abandoned at about 2:00 a.m. and then sank. The crew was in an open boat until 7 a.m. when they were rescued by the tug VULCAN.

On October 19, 1873, JOHN F. RUST (wooden schooner-barge, 161 foot, 347 gross tons, built in 1869, at East Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying lumber in tow of the steamer BAY CITY in a storm when she broke her towline and went ashore a few miles north of Lakeport, Michigan.

1901: The wooden freighter STATE OF MICHIGAN, a) DEPERE sank off Whitehall, MI enroute to Manistee to load salt. A piston rod had broken and fractured the hull the previous day and the vessel went down slowly. All on board were saved.

1905: KALIYUGA foundered in Lake Huron with the loss of 18 lives. The ore laden steamer was enroute to Cleveland.

1905: SIBERIA sank in a storm on Lake Erie while eastbound with a cargo of grain. All on board were saved.

1916: The wooden schooner D.L. FILER, loaded with coal and enroute from Buffalo to Saugatuck, MI, became waterlogged and sank near the mouth of the Detroit River 3.5 miles east of Bar Point Light. The vessel settled in shallow water with the crew clinging to the masts. The forward mast cracked throwing the sailors into the water and all 6 were lost. Only the captain on the after mast survived.

1947: MANCHESTER CITY went aground off Cap Saumon, QC, while inbound from the United Kingdom with freight, 12 passengers and a crew of 50. The ship stranded in fog and the passengers were removed safely before the vessel was lightered. The vessel made 17 trips through the Seaway from 1959 to 1963 before being scrapped at Faslane, Scotland, in 1964.

1981: ELSIE WINCK first came through the Seaway in 1962. It was bombed and sunk at Bandar Khomeini, Iran, as e) MOIRA on this date and was a total loss.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/20 - Detroit, Mich. – The blight along the Detroit River starts downstream of the Ambassador Bridge with the vacant 10-story building recognizable by the peeling sign for the Boblo Island dock. It’s a reminder of the once-bustling amusement park that closed 23 years ago.

Continuing downstream toward the Rouge River is Zug Island, the 596-acre home to U.S. Steel Corp.’s mill operations, with its mountains of coal and iron ore, and furnaces that are the size of skyscrapers. On its banks are rows of bridge cranes built decades ago to load and unload cargo from the massive freighters that navigate the river and the Great Lakes.

“That technology is outdated; freighters don’t load cargo that way anymore,” said John Loftus, executive director of the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority, the government agency that promotes southeast Michigan’s maritime industries. “At least one of those cranes will be scrapped.”

On a recent clear fall day, Loftus gave reporters a boat tour of the industrial parts of the two rivers to make the argument that the industrial riverfront remains essential — and also in need of urgent investment. That includes tax money, he contends.

“There are great opportunities along the Detroit and Rouge rivers to expand our maritime opportunities, our cargo and freight capabilities,” Loftus said.

Read more, and view photos at this link


10/20 - Port Dalhousie, Ont. – A grassroots effort is underway to rejuvenate a cornerstone of Port Dalhousie’s rich maritime history. The spotlight for that revitalization drive is Lock 1 of the second Welland Canal — built in 1845 and now in port’s commercial core. Its limestone walls, mostly still visible, are structurally sound but visibly showing their age.

In an effort to spruce the site up and make it a focal point, the Port Dalhousie Beautification and Works Committee and Kiwanis Club of St. Catharines have partnered in a project to allow better access there. On the wish list is a tiered seating and viewing area, bronze statues to commemorate tow horses that were used to pull ships through the canal, and historical interpretive signage.

Called The Lock One Revitalization Project, it’s also been selected by the charitable National Trust for Canada, This Place Matters in a crowdfunding competition that offers the chance of a $40,000 prize, based on the number of votes received.

“This will be part of helping beautify and clean up Port, which in turn helps us draw people to the business core,” said Jeff Mackie, founding member of the beautification committee and a local business owner. “There’s a feeling, with some, that parts of Port (look) closed, and having areas that are neglected doesn’t help … that impression.”

There is also a profound historical component that makes the effort important, he said. “Just as with the first and third canals, this one was quite instrumental (before and after) Canada’s Confederation in opening up the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, and to the world.”

Port Dalhousie was also the Lake Ontario terminus for the first three Welland Ship Canals, allowing a bypass from Niagara Falls from the lake to Lake Erie.

“There are a lot of pieces to this,” he said. “There’s having it as a place for people to interact with this history and also act as a space where people can come, have coffee, maybe watch a quartet in a small amphitheatre — it seems a perfect use.”

In an e-mail, Port Dalhousie Ward Coun. Bruce Williamson said the old lock should be a celebrated centerpiece of the canal village.

“It has been sadly neglected, but has the potential to illuminate our maritime history and become architectural gem in our harbor landscape,” Williamson said.

Votes and donations for the project can be found at www.savelockone.ca and in Facebook: www.facebook.com/savelockone.

St. Catharines Standard



On this day in 1916, the whaleback JAMES B. COLGATE sank off Long Point in Lake Erie with a loss of 26. The lone survivor was Captain Walter J. Grashaw who was picked up two days after the sinking. Captain Grashaw had sailed as First Mate on the COLGATE for ten years and was conducting his first trip as Captain. The "Black Friday" storm also claimed the MERIDA, D.L. FLYER, and M.F. BUTTERS.

On 20 October 1875, the wooden schooner F.C. LEIGHTON was loaded with ore when she struck a rock in the St. Marys River and sank a few miles from Detour, Michigan. A tug was sent right away to raise her.

On 20 October 1916, MERIDA (steel propeller bulk freighter, 360 foot, 3,261 gross tons, built in 1893, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was heavily loaded with iron ore when she encountered the "Black Friday" Storm on Lake Erie. She sank about 24 miles east of Erieau, Ontario. All 24 onboard were lost. A few days later the wheelhouse was found floating 15 miles south of Port Stanley. 21 bodies were eventually found, but not the bodies of Capt. Harry L. Jones or crewman Wilfred Austin. The wreck was found in 1975 by Larry Jackson, a commercial fisherman.

The SCOTT MISENER of 1954 proceeded to the Port Arthur shipyard for dry docking and repairs on October 20th, after striking bottom October 15, 1973, near Whaleback Shoal on the St. Lawrence River.

The JAMES S. DUNHAM was launched October 20, 1906, for the Chicago Navigation Co. (D. Sullivan & Co., mgr.) Duluth, Minnesota. Renamed b.) LYNFORD E. GEER in 1926, and c.) OTTO M. REISS in 1934. Scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1973.

PETER A.B. WIDENER was launched October 20, 1906, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. (later the U.S. Steel Corp. in 1952), Cleveland, Ohio.

The tug RESCUE was sent from Port Huron to Tawas, Michigan to release the 246-foot barge OCEAN that was grounded. After pulling the barge free, Capt. Fitch of RESCUE began towing her down Lake Huron, but the storm got so bad that he was about to turn back and run for Tawas. However, the captain of OCEAN yelled that they were all right and to go ahead down the lake. Soon the seas got the better of the barge. The tug kept with her until she was about to sink. Then the line was cut, the tug turned about, ran under her lee, and rescued her crew of 9 from the lifeboat. The barge sank. On the way down Lake Huron, opposite Port Sanilac, the RESCUE picked up 6 men and 1 woman from the wrecked barge JOHN F. RUST. In this one trip, the RESCUE earned her name by rescuing 16 persons!

October 20, 1898 - The SHENANGO NO 2 (later PERE MARQUETTE 16) was arriving Milwaukee when her steering gear failed, causing her to crash into a grain elevator that was under construction.

October 20, 1926 - The keel was laid for the twin screw lake passenger and railcar ferry WABASH (Hull#177) of the Toledo Shipbuilding Co.

On 20 October 1863, E. S. ADAMS (3 mast wooden bark, 135 foot, 341 gross tons, built in 1857, at Port Robinson, Ontario) was carrying 18,500 bushels of wheat on a clear night when she collided with the American bark CONSTITUTION resulting in the loss of the ADAMS. One life was lost. Neither vessel was blamed for the accident.

On 20 October 1854, JOHN J. AUDUBON (wooden brig, 370 tons, built in 1854, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying railroad iron from Buffalo to Chicago when she was struck amidships by the schooner DEFIANCE on a dark night, halfway between Thunder Bay and Presque Isle, Michigan. AUDUBON was cut almost in half. Both vessels sank quickly. No lives were lost.

On 20 October 1844, DAYTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 69 foot, 85 tons, built in 1835, at Grand Island, New York) capsized and sank in Lake Erie off Dunkirk, New York in a terrific gale. All onboard were lost.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/22 - Owen Sound, Ont. – The MS Chi-Cheemaun has posted another big season plying the waters between Tobermory and South Baymouth. After significant increases in passenger and vehicle numbers in the 2015 season, the Owen Sound Transportation Company ferry has again had big gains.

"It has been a nice trend upward," said OSTC chief executive officer Susan Schrempf. This past season, which ended on Sunday, saw just over 203,000 passengers take the ferry, an increase of 9.4 per cent over the 2015 season. In 2015, the passenger numbers were 10.8 per cent higher than 2014.

Vehicle numbers were also way up this year with just over 79,000 vehicles taking the ferry, an increase of more than 7.6 per cent above 2015, which saw numbers almost 8.7 per cent above 2014.

"To be perfectly honest we really only anticipated a 2 per cent growth for this year," said Schrempf. "We certainly weren't expecting around 8 per cent, which we will take, for certain."

Schrempf said tourism by car from the U.S. is up about 7 per cent across Canada, though they don't track those demographics so they don't know for sure if they are benefiting from such an increase.

"We do know the weak Canadian dollar has certainly kept people at home and this has also been influenced by the price of gas hovering around a dollar a litre," said Schrempf. "Of course we also had amazing summer weather and we think all of these things have helped."

The OSTC has also stepped up its marketing in southern Ontario in recent years and Schrempf said that has helped them raise the awareness levels to let people know the ferry exists, the experiences on Manitoulin Island and the available experiences onboard.

"We are trying to make it more of an experience for people when they are onboard and we are trying to make the experience as reflective of what is available in the region both on the peninsula and Manitoulin Island," said Schrempf, who said there are further plans to expand the dining and entertainment opportunities.

Schrempf said she doesn't expect passenger and vehicle numbers to continue to grow at such a high rate, but they are hoping to see at least a 2 to 3 per cent increase next year.

Following its final run on Sunday, the ferry headed for Wisconsin, where it arrived Monday afternoon. It is there undergoing a mandatory inspection as well as some maintenance work.

Once the ferry arrives back in Owen Sound for the winter, expected to be around the third week of November, it will undergo upgrades to the forward lounge and the tourism information area.

Last winter, the ferry underwent a $2.4-million renovation to convert the cafeteria into a fine dining area. The renovations are all part of a three-year plan that will conclude with the aft lounge, which houses the play area, gallery space and where other events are held.

Also in the spring, weather permitting, the Chi-Cheemaun will get a major visual makeover when First Nation-themed artwork will grace the bow of the ship. Last year A First Nations-themed decal was installed on the ferry's smokestack.

Owen Sound Sun Times


10/22 - Lake Erie – Black Friday, the shopping event, is just over a month away. But if you want to hear the tale of the real Black Friday, read on.

It was Friday, Oct. 20, 1916 when four large ships sank beneath the waves of Lake Erie in what is perhaps the most infamous killer storm in the Great Lake's history. Known as "Black Friday" today, the storm took the lives of about 50 men.

