Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/12 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – It’s the little doll that was recovered on the bottom of Lake Michigan that motivated Bob Desh to find its past. It is a nameless remnant from the paddle-wheeled steamship Niagara that caught on fire in 1856 and sunk off Port Washington.

The former Door County Maritime Museum’s executive director kicked off the popular maritime speaker series Thursday night with the results of his research “A Doll, a Wrench and a Thimble — Remembering the loss of the ‘Palace Steamer’ Niagara.’’

“The doll and the thimble are so personal,’’ said Desh, a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain, and self-proclaimed maritime geek. There were many women and children on the passenger steamship (with auxiliary sails) en route to Chicago. It was at the height of immigration. There was also heavy cargo.

The thimble appears to be pristine, seemingly lifted directly from a sewing basket. The long wrench shows some corrosion. But three-inch doll had a rough time surviving its watery grave. Its arms are both broken off. One leg snapped off at the knee and the other leg is missing her foot. It has painted blue eyes and a blue bow below an emotionless face.

“The Niagara was one of the greatest losses of life and tragedies in the maritime Wisconsin history,’’ Desh added. More than 60 people on board died, according to some reports. The wreck is still there and is on the U.S. National Register of Historical Places. It is precisely a mile and a half of Harrington Beach State Park. A few of its artifacts are part of the Door County Maritime Museum’s collection. It is the not the same sailing vessel as the tall ship replica USS Niagara serving the War of 1812 that visited Sturgeon Bay in August.

One of the largest steamships on the Great Lakes at the time, the 245-foot Niagara was a palace steamer that was reserved for the upper class. One of its passengers was former U.S. Congress member John B. Macy of Chicago.

It left Sheboygan on Sept. 23, 1856, and was heading for Port Washington when the fire broke out in the engine room.



On 12 December 1898, FANNY H (wooden propeller tug, 54 foot, 16 gross tons, built in 1890, at Bay City, Michigan) was sold by J. R. Hitchcock to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. She underwent a major rebuild in 1908, when she was lengthened to 60 feet.

The push tug PRESQUE ISLE was launched December 12, 1972, as (Hull #322) by the Halter Marine Services, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana.

SPINDLETOP, e.) BADGER STATE was launched December 12, 1942, for the United States Maritime Commission.

WHEAT KING returned to Port Weller Dry Docks on December 12, 1975, for lengthening to the maximum Seaway size of 730 feet overall for the iron ore and grain trade, thus ending her salt water activities.

One unusual trip for the WOODLAND occurred when she arrived at Toronto, Ontario on December 12, 1987, to load a 155-foot, 135-ton self-unloading unit for delivery to the Verolme Shipyard in Brazil, where the Govan-built Panamax bulk carrier CSL INNOVATOR was being converted to a self-unloader.

On Monday December 12, 1898, the AURORA was fast in the ice at Amherstburg, Ontario, when a watchman smelled smoke. The crew tried to put out the fire, but to no avail. They were taken off the burning vessel by the tug C A LORMAN. The ship burned to the water's edge, but was salvaged and rebuilt as a barge.

On December 12, 1956, the once-proud passenger vessels EASTERN STATES and GREATER DETROIT were taken out onto Lake St. Clair where they were set afire. All the superstructure was burned off and the hulls were taken to Hamilton, Ontario, where they were scrapped in 1957.

On 12 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels at winter lay-up at Sarnia, Ontario: Schooners: MARY E PEREW, KINGFISHER, UNADILLA, ONEONTA, AMERICAN, J G MASTEN, PELICAN, UNION, B ALLEN, and CAMDEN; Brigs: DAVID A WELLS, WAGONER, and FRANK D BARKER; Barks: C T MAPLE, EMALINE BATES, and D A VAN VALKENBURG; Steamer: MANITOBA.

On 12 December 1877, U.S. Marshall Matthews sold the boiler and machinery of the CITY OF PORT HURON at auction in Detroit, Michigan. Darius Cole submitted the winning bid of $1,000.

1898: The wooden passenger and freight carrier SOO CITY sank at the dock in Holland, Mi after bucking ice while inbound.

1925: SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY stranded on a rocky shoal inside the breakwall at Fairport, Ohio. Hull repairs were listed at over $18,000.

1966: AMBROSE SHEA, a new Canadian carferry, was hit by a flash fire while under construction by Marine Industries Ltd. at Sorel, Quebec, and sustained over $1 million in damage. Completion of the vessel was delayed by 3 months before it could enter service between North Sydney, NS and Argentia, Newfoundland. The ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping as d) ERG on June 22, 2000.

1972: SIR JAMES DUNN went aground in the St. Lawrence near the Thousand Islands Bridge while enroute to Sorel with grain.

1990: CLIPPER MAJESTIC was abandoned by the crew due to an engineroom fire off the coast of Peru. The vessel had been through the Seaway as a) MILOS ISLAND in 1981, MAJESTIC in 1989 and was renamed c) CLIPPER MAJESTIC at Toronto that fall. The damaged ship was towed to Callao, Peru, on December 13, 1990, and repaired. It also traded inland as d) MILLENIUM MAJESTIC in 1999 and was scrapped at Alang, India, as e) MYRA in 2012.

2009: The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier SPRUCEGLEN (ii) went aground near Sault Ste. Marie and had to go to Thunder Bay for repairs.

2010: The tug ANN MARIE sank in the Saginaw River while tied up for the winter. It was salvaged a few days later.

On 11 December 2002, after last minute dredging operations were completed, Nadro Marine’s tugs SEAHOUND and VAC took the World War II Canadian Naval Tribal-class destroyer H.M.C.S. HAIDA from her mooring place at Toronto’s Ontario Place to Port Weller Dry Docks where a $3.5M refit was started in preparation for the vessel to start her new career as a museum ship in Hamilton, Ontario.

TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was launched December 11, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The H. LEE WHITE collided with the Greek salty GEORGIOS on December 11, 1974, near St. Clair, Michigan, and had to return to Nicholson's dock at Detroit, Michigan for inspection.

On December 