"I think it gets lost," said Mike Wachter, co-founder of Eriewrecks.com. "It doesn't get a lot of media attention. That happens on the east and west coast. To them, the Great Lakes are like little puddles."

But those who doubt the fury of the Great Lakes would be foolish, especially in the early part of the 20th century. Those were the days before radar and ship-to-shore radio was primitive. Shipping was a treacherous trade, with only the chance meeting with another lonely vessel as a connection to the mainland.

Four ships sank on Lake Erie that day. The James B. Colgate, Marshall F. Butters, D.L. Filer and the Merida.

Read more and view photos at this link



Both a museum and working fireboat, 116-year-old Edward M. Cotter needs TLC

10/22 - Buffalo, N.Y. – In the shadow of the Michigan Avenue Lift Bridge, close to the Cobblestone District and across the Buffalo River from RiverWorks and the General Mills cereal plant rests one of Buffalo's most beloved attractions.

The Fireboat Edward M. Cotter is both a National Historic Landmark and Engine 20, a working piece of fire apparatus. The 118-foot-long steel-hulled boat, moored at 155 Ohio St. at Michigan, is ready to draft water from the river and train its five spectacular turret guns on waterside blazes, as it did at the spectacular Concrete Central fire of May 27, 2013.

From stem to stern, from the keel to the tower that raises the back turret gun about 15 feet off the main deck, the Cotter is a painted, polished, humming testimony to the skills of its crews through the years, including Captain John D. Sixt III and Jack Kelleher, fire department marine engineer. Besides those two Buffalo Fire Department employees, a group of volunteers tend to the Cotter and serve as crew when it goes out. Its supporters recently formed a new group, the Fireboat E.M. Cotter Conservancy Inc., to raise money to repair and preserve the Cotter.

Although the Cotter has been held together by constant maintenance work, it needs extensive repairs to its hull and engines and new propellers and shafts. The work is estimated to cost half a million dollars. The Conservancy and the City of Buffalo are discussing how to use money raised by the Conservancy to pay for these repairs and what resources the city might provide. The Conservancy has pledged to $25,000 a year to pay for the boat's upkeep.

The Cotter is valued as a working fireboat and as a museum that is open for tours by appointment. The boat is taken to the Port Colborne Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival every year to recall its response on Oct. 7, 1960, when the Cotter was called to assist with the Maple Leaf Milling Co, grain elevators fire. In doing so, the Cotter was believed to be the first fireboat to cross an international boundary to fight a fire.

The Cotter, which can pump as much water as about 11 pumpers, "is absolutely our first line of defense in case of a large industrial fire along the waterfront, the grain silos or any of the other industry there," said Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. "But don't forget all the residential development that is going on there too. Our waterfront is being developed as it's never been before."

The Cotter also works as an icebreaker in winter and spring, clearing the Buffalo River and keeping ice from jamming the Cazenovia and Buffalo creeks and causing extensive flooding. Whitfield Jr. estimated that hiring an icebreaker to prevent flooding from those creeks would cost between $20,000 and $30,000 a day.

"As wonderful a piece of apparatus as it is for us, as historic as it is, don't diminish its importance as an icebreaker," he said.

Conservancy supporters hope to raise the Cotter's profile with visits to Canalside and other promotions as the boat's 116th birthday approaches next month. In the meantime, the Conservancy is selling an assortment of items, ranging from from T-shirts to Cotter charms and challenge coins cast from brass that was once on the boat. They are available from Wickenheiser by calling 741-9276.

It was built in 1900 and has had three names: the William S. Grattan until 1953, when it was briefly named The Firefighter, then renamed the Edward M. Cotter to honor the president of Buffalo Firefighters' Local 282. It is believed to be the oldest working fireboat in the world.

A group of volunteers is led by President Sanford Beckman, vice president Ron Endle, secretary Mark C. Butler and treasurer Charles Wickenheiser, and the group is supported by the Fire Bell Club of Buffalo, the Buffalo Fire Historical Museum, Union Local 282 and WNY Retired Firefighters. Cotter Captain Sixt, Buffalo Commissioner of Fire Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. and Local 282 President Thomas Barrett are ex-officio directors of the Conservancy.

Buffalo News


On October 22,1903, while being towed by the GETTYSBURG in the harbor at Grand Marais, Michigan, in a severe storm, the SAVELAND (wooden schooner, 194 foot, 689 gross tons, built in 1873, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was torn away and thrown against some pilings which punctured her hull. She sank to her main deck and was pounded to pieces by the storm waves. No lives were lost.

The tug PRESQUE ISLE completed her sea trials on October 22, 1973, in New Orleans.

On October 22, 1986, ALGOCEN spilled about four barrels of diesel fuel while refueling at the Esso Dock at Sarnia.

TOM M. GIRDLER departed South Chicago light on her maiden voyage, October 22, 1951, bound for Escanaba, Michigan, where she loaded 13,900 tons of ore for delivery to Cleveland, Ohio.

THORNHILL of 1906 grounded on October 22, 1973, just above the Sugar Island ferry crossing in the St. Marys River.

On October 22, 1887, C.O.D. (wooden schooner-barge, 140 foot, 289 gross tons, built in 1873, at Grand Haven, Michigan) was carrying wheat in Lake Erie in a northwest gale. She was beached three miles east of Port Burwell, Ontario, and soon broke up. Most of the crew swam to shore, but the woman who was the cook was lashed to the rigging and she perished.

On October 22, 1929, the steamer MILWAUKEE (formerly MANISTIQUE MARQUETTE AND NORTHERN 1) sank in a gale with a loss of all 52 hands. 21 bodies were recovered. Captain Robert Mc Kay was in command.

On October 27, 1929, a Coast Guard patrolman near South Haven, Michigan, picked up a ship's message case, containing the following handwritten note: "S.S. MILWAUKEE, OCTOBER 22/29 8:30 p.m. The ship is taking water fast. We have turned around and headed for Milwaukee. Pumps are working but sea gate is bent in and can't keep the water out. Flicker is flooded. Seas are tremendous. Things look bad. Crew roll is about the same as on last payday. (signed) A.R. Sadon, Purser."

On October 22, 1870, JENNIE BRISCOE (wooden schooner, 85 foot, 82 tons, built in 1870, at Detroit, Michigan) was raised from where she sank off Grosse Ile, Michigan, a couple of months earlier. She was in her first season of service when she collided with the propeller FREE STATE and sank there. Her raised wreck was sold Canadian in 1871, and she was rebuilt as the propeller scow HERALD.

In a severe gale on 22 October 1873, the three barges DAVID MORRIS, GLOBE, and SAGINAW from Bay City grounded and sank off Point Pelee on Lake Erie.

On October 22, 1887, DOLPHIN (wooden schooner-barge, 107 foot, 147 tons, built in 1855, at Milan, Ohio) and G. D. NORRIS (2-mast wooden schooner, 128 foot, 262 gross tons, built in 1856, at Cleveland, Ohio) were both carrying lumber and were in tow of the steamer OSWEGATCHIE in a storm on Lake Huron. The towline broke when the vessels were off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The DOLPHIN capsized and foundered. All 6 or 7 onboard perished. The NORRIS sank to her decks and her crew was rescued by the passing steamer BRECK. The NORRIS drifted ashore near Goderich, Ontario.

1929: N.J. NESSEN, a wooden bulk freighter, stranded in Lake Erie off Leamington, ON. The ship had been anchored for weather but the wind switched to the south, leaving it exposed. The hull broke up, but all on board were saved.

1929: YANTIC, a former wooden naval reserve training ship tied up at Detroit for use as a heating plant, sank at the dock. All 3 on board got off safely.

1979: J.N. McWATTERS struck the lighthouse at the main entrance to Cleveland with heavy damage to the structure.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On October 24, 1886, the wooden steam barge RUDOLPH burned on Lake St. Clair and was beached. She was loaded with lumber from East Saginaw, Michigan, for Cleveland, Ohio.

On October 24, 1902, W. T. CHAPPELL (2-mast wooden schooner, 72 foot, 39 gross tons, built in 1877, at Sebewaing, Michigan) was carrying stove wood from Grand Marais, Michigan, to the Soo in a severe storm on Lake Superior when she sprang a leak. She was blown over and sank four miles from the Vermillion Life Saving Station. The lifesaving crew rescued the two-man crew in the surfboat and took them to the Whitefish Point Lighthouse for the night since the storm was so severe.

THUNTANK 6 (Hull#309) was launched October 24, 1969, at Wallsend, England, by Clelands Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for Thun Tankers Ltd., London, U.K. Renamed b.) ANTERIORITY in 1972. Purchased by Texaco Canada in 1975, renamed c.) TEXACO WARRIOR. Sold off-lakes in 1984, renamed d.) TRADER, e.) SEA CORAL in 1985, f.) TALIA II in 1985, g.) TALIA in 1985, STELLA ORION in 1995 and h.) SYRA in 2000.

The PHILIP D. BLOCK / W. W. HOLLOWAY scrap tow arrived at Recife, Brazil. October 24, 1986.

THOMAS W. LAMONT and her former fleetmate, ENDERS M. VOORHEES arrived at Alegeciras, Spain on October 24, 1987, on the way to the cutters’ torch. The LAMONT was one of the last bulkers that retained her telescoping hatch covers to the very end.

NIPIGON BAY arrived Thunder Bay, Ontario, on October 24, 1980, where repairs were made from damage caused by her grounding earlier in the month.

On October 24, 1855, ALLEGHENY (wooden propeller, 178 foot, 468 tons, built in 1849, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise and passengers in a storm, when she anchored near the Milwaukee harbor entrance for shelter. She lost her stack and then was unable to get up steam and was helpless. She dragged her anchor and came in close to the beach where she was pounded to pieces. There was no loss of life. Her engine and most of her cargo were removed by the end of the month. Her engine was installed in a new vessel of the same name built to replace her.

On October 24, 1873, just a month after being launched, the scow WAUBONSIE capsized at St. Clair, Michigan, and lost her cargo of bricks. She was righted and towed to Port Huron, minus masts, rigging and bowsprit, for repairs.

On October 24, 1886, LADY DUFFERIN (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 135 foot, 356 gross tons, built at Port Burwell, Ontario) was lost from the tow of the propeller W B HALL and went ashore near Cabot Head on Georgian Bay. No lives were lost, but the vessel was a total loss.

On October 24, 1953, the Yankcanuck Steamship Lines' MANZZUTTI (steel crane ship, 246 foot, 1,558 gross tons, built in 1903, at Buffalo, New York as J. S. KEEFE) ran aground south of the channel into the Saugeen River. The tug RUTH HINDMAN from Killarney pulled her free. No damage was reported. 1898: L.R. DOTY foundered off Kenosha in high winds and waves with the loss of 18 lives. The vessel was enroute from Chicago to Midland with a cargo of corn and towing the schooner OLIVE JEANETTE. The latter broke loose and survived.

1948: HARRY T. EWIG stranded off Point Abino, Lake Erie. The ship was lightered to fleetmate BUCKEYE and released with about $40,000 in damage.

1959: WESTRIVER, under tow of the tugs LAURENCE C. TURNER and AMERICA, headed down the Seaway for repairs after being damaged in an earlier explosion on Lake Superior.

On this day in 1949, the new Canada Steamship Line steamer HOCHELAGA successfully completed her sea trials in Georgian Bay. She departed Collingwood the next day to load her first cargo of grain at Port Arthur.

On October 23,1887, the small wooden scow-schooner LADY ELGIN was driven ashore about one mile north of Goderich, Ontario, in a severe storm that claimed numerous other vessels. By October 26, she was broken up by the waves.

The CARL GORTHON, was launched October 23, 1970, for Rederi A/B Gylfe, Hsingborg, Sweden. Sold Canadian in 1980, renamed b.) FEDERAL PIONEER and c.) CECILIA DESGAGNES in 1985. In 2000, she was used as a movie set, unofficially renamed LADY PANAMA.

The rail car ferry GRAND RAPIDS was launched October 23, 1926, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for the Grand Trunk-Milwaukee Car Ferry Co., Muskegon, Michigan. She entered service in December of 1926.

WILLIAM B. SCHILLER (Hull#372) was launched October 23, 1909, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

October 23, 1953 - The steamer SPARTAN arrived Ludington on her maiden voyage. Captain Harold A. Altschwager was in command.

On October 23, 1868, F. T. BARNEY (wooden schooner, 255 tons, built in 1856, at Vermilion, Ohio) collided with the schooner TRACY J BRONSON and sank below Nine Mile Point, Northwest of Rogers City in Lake Michigan. The wreck was found in 1987, and sits in deep water, upright in almost perfect condition.

On October 23, 1873, the wooden steam barge GENEVA was loaded with wheat and towing the barge GENOA in a violent storm on Lake Superior. She bent her propeller shaft and the flailing blades cut a large hole in her stern. The water rushed in and she went down quickly 15 miles off Caribou Island. No lives were lost. This was her first season of service. She was one of the first bulk freighters with the classic Great Lakes fore and aft deckhouses.

On October 23, 1883, JULIA (2-mast wooden schooner, 89 foot, 115 gross tons, built in 1875, at Smith's Falls, Ontario) was coming into Oswego harbor with a load of barley when she struck a pier in the dark and sank. No lives were lost.

1906: The wooden steamer SHENANDOAH backed into a wharf at South Chicago and then went full ahead into the opposite wharf. The captain was found to be drunk and his certificate was suspended.

1917: KATAHDIN was built at West Bay City in 1895 but was sold off-lakes in 1899. The ship was damaged as b) EXPORT in a collision on this date with the Japanese freighter TOKAYAMA MARU in the Delaware River. As a result of the accident, the ship was scrapped in 1918.

1956: GREY BEAVER ran aground on Stoney Crest Island, near Alexandria Bay, NY while downbound with wheat from Toronto to Trois Rivieres, QC. The vessel was released with bottom damage and required a trip to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1968: NORMAN P. CLEMENT, damaged by a grounding and then an on board explosion, was scuttled in the deep water of Georgian Bay near Christian Island.

1987: CANADIAN ENTERPRISE stranded in the Amherstburg Channel. The ship was lightered of 1,840 tons of coal and then pulled free by 4 tugs before going to Thunder Bay for repairs.

On October 22,1903, while being towed by the GETTYSBURG in the harbor at Grand Marais, Michigan, in a severe storm, the SAVELAND (wooden schooner, 194 foot, 689 gross tons, built in 1873, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin) was torn away and thrown against some pilings which punctured her hull. She sank to her main deck and was pounded to pieces by the storm waves. No lives were lost.

The tug PRESQUE ISLE completed her sea trials on October 22, 1973, in New Orleans.

On October 22, 1986, ALGOCEN spilled about four barrels of diesel fuel while refueling at the Esso Dock at Sarnia.

TOM M. GIRDLER departed South Chicago light on her maiden voyage, October 22, 1951, bound for Escanaba, Michigan, where she loaded 13,900 tons of ore for delivery to Cleveland, Ohio.

THORNHILL of 1906 grounded on October 22, 1973, just above the Sugar Island ferry crossing in the St. Marys River.

On October 22, 1887, C.O.D. (wooden schooner-barge, 140 foot, 289 gross tons, built in 1873, at Grand Haven, Michigan) was carrying wheat in Lake Erie in a northwest gale. She was beached three miles east of Port Burwell, Ontario, and soon broke up. Most of the crew swam to shore, but the woman who was the cook was lashed to the rigging and she perished.

On October 22, 1929, the steamer MILWAUKEE (formerly MANISTIQUE MARQUETTE AND NORTHERN 1) sank in a gale with a loss of all 52 hands. 21 bodies were recovered. Captain Robert Mc Kay was in command.

On October 27, 1929, a Coast Guard patrolman near South Haven, Michigan, picked up a ship's message case, containing the following handwritten note: "S.S. MILWAUKEE, OCTOBER 22/29 8:30 p.m. The ship is taking water fast. We have turned around and headed for Milwaukee. Pumps are working but sea gate is bent in and can't keep the water out. Flicker is flooded. Seas are tremendous. Things look bad. Crew roll is about the same as on last payday. (signed) A.R. Sadon, Purser."

On October 22, 1870, JENNIE BRISCOE (wooden schooner, 85 foot, 82 tons, built in 1870, at Detroit, Michigan) was raised from where she sank off Grosse Ile, Michigan, a couple of months earlier. She was in her first season of service when she collided with the propeller FREE STATE and sank there. Her raised wreck was sold Canadian in 1871, and she was rebuilt as the propeller scow HERALD.

In a severe gale on 22 October 1873, the three barges DAVID MORRIS, GLOBE, and SAGINAW from Bay City grounded and sank off Point Pelee on Lake Erie.

On October 22, 1887, DOLPHIN (wooden schooner-barge, 107 foot, 147 tons, built in 1855, at Milan, Ohio) and G. D. NORRIS (2-mast wooden schooner, 128 foot, 262 gross tons, built in 1856, at Cleveland, Ohio) were both carrying lumber and were in tow of the steamer OSWEGATCHIE in a storm on Lake Huron. The towline broke when the vessels were off Harbor Beach, Michigan. The DOLPHIN capsized and foundered. All 6 or 7 onboard perished. The NORRIS sank to her decks and her crew was rescued by the passing steamer BRECK. The NORRIS drifted ashore near Goderich, Ontario.

1929: N.J. NESSEN, a wooden bulk freighter, stranded in Lake Erie off Leamington, ON. The ship had been anchored for weather but the wind switched to the south, leaving it exposed. The hull broke up, but all on board were saved.

1929: YANTIC, a former wooden naval reserve training ship tied up at Detroit for use as a heating plant, sank at the dock. All 3 on board got off safely.

1979: J.N. McWATTERS struck the lighthouse at the main entrance to Cleveland with heavy damage to the structure.




10/23 - Detroit, Mich. – More than 6,500 people showed up Saturday morning for the commissioning of the U.S. Navy's newest warship, the USS Detroit along the GM Riverwalk on the Detroit River.

For a late October day, the weather cooperated: it was cool, but sunny with blue skies and the Detroit River provided a glistening backdrop. There was a military band that played "Anchors Away" and other favorites. There were speeches by several officials, including from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow.

The 3,200-ton Detroit is officially classified as a LCS, a littoral combat ship. While festooned with bright-colored flags and red-white-and blue draping Saturday it would never be confused with a Boblo boat.

Read more and see photos at this link


10/23 - Canadian owners have ordered Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines for 13 vessels set to join the St. Lawrence River ferry F.A. Gauthier, the country's only LNG-fuelled vessel to date. Nine dual-fuelled vessels powered by Wärtsilä engines will enter operation in Canada within the next year as the company capitalizes on its strong regional presence.

The company has orders for a total of 13 further gas-powered ships. Including the ferry already in operation, the orders amount to 45 dual-fuel four-stroke engines and 14 LNG Pac gas handling systems, as well as four two-stroke engines from former Wärtsilä subsidiary WinGD.

Two ferries will be built for Société des Traversiers du Québec at Davie Shipyard with the same LNG and diesel-electric configuration as the F.A. Gauthier. Two ferries for Vancouver-based operator Seaspan, to be built at Sedef in Turkey, will each be powered by two W34DF engines.

BC Ferries is having two Spirit class ferries repowered at Remontowa – where they will each be fitted with four eight-cylinder inline W34DF engines by 2019 – as well as building three new Salish class ferries at the same yard. The new vessels, the first of which begins sea trials next week will be powered by three W20DF engines.

Meanwhile, Group Desgagnés has ordered four dual-fuel carriers to serve trades in the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard. The first, the M/T Damia Desgagnés, was launched on Saturday, June 11, at the Turkish shipyard Besiktas. Under charter to bulk operator Algoma, they will feature WinGD’s RTFlex50 two-stroke engines as prime movers, with three W20DF generators.

Motorship.com


10/22 - Washington, D.C. – Senators who represent states in the Great Lakes area are urging the Department of Transportation to lead an effort aimed at rejuvenating the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence maritime transportation system (MTS).

The bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on the department to conduct a system-wide analysis to identify bottlenecks and barriers across the Great Lakes and “unlock the potential” of the maritime system, which they say is under-utilized and only operating at 50 percent of its full capacity.

The proposed strategy includes a mix of policies and projects that would help increase efficiency, reduce costs and encourage new markets such as cruise ships, containers and short sea shipping.

The senators hope the move would double maritime trade and shrink the environmental impact of the transportation system, which contributes more than $30 billion to the U.S. and Canadian economies and is responsible for over 220,000 jobs.

“This analysis would lay the groundwork to help identify where future public and private investment would have broad, systemically significant impacts,” the lawmakers wrote to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Thursday. “We have a tremendous opportunity to seize on past investments, take advantage of available capacity and infrastructure, and begin to unlock the economic potential of the Great Lakes MTS.”

The letter is singed by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich).

The Hill


10/22 - Summerside, Prince Edward Island – For the first time in recent memory a ship is on its way to P.E.I. to pick up a massive order of soybeans.

In preparation for the ship’s arrival, the Summerside Port Corporation’s warehouse has been packed full with upwards of 130 tractor-trailer loads of the versatile little legumes. The total shipment will represent closer to 300 tractor-trailer loads.

Seeing that huge room filled to the brim is quite a site to behold and an exciting first, in many respects, for the agriculture industry on the Island, said Neil Campbell, general manager of the P.E.I. Grain Elevator Corporation.

“This is a pretty cool thing for us to be able to do this,” said Campbell.

P.E.I. farmers produce between 35,000 and 40,000 tonnes of soybeans annually. The publically-owned Grain Elevator Corporation would buy a significant portion of the crop and it it in turn sells the beans to mostly off-Island oilseed and grain companies.

This particular deal involves the corporation selling 20,000 tonnes of soybeans to Richardson International, a big player in the Canadian agriculture industry. Two ships are scheduled to dock in Summerside, one within the next few days and a second later this fall, and will take about 10,000 tonnes each to be unloaded in Quebec.

The soybeans in this shipment are labeled as “crusher” beans and are typically crushed for their oil or roasted for animal feed.

Summerside-based Coastal Stevedoring has been contracted to handle the loading of the ships and is bringing in special equipment from out of the province to get the job done.

This deal represents a significant opportunity from the Summerside Port Coporation’s perspective, said Arnold Croken, its president.

Years ago the port did a brisk business shipping out potatoes but that market has mostly moved away from shipping via vessels. The facility has been searching for a way to reinvent itself and attract new business.

“This is a virtually new, underutilized, building that needs to be used for something other than a dance or a book sale. We’re here for the private resources on P.E.I. and we always saw that as our best bet,” said Croken.

If this shipment works out well for all parties then Campbell sees no reason why it won’t happen again in the future and that could have beneficial repercussions for the not just the industry of Summerside but for all soybean harvesters on P.E.I., he said.

Transporting a product via ship allows for much larger volumes, which could eventually translate into an increase in production.

“We could double our production here on the Island and still have the sales – of course we don’t have the infrastructure at this time, but there is room for growth for sure,” said Campbell.

Journal-Pioneer

[yachtsmanwilly]

Its 0500hrs here and no new history stuff yet... ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Massive Erie-built vessel readies for voyage

10/26 - What might be the most expensive thing ever built in Erie is docked at the Holland Street Pier and is ready to sail. She's the Sea-Chem 1, a 580-foot oceangoing chemical barge that weighs 5,500 tons and is capable of hauling 7 million gallons of chemicals or petroleum products.

Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair, which has been working on the vessel for more than two years, completed its work on Oct. 14 and has transferred ownership to Seabulk Tankers Inc., which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"Coast Guard inspections are what's left," said John Nekoloff, subcontracts manager for Donjon. "They have to do sea trials and run it out on the lake."

Following those trials, expected Wednesday, the barge and companion tug, which was built in Jacksonville, Fla., will head down the East Coast to its home port in Florida.

Jake Rouch, vice president of economic development for the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, has been able to keep tabs on the ship outside the window of his office at the Erie Intermodal Transportation Center.

"My reaction is it's the sleekest looking vessel that has ever been out here," Rouch said. "It's a powerful testament to what we can build here. I am pretty certain that is the most expensive single product ever produced in Erie, Pennsylvania."

Nekoloff didn't say how much the vessel sold for, but agreed that it's likely the most costly vessel Donjon has built in Erie since it took over the former Erie Shipbuilding LLC in 2010. The ship, painted a combination of gray, black, white and maroon, is also the first chemical barge that Donjon has built.

Nekoloff said he couldn't say for sure when the Sea-Chem I will leave Erie, but he expects it will be some time this week.

As of Monday afternoon, it remained docked next door to Donjon, a 5,500-ton reminder of Erie's shipbuilding past and evidence that Erie remains a manufacturing town. "It's a cool thing to have here and know that it was built next door," Rouch said.

Echo-Pilot


10/26 - Hamilton, Ont. – Blair McKeil opens the trunk of his SUV to reveal a feast: covered aluminum trays full of carrots, mashed potatoes and a Thanksgiving turkey. “Homemade apple pie!” he exclaims, lifting one out of the back seat. Then McKeil walks towards a 147-metre-long ship docked at Hamilton Harbor’s Eastport, so large it makes a truck parked beside it look like a Dinky toy.

McKeil is chairman and CEO of McKeil Marine, a Hamilton shipping company, and the ship he's heading towards is the Ardita, an Italian vessel that McKeil has been trying to purchase for months.

The vessel — and its 14-person crew — has been stuck in Hamilton's harbor for nearly six months, and McKeil is delivering the holiday dinner in hopes of taking the edge off an ordeal with no clear end in sight.

On this sunny Thanksgiving Sunday morning, McKeil is accompanied by Steve Fletcher, the company’s president, and Olous Boag, its vice-president of operations. Carefully, they march up the curved metal steps to the deck, where crew members are loading skids of bottled water, and drop off the food in the dining room.

The ship’s captain, Salvatore Siragusa, greets them warmly. McKeil gestures to the pies. “Not as good as a cannoli, but a Canadian cannoli,” he says.

He had to explain the concept of Thanksgiving to the Italian and Filipino men who make up the Ardita’s crew. But given the unusual situation the vessel is in, McKeil thought the goodwill gesture might be a welcome one.

McKeil Marine had been working out a purchase deal with the Ardita’s owner, the Italian company Armamento Setramar, for nearly a year. The ship arrived in Hamilton on April 24 from Greece, at which point it was expected the sale would be completed.

The Ardita is what's called a bulker, used for transporting large volumes of material such as finished powdered concrete and grain. A brand new ship this size costs about $30 million; a used one can run $15 million to $20 million, depending on its age.

In 2015, McKeil had purchased another vessel from Setramar, a deal that had gone smoothly. That bulker, named Spavalda, sailed to Hamilton with an Italian crew, ownership was transferred upon arrival, and the crew flew home, replaced with Canadian workers under its new owners. McKeil renamed that ship Evans Spirit. But the purchase of the Ardita hit a snag.

McKeil Marine had sent a deposit prior to the ship’s arrival — typical practice. When the Ardita sailed into Hamilton, Setramar told McKeil it would take a few days for the sale to go through, says Boag.

In the meantime, Setramar gave permission for some upgrades to be made to the vessel, including painting and steel work. The ship was removed from the water and placed in dry dock, where these renovations began.

“A few more days, a few more days,” Boag says Setramar told them. “Then it ends up being weeks. It got, finally, to the point where we just knew it wasn’t going to happen.”

(One of Setramar’s Canadian lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.)

More than $1 million of work had been done on the ship. Concerned it would leave the harbor with an outstanding bill — and with Setramar in possession of the money McKeil had paid already — both McKeil and Heddle Marine, the company that operates the dry dock, sought a federal court order to put the ship under arrest.

That was granted on May 26. “We were trying to protect our interests,” says Fletcher. “We never thought it would take this long.”

In the meantime, McKeil had to purchase another ship to do the job the Ardita was going to do: transporting cement within the Great Lakes and out to the east coast.

McKeil learned that Setramar didn't wholly own the boat it was trying to sell, and that was causing the delays, Boag says.

“A deal gone sideways” is how he describes it. “Whether it was the banks or another company that had part ownership or interested parties that had the vessel as collateral against another loan, those are the things we’ll never know.”

Also caught up in all this: the 14-person crew. Until the ship’s ownership is transferred to McKeil, they must continue to work, and are still being paid by Setramar.

Because the Ardita has only docked briefly three times since it was placed under arrest, the crew has spent most of the last six months stuck in the middle of the harbor. (“Crew members are able to disembark and visit the city when the ship is berthed,” says Larissa Fenn, a spokesperson for the Hamilton Port Authority.)

“The seafarers are used to being away for long periods of time,” says Rev. Ronda Ploughman, a chaplain with the Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario in Hamilton. “In some ways, this is a little bit easier because they’re not actually at sea, which can be very difficult and dangerous. But the big challenge for them has been being less than a mile from the shore and not being able to get off.”

There have been changeovers too, with some of the men flying home as their contracts ended.

Ploughman has been checking in on the Ardita crew over the last few months. That’s part of the mission’s duty — talking to crews as ships arrive in the harbor and providing support if needed. The mission’s center offers Wi-Fi for crews to communicate with their families.

When one Ardita crew member had to be hospitalized, Ploughman arranged for an Italian translator to assist. She also drove some of the men around Hamilton, to Hess Village and Williams Fresh Cafe, during one of the Ardita’s stays in the port — “just to get away from the relentless sound of the engines going and the vibration of the ship,” she says.

Back in August, she drove three crew members to a dinner held in their honor by the Sons of Italy, a fraternal Italian organization with a chapter in Hamilton.

When president Loris Pilot heard the ship would be docking the next day, he acted quickly, calling a chef and inviting Sons of Italy members.

“It was a sympathetic response, knowing that these men are stuck on that ship,” Pilot says. “When you’re moving freight across the ocean, you’re busy, you’re working, you’re watching the weather, there’s a task at hand. Now they’re just sitting here and waiting, waiting. I imagine it’s hard on them.”

They feasted on pasta chi chi, chicken, sausage, cannoli, salad, and fresh fruit. The conversation, a mixture of English and Italian, didn’t stop.

“The six degrees of separation became pretty evident,” says Pilot. “They knew somebody from their hometown or they knew someone from the neighboring town.”

While at anchor, the crew keeps busy cleaning the ship — “it’s spick and span,” says Ploughman — and watching the same movies over and over. When the sale finally goes through — and Boag is hopeful this will happen in the next 30 days — they will return home.

“I think the community has done a lot to reach out to this crew,” Ploughman says.

Ships arrive in the port city every day, and she says it’s often not foremost in people’s minds that sailors are aboard. “We really rely on the work of the seafarers who spend their lives at sea so we can live this quality of life that we live, right from the cup of coffee that we drink in the morning.”

TVO.org



On October 26, 1878, the new steamer CITY OF DETROIT (composite side-wheel passenger-package freight steamer, 234 foot, 1,094 gross tons, built in 1878, at Wyandotte, Michigan) arrived in Detroit from Cleveland with 276 tons of freight, mostly iron, on deck, and no freight in her hold. This experiment was tried to see if the steamer would show any signs of "crankiness,” even under a load so placed. She responded well and lived up to the expectations of her designers.

On October 26, 1882, the sunken schooner-barge NELLIE McGILVRAY was dynamited as a hazard to navigation by the Portage River Improvement Company. She sank at the entrance to the Portage Canal in the Keweenaw Peninsula on August 28, 1882, and all attempts to raise her failed.

LOUIS R. DESMARAIS was christened October 26,1977. She was reconstructed at Port Weller Drydocks and renamed b.) CSL LAURENTIEN in 2001.

HUTCHCLIFFE HALL and OREFAX were sold October 26, 1971, to the Consortium Ile d'Orleans of Montreal, made up of Richelieu Dredging Corp., McNamara Construction Ltd. and The J.P. Porter Co. Ltd.

On October 26, 1977, the MENIHEK LAKE struck a lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway sustaining damage estimated at $400,000.

On October 26, 1971, the ROGERS CITY's A-frame collapsed while unloading at Carrollton, Michigan on the Saginaw River. Her unloading boom was cut away and temporary repairs were made at Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Michigan.

The tug ROUILLE was launched on October 26, 1929, as Hull#83 of Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The schooner HEMISPHERE, which was being sought by the U.S. Marshals at Detroit and the St. Lawrence River, escaped at the Gallop Rapids and has gone to sea.

On October 26, 1851, ATLAS (wooden propeller, 153 foot, 375 tons, built in 1851, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying flour from Detroit to Buffalo when she was blown to shore near the mouth of the Grand River (Lorain, Ohio) by a gale, stranded and became a total loss. No lives were lost.

On October 26, 1895, GEORGE W. DAVIS (wooden schooner, 136 foot, 299 gross tons, built in 1872, at Toledo, Ohio) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie when she stranded near Port Maitland, Ontario. A few days after the stranding, she floated off on her own, drifted two miles up the beach and sank. No lives were lost.

1900: The consort barge MARTHA sank in Lake St. Clair after a head-on collision with the E.P. WILBUR. The vessel was refloated, repaired and was last known as the grain storage barge C.S. BAND of the Goderich Elevator Company before being scrapped at Toronto in 1976-1977.

1912: KEYSTORM stranded in the St. Lawrence on Scow Island Shoal near Alexandria Bay, NY due to a navigational error in fog. After about 5 hours, the ship slid off into deep water and sank. The coal-laden freighter was enroute from Charlotte, NY to Montreal.

1915: The former wooden steamer GLENGARRY was operating as a barge when it sank at Montreal on this date following a collision with the J.H. PLUMMER. It was later pumped out only to sink again at Quebec City in 1920.

1917: PORT COLBORNE, a Great Lakes canal ship serving overseas in World War 1, was wrecked near Land's End, England, while enroute, in ballast, from Rouen, France, to Barry Roads, U.K. The hull could not be salvaged and was broken apart by the elements.

1924: E.A.S. CLARKE, anchored in the Detroit River due to fog, and was hit by the B.F. JONES (i), holed and sunk. The ship was eventually refloated and, in 1970, became c) KINSMAN VOYAGER before going to Germany for brief service as a storage barge in 1975.

1926: The first NEW YORK NEWS broke loose in a storm at Shelter Bay, QC and, without radio contact, was feared lost. The vessel was later found, with all hands safe, hard aground. The ship was refloated, repaired and survived until scrapping at Port Dalhousie as c) LABRADOC in 1961.

1961: STEEL PRODUCTS, under tow for scrapping, broke loose and stranded in Lake Erie near Point Abino, ON. The ship was unsalvageable and had to be dismantled on site.

1967: The barge WILTRANCO broke loose in a storm and was blown hard aground west of Buffalo. The hull was refloated two days later only to strand once more.

1968: R. BRUCE ANGUS was hard aground in the St. Lawrence and had to be lightered to P.S. BARGE NO. 1, a former fleetmate, as a) EDWIN T. DOUGLASS, before being released October 29.

1979: URANUS, a former West German visitor to the Great Lakes, had to be beached on the River Schelde as d) MARIANNE GEN following a collision with the EMPROS. The vessel was a total loss and was cut in pieces for removal in 1983.

2008: BALSA II first came through the Seaway in 1982. It was inbound for New Georgia, Soloman Islands, to load logs when it stranded on a reef. While refloated, the ship was detained as the area of the strand had been a marine protected site.

On this day in 1975, a 96-foot mid-body section was added to the ARTHUR B. HOMER at Fraser Ship Yards, Superior, Wisconsin. The HOMER became the largest American-flagged freighter to be lengthened. This modification increased her length to 826 feet and her per-trip carrying capacity to 31,200 tons.

On October 25, 1872, the crew of the small tug P. P. PRATT (wooden propeller steam tug, 14 tons, built in 1866, at Buffalo, New York), went to dinner at a nearby hotel while the tug was docked in Oswego, New York. While they were gone, the tug's boiler exploded. A large piece of the boiler, weighing about five hundred pounds, landed on the corner of West First and Cayuga Street. A six-foot piece of rail impaled itself in the roof of the Oswego Palladium newspaper's offices. Amazingly, no one was hurt. The hulk was raised the following week and the engine was salvaged.

On October 25, 1888, AMETHYST (wooden propeller tug, 14 gross tons, built in 1868, at Buffalo, New York) caught fire and burned to a total loss at Duluth, Minnesota.

ALGOBAY departed on her maiden voyage October 25, 1978, from Collingwood light for Stoneport, Michigan, to load stone for Sarnia, Ontario.

STERNECLIFFE HALL entered service for the Hall Corporation of Canada on October 25, 1947.

HURON arrived at Santander, Spain, October 25, 1973, in consort with her sister WYANDOTTE, towed by the German tug DOLPHIN X. for scrapping.

October 25, 1895 - SHENANGO No. 2 (later PERE MARQUETTE 16) was launched in Toledo, Ohio. She was built by the Craig Shipbuilding Company for the United States & Ontario Steam Navigation Company and later became part of the Pere Marquette carferry fleet.

The engines of the propeller WESTMORELAND, which sank in 1854, near Skillagalee Reef in Lake Michigan, were recovered and arrived at Chicago on October 25,1874.

ARK was built on the burned out hull of the steamer E. K. COLLINS as a side-wheel passenger steamer in 1853, at Newport, Michigan, but she was later cut down to a barge. On October 25,1866, she was being towed along with three other barges down bound from Saginaw, Michigan, in a storm. Her towline parted and she disappeared with her crew of six. The other three tow-mates survived. There was much speculation about ARK's whereabouts until identifiable wreckage washed ashore 100 miles north of Goderich, Ontario.

On October 25,1833, JOHN BY (wooden stern-wheeler, 110 foot, built in 1832, at Kingston, Ontario) was on her regular route between York (now Toronto) and Kingston, Ontario when a storm drove her ashore near Port Credit, a few miles from York. Her terrible handling in open lake water set the precedent that stern-wheelers were not compatible with lake commerce.

On October 25,1887, VERNON (wooden propeller passenger/package-freight steamer, 158 foot, 560 tons, built in 1886, at Chicago, Illinois) foundered in a gale 6 miles northeast of Two Rivers Point on Lake Michigan. The death toll was estimated at 31 - 36. The sole survivor was picked up on a small raft two days later by the schooner POMEROY. He was on the raft with a dead body. Most casualties died of exposure. There were accusations at the time that the vessel was overloaded causing the cargo doors to be left open which allowed the water to pour in during the storm. This accusation was confirmed in 1969 (82 years after the incident) when divers found the wreck and indeed the cargo doors were open.

1911: The wooden schooner AZOV began leaking on Lake Huron. The ship came ashore north of Goderich and was broken up by the elements.

1980: The former SILVAPLANA, a Swiss saltwater vessel, was abandoned by the crew after going aground 125 miles SW of Pyongyang, North Korea, as d) HWA HO. The hull later broke in two and was a total loss. The vessel had traded through the Seaway beginning in 1959 and returned as b) CAPE MISENO in 1969.

1985: MAXI PORR first came inland under West German registry when new in 1965. It went aground on this date as b) LUANA while inbound at Port Sudan from Naples and heavily damaged. The vessel was refloated on November 20 but declared a total loss, sold to Pakistani shipbreakers and later arrived at Gadani Beach for scrapping.

1994: OCEAN LUCKY, an ocean going freighter registered in St. Vincent, sank following a grounding off the southern tip of Taiwan. All on board were rescued. The ship had begun Great Lakes trading in 1977 as b) FEDERAL ST. CLAIR and returned as c) TRANSOCEAN PEARL in 1981.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/27 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the historic tugboat Mary Ann — the first ship registered in Canada — has deepened. Divers thought they found the wreck of the fabled ship three years ago, near the Welcome Islands, in Lake Superior, off the shore of Thunder Bay, Ont.

But now, an archaeologist has completed a survey of the wreck, and has determined it's most likely not that of the Mary Ann.

"We were going over historic photographs of the [Mary Ann], and some of the structural features of the shipwreck don't match up with those historical photographs," said Chris McEvoy, a research archaeologist at Lakehead University who works with the Superior chapter of Save Ontario Shipwrecks.

"One example is the stem of the vessel," he said. "The very, very front has a different ... look to it than we've seen on historical images."

"Vessels, they can change a little bit over time — they can be built up, torn town, built up again, but the issue is, a lot of these changes, they can't occur without really changing the overall structure of the vessel," McEvoy said. "I'm 95-99 per cent confident that it's not the Mary Ann."

The wreck in question was discovered by divers David Shepherd and Robert Valley in 2013. The ship's profile led the divers to believe the ship was the Mary Ann, which was registered in 1867, Shepherd said.

McEvoy is working to determine the identity of the wreck discovered by Shepherd and Valley. "I'm going over a list of shipwrecks in the area," McEvoy said. "I know it is likely a tug, also. It is of similar size to the Mary Ann, and it is of similar age."

Shepherd said there are still parts of the mystery wreck that haven't been examined. "There's an aft cabin which has yet to be explored," he said. "In the front, there is a foredeck and an aft deck which are still intact."

"Due to close [confinement] and needing speciality training to go into them, we haven't really explored them that much," Shepherd said. "We're going to start looking at getting some people in there, and we might find that missing piece to fully identify what this wreck truly is."

Regardless of the ship's identity, the wreck, Shepherd said, is still an important discovery. "It's a really, really neat wreck," he said. "It adds a lot to the local dive tourism. It's clear, there are no nets on it, it's in the open, and it's a nice clay bottom all around it. It's a beautiful wreck to dive on."

So, if the Mary Ann isn't sitting in 55 feet of water near the Welcome Islands, where is she? One possibility is the ship graveyard located between the Welcome Islands and the Sleeping Giant, which includes more than a dozen wrecks.

"It is very deep, it is very dark, and it is very, very dirty water," he said. "When they did harbor cleanups in the 1930s, they took a lot of derelict vessels out there and just sunk them."

All the reports he's seen indicate the Mary Ann is not among those wrecks, said Shepherd. However, McEvoy pointed out that not all of the ships in the graveyard have been identified. In any case, Shepherd said, the silver lining is that the Mary Ann is still out there, somewhere, waiting to be discovered.

CBC


On this day in 1979, the MESABI MINER delivered her first cargo of coal to Port Washington, Wis. The 21- foot draft restriction of the harbor limited the cargo to 39,000 tons.

While in tow of the tug MERRICK on October 27, 1879, the NIAGARA (wooden schooner, 204 foot, 764 gross tons, built in 1873, at Tonawanda, New York) collided with the PORTER (wooden schooner, 205 foot, 747 gross tons, built in 1874, at Milwaukee, Wis.), which was in tow of the tug WILCOX at the mouth of the Detroit River. The PORTER sank but was salvaged and repaired. She lasted another 19 years.

PAUL THAYER was christened on October 27, 1973, at Lorain, Ohio. Renamed b.) EARL W. OGLEBAY in 1995 and MANITOWOC in 2008.

While the JAMES R. BARKER was upbound October 27, 1986, on Lake Huron above buoys 11 & 12, a high-pressure fuel line on the starboard engine failed causing an engine room fire, which was extinguished by on-board fire fighting equipment. Fortunately no one was injured.

On her maiden voyage, the HOCHELAGA departed Collingwood on October 27, 1949, for Fort William, Ontario, to load grain for Port Colborne, Ontario.

FRANCIS E. HOUSE was laid up at Duluth on October 27, 1960, and remained idle there until April, 1966, when she was sold to the Kinsman Marine Transit Co., Cleveland and renamed c.) KINSMAN INDEPENDENT. She was scrapped at Santander, Spain in 1974.

On October 27, 1973, the HENRY LA LIBERTE struck an embankment while backing from the Frontier Dock Slip at Buffalo, New York, and damaged her steering gear beyond repair. As a consequence she was laid up there.

RED WING and FRANK A. SHERMAN departed Lauzon, Quebec, on October 27, 1986, in tandem tow by the Vancouver based deep-sea tug CANADIAN VIKING bound for scrapping in Taiwan.

On October 27, 1869, ALFRED ALLEN (wooden schooner, 160 tons, built in 1853, at Pultneyville, New Jersey, as J. J. MORLEY) was bound for Toledo, Ohio, with 500 barrels of salt when she went on the Mohawk Reef near Port Colborne, Ontario, in a blizzard. She washed free and drifted to the mainland beach where she was pounded to pieces. No lives were lost.

During a snowstorm on the night of October 27, 1878, the propeller QUEBEC of the Beatty Line ran aground on Magnetic Shoals near Cockburn Island on Lake Huron. She was four miles from shore and one of her arches was broken in the accident.

October 27, 1854 - Well-known Pere Marquette carferry captain Joseph "Joe" Russell was born in Greenfield, Wisconsin.

1937: EASTON, of the Misener's Colonial Steamship Co., arrived at Meaford, ON with a cracked cylinder in the engine. The ship was there to load a cargo of baled hay for Fort William and bushels of apples. The trip was canceled and the vessel was sent for repairs.

1965: The Liberty ship PANAGATHOS traded through the Seaway in 1962 and 1963 under Greek registry and was back in 1965 under the flag of Liberia. The vessel ran aground off Ameland Island, 4 nautical miles from the Hollum Lighthouse, Holland, enroute from Amsterdam and Hamburg to the U.S. East Coast with a cargo of steel. The ship was abandoned as a total loss and the hull remained there until at least 1970.

1965: A fire broke out aboard the Egyptian freighter STAR OF SUEZ while upbound in the Seaway east of the Snell Lock. The ship was docked at Cornwall and the local fire company doused the blaze. The cargo of cotton in #3 hold was mostly offloaded. The ship lasted until scrapping at Split, Yugoslavia, in 1980.

1976: A fire in the bilge of the tug CHRIS M. at Toronto destroyed the ship's wiring. The vessel had become unpopular at the waterfront area but was rebuilt as the powered 3-masted schooner EMPIRE SANDY in 1983.

1982: The French ore carrier FRANCOIS L.D., a regular Great Lakes caller since 1962, struck the breakwall at Cape Vincent, NY while westbound in fog. There was heavy damage to the structure and the ship had a dent in the bow.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/28 - Duluth, Minn. – The U.S. Coast Guard initiated civil action Wednesday against two men who jumped from a Madeline Island Ferry Line boat in July.

The enforcement action is the result of an investigation of an incident involving the men, ages 22 and 25, who authorities say deliberately jumped from the ferry as it entered the harbor in Bayfield on July 31, Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Duluth reported Thursday in a news release.

The Coast Guard did not identify the men, who had been apprehended by local authorities following the incident.

An investigation into the incident by the Coast Guard determined that the men’s “deliberate jumping overboard as the vessel approached Bayfield harbor interfered with the safe operation of the ferry.

“Their actions at such a critical point in the vessel’s transit unnecessarily placed the vessel and passengers in a dangerous situation.”

Federal law prohibits interfering with the safe operation of a vessel and could result in up to a $25,000 penalty. As such, the Coast Guard took civil penalty action “to ensure the incident does not occur again,” the news release said, while failing to identify the amount of the monetary penalty.

There were no injuries as a result of the incident.

The Coast Guard explained in the news release that jumping from a moving vessel forces the captain to follow a vessel’s man overboard procedures, requiring the captain to immediately maneuver the vessel in a position to allow the crew to safely recover the person in the water. This maneuver could put other passengers and crewmembers at risk for potential injury and impedes the safe navigation of a regulated waterway.

Duluth News Tribune


10/28 - Canton, Mich. – The Great Lakes are loaded with shipwrecks. Thousands have been discovered over the years but, at the same time, there are still thousands hiding in the deep still awaiting discovery.

Two schooners that foundered on Lake Huron back in the late 1800s have each remained Michigan maritime mysteries for well over a century, until they were both recently discovered by shipwreck hunter David Trotter.

“Each vessel lost is a unique piece of history,” said Trotter, who has been the first to locate more than 90 Great Lakes shipwrecks during his 40 years of searching. “They represent a time period that you can only go back to when you leave the surface and descend down to the deck of the wreck.”

The schooners Trotter discovered are the Venus and the Montezuma.

The Venus was a two-masted schooner, 122.8-feet long and a beam of 27.1 feet. She was built in 1872, and worked the Great Lakes shipping lanes for 15 years before she foundered in a gale storm on Lake Huron, taking all hands with her, on October 4, 1887. Six lives were lost aboard the Venus.

“We discovered the Venus in May 2014,” said Trotter, who is the founder and owner of Undersea Research Associates. “The Venus had been on my bucket list for quite a while.”

Trotter says his search area for the Venus was 40 miles off the coast of Pointe Aux Barques, Mich., which is near the thumb. Once an image appeared on his side-scan sonar, Trotter sent three divers down to the treacherous depth of nearly 300-feet to check it out.

“Typically, it’s quite difficult to immediately identify schooners,” said Trotter. “But as soon as my divers touched down on the deck, and saw several grindstones scattered around, we knew we had found the Venus.”

Trotter knew from reading historical records that the Venus was the only schooner on Lake Huron that sank transporting a load of grindstones.

“The Venus is in amazing condition for a ship that sank 130 years ago,” added Trotter. “Often times when a ship containing heavy cargo sinks, it dismantles when it impacts the lake bottom, but fortunately that didn’t happen to the Venus.

“In this instance, the ship is amazingly intact. The cabin structure is still upright and present. Our divers were able to swim along the rails of the ship, which were also intact. The decking is in place, and so is the anchor which is still attached near the bow.”

Trotter says he sat on his discovery of the Venus for two years because he was busy finding other wrecks, including the infamous Hydrus, which sank in Lake Huron during the Great Storm of 1913. Trotter’s crew was able to dive the Venus again earlier this past summer, with the second mission designed to obtain clearer video footage of the wreck.

In June 2016, Trotter and his team of divers found another wreck – the schooner Montezuma, which went down in Lake Huron October 3, 1871. The Montezuma was built in Cape Vincent, New York in 1848. Her dimensions were 123-feet long with a beam of 25.1.

Trotter says he and his team were searching in Lake Huron about 35 miles east of Oscoda, Mich., when an image appeared on the side-scan sonar in an approximate depth of 170 feet. Trotter's team of divers descended to the wreck site and began exploring.

It took longer to identify the Montezuma than it did the Venus.

"Some of the historical records indicated that the Montezuma had three masts, but we only located two masts," said Trotter. "With some very good descriptions in historical newspapers about the collision [with the Hattie Johnson], we were able to locate the damage, then make a confident identification that the vessel was in fact the Montezuma."

The Montezuma sank on October 3, 1871. A heavy haze, caused by enormous fires burning near the area, had covered portions of Lake Huron, making visibility nearly impossible. Despite the conditions, the shipping lanes in Lake Huron remained open and active.

According to historical records, the schooner Hattie Johnson was traveling two points off her course when suddenly the green light of the Montezuma appeared across her bow. The Johnson struck the Montezuma just forward of the main rigging with such force, the Montezuma nearly split in half. As the Montezuma was sinking, its crew abandoned ship and went aboard the Hattie Johnson, which sustained some damage, but wasn't sinking. The Johnson dropped anchor and waited for a tug to tow her back to port.

Trotter says he thrilled to be able to go public with these two discoveries, and to be able to share the raw footage his divers were able to collect during the respective expeditions.

"Each vessel lost in the Great Lakes is a unique piece of history," added Trotter. "They represent a time period that you can only go back to when you leave the surface and descend down onto that shipwreck."

David Trotter's shipwreck discoveries have been featured on the Discovery Channel, PBS, NBC, The New York Times, Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, just to name a few. Over the past 30 years, he's surveyed well over 2,500 square miles of Lake Huron.

WZZM

10/28 - Lansing, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder has announced the appointments of Kyle Burleson of Grosse Pointe Woods, Erin Kuhn of Norton Shores, Paul C. LaMarre III of Newport, Paul Rogers of Alpena, Gabriel (Gabe) Schneider of Traverse City, Charles Squires of Sebewaing, Rodney Stokes of Holt, Paul Strpko of Big Rapids and William (Bill) Vajda of Marquette to the Port Authority Advisory Committee.

Housed within the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the nine-member board was established to make recommendations to the Michigan Strategic Fund Board of Directors regarding projects related to port facilities.

"I am confident that this group of individuals will recommend projects that will positively affect Michigan’s ports, and I thank them for their willingness to serve," Snyder said.

Burleson is the Deputy Director of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. Kuhn is the executive director of West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission, where she acts as the liaison between local government and the private sector striving for shipping opportunities for the Port of Muskegon.

LaMarre is the Port Director of the Port of Monroe. He will represent the southeast area of the state, and will serve as chair. Rogers is the plant manager for LafargeHolcim, where he serves as the general manager of the Portland cement factory and manages implementation and optimization of environmental projects.

Schneider is the principal and founder of Northern Strategies 360, a government affairs consulting firm. Squires is the risk and government relations manager of Cooperative Elevator Company, an agricultural cooperative where he is involved in the marketing of products both domestically and internationally, utilizing all modes of transportation and recourses available, including ports.

Stokes retired from his position as special advisor on city placemaking for Governor Snyder in 2014. He is former director of the Department of Natural Resources and has over 30 years of experience in natural resource management, including over five years directing the State of Michigan Boating and Harbor of Refuge program.

Strpko is a sales manager for Fisher Companies and has over 20 years of experience in the aggregate and construction industry. He has been involved in the Great Lakes port operations for the past 15 years and been involved with the development and marketing of several facilities on the Great Lakes. He will represent the interests of the aggregate supply community. Vajda is the president and owner of Balizarde LLC, a company that offers information aggregation and reporting, economic development services and research, policy development, and cyber-security consulting and support.

Members serve terms expiring at the pleasure of the governor.


Museum to honor WW II pilots from Great Lakes carriers

10/28 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes is looking for a few good men. “Actually,” said Executive Director Christopher Gillcrist, “we are looking for a few great men, as in the greatest generation.”

The National Museum is attempting to identify WW II Navy pilots who received training aboard the USS Wolverine and the USS Sable on Lake Michigan, or who sailed on those two aircraft carriers during WW II. The museum wishes to honor those veterans in a ceremony prior to the screening of the documentary “Heroes on Deck,” hosted by the museum in Lakewood, Ohio, on Dec. 2.

“When we screened the documentary in Toledo, we had several pilots show up who received carrier certification on board the Lake Michigan aircraft carriers. This time, we want to make it special, and highlight these veterans before the screening,” Gillcrist added.

If you are a pilot, or you know a pilot, who made carrier landings aboard the USS Michigan or USS Wolverine during WW II or sailed as crew for either of the carriers, please contact the National Museum of the Great Lakes at 419-214-5000 extension 200, or email at [e-mail].

NMGL



On this day in 1939, the Pittsburgh steamer D. G. KERR, Captain H. D. Mc Leod, rescued six men from the cabin cruiser FRANCIS J. H. that was disabled and sinking on Lake Erie.

On this day in 1953, the McKEE SONS loaded her first cargo of 17,238 tons of stone at Port Inland for delivery to East Chicago. Originally built as the C-4 MARINE ANGEL, the McKEE SONS was the first ocean vessel converted to a Great Lakes self-unloader.

On this day in 1978, a new 420 foot tanker built at Levingston Shipbuilding, Orange, Texas, was christened GEMINI during ceremonies at Huron, Ohio. The GEMINI was the largest American flagged tanker on the lakes with a capacity of 75,000 barrels and a rated speed of 15.5 mph. Sold Canadian and renamed b.) ALGOSAR in 2005.

On October 28, 1891, DAVID STEWART (3-mast wooden schooner, 171 foot, 545 gross tons, built in 1867, at Cleveland, Ohio) was dragged ashore off Fairport, Ohio, by a strong gale. She was stranded and declared a total loss. However, she was salvaged and repaired in 1892 and lasted one more year.

CANADIAN PIONEER's maiden voyage was on October 28, 1981, to Conneaut, Ohio, to take on coal for Nanticoke, Ontario.

CANADIAN TRANSPORT was launched October 28, 1978, for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd., Toronto, Ontario.

FRED G. HARTWELL (Hull# 781) was launched October 28, 1922, by American Ship Building Co. at Lorain, Ohio, for the Franklin Steamship Co. Renamed b.) MATTHEW ANDREWS in 1951. Sold Canadian in 1962, renamed c.) GEORGE M. CARL. She was scrapped at Aviles, Spain, in 1984.

D. M. CLEMSON (Hull# 716) was launched October 28, 1916, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

CHARLES M. WHITE was launched October 28, 1945, as a C4-S-A4 cargo ship a.) MOUNT MANSFIELD for the U.S. Maritime Commission (U.S.M.C. Hull #2369).

On October 28, 1887, BESSIE BARWICK, a 135 foot wooden schooner built in 1866, at St. Catharines, Ontario, as a bark, left Port Arthur for Kingston, Ontario, with a load of lumber during a storm. For more than ten days, her whereabouts were unknown. In fact, a westerly gale drove her into the shallows of Michipicoten Island and she was pounded to pieces. Her crew was sheltered by local fishermen and then made it to the Soo in a small open boat.

On October 28, 1882, RUDOLPH WETZEL (wooden propeller tug, 23 tons, built in 1870, at Buffalo, New York) was racing for a tow with the tug HENRY S SILL when her boiler exploded 12 miles north of Racine, Wisconsin. She quickly sank. All three on board were killed and none of the bodies were ever found.

1901: The wooden schooner JULIA LARSON sank in a gale a half-mile northeast of Grand Marais, MI. The ship was later recovered and returned to service.

1928: The newly built DEEPWATER ran aground at Sugar Loaf Point, west of Port Colborne, in fog. The ship was lightered and released four days later and went to Montreal for repairs. The vessel later sailed the lakes as b) KEYMONT and c) HAMILDOC (ii) before being scrapped at Port Dalhousie in 1962.

1939: The tug R.P. REIDENBACH, with E.A.S. CLARKE (ii) under tow at Ashtabula, rolled over and sank with the loss of 2 lives. It was refloated, became b) CONNEAUT in 1941 and was scrapped at Ashtabula about 1964.

1959: The tug BROWN BROTHERS, enroute to Port Burwell under tow of the tug LUKE, was overwhelmed by the waves and sank off Long Point with no loss of life. Originally a fish tug, the vessel served as the b) IVEY ROSE from 1946 to 1950 pushing the barge T.A. IVEY in the Lake Erie coal trade.

1964: BORGFRED, a Great Lakes visitor in 1952, caught fire in the engine room as g) GIANNIS and sank off Malta two days later while on a voyage from Romania to Algeria.

1970: WEARFIELD, a British freighter began Great Lakes visits in 1964 as the largest saltwater ship to yet use the Seaway, was blown aground at the entrance to the Soo Locks due to high winds on this date in 1970. It took over 5 hours to release the vessel. Service ended on arrival at Shanghai, China, for scrapping as f) FAIR WIND on March 15, 1985.

1979: PIERSON INDEPENDENT ran aground in the St. Lawrence near Brockville while downbound with a cargo of corn. The ship was released but then beached as it was taking on water. Temporary repairs allowed the vessel to be refloated again on October 31 and it sailed to Trois Rivieres to be unloaded. 2007: SEA MAID, a small Danish freighter, came through the Seaway in 1997 with steel for Cleveland. It was wrecked as d) OMER N. 18 miles west of Gedser, Denmark, and was dismantled in sections at Grenaa, Denmark, in 2008.

[yachtsmanwilly]

10/31 - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Office of the Great Lakes is inviting entries for its ninth annual photo contest.

Photos from all seasons are needed and will be accepted in the following categories: natural features and wildlife; cultural and historic features; and people enjoying Wisconsin's Great Lakes. Submissions for a fourth category, lake stewardship activities, will include a photo and a 180-word description of a Great Lakes restoration or protection project.

Photos of lakes Michigan and Superior as well as their tributaries, wetlands and harbor towns are eligible. Winning photos will be featured in the Wisconsin's Great Lakes 2017-2018 calendar, which will be distributed at the 2017 Wisconsin State Fair.

The Office of the Great Lakes is also accepting short essays, stories, poems and songs about lakes Superior and Michigan. Photos and written work may be used in the calendar and other Great Lakes publications as well as on DNR's website and in displays and presentations.

The deadline for photo and written submissions is Feb. 1. For details on how to enter, search the DNR website dnr.wi.gov for "Great Lakes Photo Contest."

WDNR


10/31 - Charlevoix, Mich. – The Charlevoix Public Library has announced its fall lecture series focusing on Great Lakes shipwrecks. The Gales of November programs will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on three consecutive Tuesday evenings beginning Nov. 1. All programs will be hosted in the community room at the library.

On Nov. 1, two 30-minute programs will be featured. “Tragedy in the Straits: The 50th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Cedarville” leads the programs. On May 7, 1965, the Cedarville was approaching the Mackinac Bridge when out of the dense fog came the bow of the Norwegian freighter, Topdalsfjord. The Cedarville was struck midship. The ship’s captain tried to make it to shore, but she rolled over and sank, taking 10 of her crew with her. Along with underwater footage, the program includes accounts of the Cedarville’s sinking as told by the survivors and rescuer Peter Hahn of the German freighter Weissenburg. There will be a musical tribute by Dan Hall. The second program on Nov. 1, “Death and Destruction – Hurricane Hits the Great Lakes,” will feature the Great Storm of 1913, with its hurricane force winds. It has been called the most destructive storm ever to strike the Great Lakes. In Lake Huron alone, eight large steel ships were lost with all hands during a 16-hour period. Join the Out of the Blue Dive Team as they share the history of the storm and their video of many of her victims. The program highlights old historical photographs along with underwater footage of many of these shipwrecks. Jim and Pat Strayer will present both programs.

Ric Mixter, will speak on the “Nordmeer: A Great Lakes Cleanup” on Nov. 8. The sinking of the Nordmeer resulted in a daring helicopter rescue by pilots from Detroit’s air station. Mixter shares rare interviews with the pilot and footage from the 1966 storm that broke the vessel as it sat on a reef near Alpena. Includes rare footage of the officers from Nordmeer and salvage film of the fuel aboard.

Bruce Lynn, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, will speak on “Tragedy and Discovery off the Shipwreck Coast: The Wreck of the Schooner Nelson” on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The Nelson, a large three-masted schooner built in 1866, went down during a northwest gale in May 1899, sinking the vessel over 200 feet to the bottom of Lake Superior. Only one of her crew of 10 survived, Captain Haganey who washed ashore clinging to debris. The wreck was discovered in 2014 by the Shipwreck Society.

For more information about the Shipwreck Series, call [phone] or visit online at www.charlevoixlibrary.org.

Charlevoix Courier



On this day in 1984, at approximately 10:30 p.m., the international railroad bridge at Sault Ste. Marie went askew and blocked boat traffic until 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 2. Twelve boats were delayed up to 41 hours by the incident, costing the operators an estimated $350,000.

On 31 October 1888, A W LAWRENCE (wooden propeller tug, 72 foot, 51 gross tons, built in 1880, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) blew her boiler at 2:30 a.m. off North Point near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The tug quickly sank. Four of the six aboard were lost. None of their remains were ever found. The tug MERRILL rescued the cook and a passenger. The LAWRENCE was owned by Capt. Mc Coy & Banner and valued at $5,000.

CANADIAN EXPLORER's sea trials were conducted on October 31, 1983, on Lake Erie where a service speed of 13.8 m.p.h. was recorded.

The EDWIN H. GOTT was christened October 31, 1978.

On October 31, 1973, the H. M. GRIFFITH entered service for Canada Steamship Lines on her maiden voyage bound for Thunder Bay, Ontario to load iron ore for Hamilton, Ontario. The GRIFFITH was rebuilt with a new larger forward section and renamed b.) RT. HON PAUL J. MARTIN in 2000.

The CADILLAC was launched October 31, 1942, as a.) LAKE ANGELINE.

ELMGLEN cleared Owen Sound, Ontario on October 31, 1984, on her first trip in Parrish & Heimbecker colors.

On October 31, 1966, while down bound in the St. Marys River loaded with 11,143 tons of potash for Oswego, New York, the HALLFAX ran aground on a rocky reef and settled to the bottom with her hold full of water. She had grounded on Pipe Island Twins Reef just north of DeTour, Michigan.

The CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON, a.) WILLIAM C. MORELAND, struck a reef the night of October 31, 1925 three miles south of Manitou Island, off the Keweenaw Peninsula, on Lake Superior.

On October 31, 1983, the SYLVANIA was towed out of Toledo’s Frog Pond by the harbor tugs ARKANSAS and WYOMING. She was handed over to the tug OHIO for delivery to the Triad Salvage Co., at Ashtabula, Ohio, arriving there on November 1st. Dismantling was completed there in 1984. Thus ended 78 years of service. Ironically the SYLVANIA, the first built of the 504-foot-class bulkers, was the last survivor of that class. During her career with Columbia Transportation, the SYLVANIA had carried over 20 million tons and netted over $35 million.

On 31 October 1883, CITY OF TORONTO (wooden passenger-package freight sidewheeler, 207 foot, 898 gross tons, built in 1864, at Niagara, Ontario) caught fire at the Muir Brothers shipyard at Port Dalhousie, Ontario and was totally destroyed. She previously had her paddle boxes removed so she could pass through the Welland Canal, and she was in the shipyard to have them reassembled that winter.

On 31 October 1874, the tug FAVORITE was towing the schooner WILLIE NEELER on Lake Erie. At about 10:30 p.m., near Bar Point, the schooner suddenly sheered and before the to line could be cast off, the FAVORITE capsized and sank. One life was lost. The rest of the crew clung to the upper works, which had become dislodged from the vessel, and were rescued by the schooner's lifeboats.

On 31 October 1821, WALK-IN-THE-WATER (wooden side-wheeler, 135 foot, 339 tons, built in 1818, at Black Rock [Buffalo], New York) was wrecked on Point Abino, on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie during a storm. She was the first steam-powered vessel above Niagara and her frequent comings and goings during her career were very much in the newspapers in Detroit but her loss was not mentioned not at all since this steamer was virtually the only source of news from the east. Her engine was installed by Robert Fulton himself. After the wreck, it went into the steamer SUPERIOR and later ran a lumber mill in Saginaw, Michigan.

On 31 October 1880, TRANCHEMONTAGNE (wooden schooner, 108 foot, 130 tons, built in 1864, at Sorel, Quebec) was loaded with rye and sailing in a storm on Lake Ontario. She struck the breakwater at Oswego, New York head-on at about 3:00 a.m. She stove in her bow and quickly sank. The crew took to the rigging, except for one who was washed overboard and rode a provision box from her deck to shore. The Lifesaving Service rescued the rest from the breakwater. The schooner broke up quickly in the storm.

1885: WILLIAM T. GRAVES stranded at North Manitou Island, Lake Michigan, and was a total loss.

1911: The wooden lumber carrier D. LEUTY hit a squall off Marquette. The wooden steamer ran on the rocks off Lighthouse Point while trying to return to the harbor and was a total loss. The crew was saved and later the machinery was salvaged.

1929: SENATOR and MARQUETTE collided in fog on Lake Michigan and the former sank with the loss of 10 lives.

1952: The Swedish vessel RYHOLM was hit portside ahead of the bridge by the Swiss freighter BASILEA and beached 23 miles below Quebec City. The former had been a pre-Seaway visitor to the Great Lakes and was not salvaged until June 6, 1953. It became CARLSHOLM in 1957 and last came inland in 1967. The ship was scrapped at Aviles, Spain, as d) ARCHON in 1972.

1975: The tug JESSE JAMES operated on the Great Lakes from 1923 to 1966. It caught fire and sank as c) BALEEN about 30 miles southeast of Boston. All on board were saved.

1991: The MAHOGANY visited the Seaway in 1978 and as b) CARDIFF in 1981. It was sailing as f) PANAGHIA PHANEROMENI when in collision with the AQUILLA off Piraeus Roads. The ship was repaired at Perama, Greece, before it returned to service in January 1992.

2005: The Canfornav bulk carrier EIDER was only one year old when it ran aground near Famagusta, Chile, while inbound to load copper ore. The ship was damaged but refloated and repaired at Balboa, Panama. It was back through the Seaway in 2006 and has been a frequent caller since then.


On 30 October 1863, TORRENT (2-mast wooden schooner, 125 foot, 412 gross tons, built in 1855, at Newport [Marine City], Michigan) was carrying railroad iron from Buffalo to Little Bay de Noc when she foundered in a storm on Lake Erie, 10 miles east of Port Stanley, Ontario. No lives were lost.

On 30 October 1870, JOSEPH A. HOLLON (wooden barge, 107 foot, 158 gross tons, built in 1867, at E. Saginaw, Michigan) was in tow of the tug CLEMATIS (wooden tug, 179 tons, built in 1863, at Cleveland, Ohio) in a terrific gale on Lake Huron. The barge broke free and drifted off. The waves washed completely over her and the captain was swept overboard. Her cabins were destroyed. The next day the wife of the mate and another crewmember were rescued by the bark ONEONTA (wooden bark, 161 foot, 499 gross tons, built in 1862, at Buffalo, New York) and taken to Detroit, but the HOLLON was left to drift on the Lake. The newspapers listed her as "missing". Five days later the vessel was found and was towed into Port Elgin, Ontario. A total of four lives were lost: three were missing and the fourth was found "lashed to a pump, dead, with his eyes picked out.”

The tugs GLENADA and MOUNT MC KAY towed AMOCO ILLINOIS from Essexville, Michigan, on October 30, 1985, and arrived at the M&M slip in Windsor, Ontario, on November 1st. where she was to be scrapped.

The Maritimers CADILLAC and her fleetmate CHAMPLAIN arrived under tow by the Dutch tug/supply ship THOMAS DE GAUWDIEF on October 30, 1987, at Aliaga, Turkey, to be scrapped.

The ISLE ROYALE (Canal bulk freighter) was launched October 30, 1947, as a.) SOUTHCLIFFE HALL for the Hall Corporation of Canada Ltd. (which in 1969, became Hall Corporation (Shipping) 1969 Ltd.), Montreal.

On 30 October 1874, LOTTA BERNARD (wooden side wheel "rabbit", 125 foot, 147 tons, built in 1869, at Port Clinton, Ohio) was carrying general merchandise from Silver Islet to Duluth when she foundered in a terrific gale off Encampment Island in Lake Superior. Three lives were lost. She was capable of only 4 miles per hour and was at the mercy of any fast-rising storm.

During a storm, the schooner ANNABELLA CHAMBERS was wrecked on the islands off Toronto, Ontario, on 30 October 1873. One sailor was washed overboard and lost. The skipper was rescued, but he had the dead body of his small son in his arms.

On 30 October, 1971 - The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was laid up due to a coal strike. She never sailed again as a carferry.

On 30 October 1877, CITY OF TAWAS (3-mast wooden schooner, 135 foot, 291 tons, built in 1864, at Vicksburgh [now Marysville], Michigan as a sloop-barge) was carrying 500 tons of iron ore when she struck a bar outside the harbor at St. Joseph, Michigan, while attempting to enter during a storm. She drifted ashore with a hole in her bottom and was pounded to pieces. One brave crewman swam ashore with a line and the rest came in on it.

1918: The bulk carrier VULCAN went aground off Point Abbaye, on Lake Superior and the pilothouse caught fire and burned. The ship was enroute to Hancock, MI with coal and, after being released, was towed to Houghton, MI. The vessel was repaired and became b) VINMOUNT in 1919.

1960: JOHN SHERWIN went aground several miles above the Soo Locks and received serious bottom damage. The vessel was pulled free on November 7 and went for repairs.

1973: AIGLE MARIN, enroute to Thorold with 600 tons of ferrous chrome, went aground in the Seaway near Cornwall, ON. The tug ROBINSON BAY helped pull this small coastal freighter, a product of the Collingwood Shipyard, free on October 31.

1974: JOHN O. McKELLAR of the Misener fleet went aground in the St. Marys River and had to be lightered before being refloated. It was stuck for 3 days.

1978: The Cypriot freighter KARYATIS came through the Seaway in 1973. The ship, later under the Greek flag, was damaged in a collision on the Western Mediterranean with the SPRING. The latter, as a) IRISH ROSE, had made been a Great Lakes visitor from 1956 through 1958, and was declared a total loss after the collision. It was scrapped at Santander, Spain, in 1979. KARYATIS was repaired and was later broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as e) NOURA after arrival on April 7, 1987.

1980: The wooden-hulled former coastal freighter AVALON VOYAGER II, enroute to Owen Sound for planned use as a restaurant, had pump problems, lost power and struck bottom off Cape Hurd. The anchors failed to hold. The ship drifted into Hay Bay and stranded again. All on board were saved but the ship was a total loss.


The whaleback barge 127 (steel barge, 264 foot, 1,128 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Company of W. Superior, Wisconsin, on 29 October 1892. She lasted until 1936, when she was scrapped at New Orleans, Louisiana.

On 29 October 1906, the schooner WEST SIDE (wooden schooner, 138 foot, 324 gross tons, built in 1870, at Oswego, New York) was carrying pulpwood from Tobermory, Ontario, to Delray, Michigan, when she was caught in a severe gale on Lake Huron. There was no shelter and the vessel was lost about 25 mile off Thunder Bay Island. The skipper and his crew, consisting of his wife and three sons aged 10 to 18, abandoned in the yawl. They all suffered from exposure to the wind and waves, but luckily the FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons, built in 1901, at Lorain, Ohio) picked them up and brought them to Port Huron, Michigan.

ALGOLAKE (Hull# 211) was launched October 29, 1976, at Collingwood Shipyards, Ltd. for the Algoma Central Railway.

On October 29, 1986, the JAMES R. BARKER, which had suffered an engine room fire, was lashed side-by-side to the thousand-foot WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY and towed to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for repairs.

The pieced-together CANADIAN EXPLORER (Hull#71) was christened on October 29, 1983, at Port Weller Dry Docks. She was created from the bow section of the NORTHERN VENTURE and the stern of the CABOT. The stern of the EXPLORER is now the stern of the ALGOMA TRANSFER.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled on October 29, 1991, that Total Petroleum was responsible for the fire that destroyed the tanker JUPITER because of faulty moorings and exonerated the BUFFALO from primary responsibility.

On the afternoon of October 29, 1987, while upbound with coal from Sandusky, Ohio, the ROGER M. KYES went aground on Gull Island Shoal in Lake Erie's Middle Passage and began taking on water. About 3,000 tons of coal was transferred to the AMERICAN REPUBLIC after which the KYES freed herself the next morning. Damage from the grounding required extensive repairs. She was renamed b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS in 1989.

The tug portion of the PRESQUE ISLE departed New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 29, 1973.

The H. C. HEIMBECKER's last trip started at Thunder Bay, Ontario, with a load of grain bound for Owen Sound, Ontario where, on October 29, 1981, it was discovered that one of her boilers was cracked. When unloading was completed on October 30th, the HEIMBECKER proceeded under her own power to Ashtabula, Ohio, for scrapping.

On 29 October 1892, ZACH CHANDLER (3 mast wooden schooner-barge, 194 foot, 727 gross tons, built in 1867, at Detroit, Michigan) was carrying lumber from Ashland, Wisconsin, in tow of the steamer JOHN MITCHELL when the two became separated in a northerly gale in Lake Superior. The CHANDLER was overwhelmed and broke up on shore about three miles east of Deer Park, Michigan. Five of the crew made it to shore in the lifeboat and the Lifesaving Service saved two others, but one perished. Three years earlier, the CHANDLER stranded at almost the same spot and sustained heavy damage.

On 29 October 1879, AMAZON (wooden propeller freighter, 245 foot, 1,406 tons, built in 1873, at Trenton, Michigan) was carrying "provisions" - 900 tons of freight plus 7,000 barrels of flour - from Milwaukee to Grand Haven, Michigan. She struck the notorious bar off of Grand Haven in a gale and broke up. All 68 aboard survived. Her engine was later recovered.

On 29 October 1880, THOMAS A. SCOTT (4-mast wooden schooner-barge, 207 foot, 1,159 tons, built in 1869, at Buffalo, New York as a propeller) was riding out a storm at anchor one mile off Milwaukee when she was struck by the big steamer AVON (wooden propeller, 251 foot, 1,702 gross tons, built in 1877, at Buffalo, New York). The SCOTT sank quickly. She had been bound from Chicago for Erie, Pennsylvania, with 44,000 bushels of corn. Three of her crew scrambled onto the AVON while the seven others took to the yawl and were towed in by the Lifesaving Service.

1887: VERNON, enroute from Cheboygan to Chicago, foundered off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in a sudden and violent Lake Michigan storm. Only one on board was saved while another 36 lives were lost.

1907: CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS, a wooden passenger steamer recently brought into Canadian registry, caught fire while stopped at Tobermory for the night while enroute from Wiarton to Manitoulin Island. The blazing ship was cut loose, drifted into the bay and sank.

1917: RISING SUN stranded at Pyramid Point, Lake Michigan, in snow and the 32 on board were rescued before the ship was broken apart by the surf.

1924: GLENORCHY sank in Lake Huron, six miles ESE of Harbor Beach after a collision with the LEONARD B. MILLER. Dense fog mixing with smoke from forest fires were blamed for the accident. All on board were saved. No lives were lost but the GLENORCHY sank and the estimated damage to the two vessels was $600,000.

1926: TORHAMVAN, built at Midland as CANADIAN LOGGER, was wrecked off Newfoundland after going aground in fog enroute to Montreal. Area residents rescued the crew.

1929: The passenger and freight carrier WISCONSIN foundered off Kenosha, Wisconsin, with the loss of 16 lives.

1942: NORLUNA, built at Chicago in 1919 as LAKE GETAWAY, stranded in Ungava Bay, off the coast of Labrador near Fort Chimo, and was a total loss.

1951: After unloading grain at Buffalo, the PENOBSCOT was in a collision on the Buffalo River with the tanker barge MORANIA 130, pushed by the tug DAUNTLESS NO. 12. The barge was carrying gasoline and a terrible fire broke out. A total of 11 sailors, including two on the freighter, died from burns.

1959: MARISCO had visited the Great Lakes as a) MOYRA and b) HEIKA. The ship foundered in the Gulf of Laconia, off Gythion, Greece, after developing a leak in the engineroom. It was enroute from Varna, Bulgaria, to Genoa, Italy, with iron ore.

1968: GLOUCESTER CITY began Great Lakes trading in 1966. The ship was sailing as b) ST. JOHN when it put into Fort Dauphin, Malagasy Republic, with engine trouble on a voyage from Montreal to Djakarta, Indonesia. Two days later the vessel broke its moorings in a gale and was blown on a sandbank as a total loss.

1978: The Swedish freighter FREDBORG, b) FREDRIK RAGNE, a Great Lakes visitor under both names before and after the Seaway was opened, returned as c) ANASTASSIA in 1968. The vessel was towed out of Tema, Ghana, as e) GAYTA on this date in 1978 and scuttled in the deep waters of the Atlantic.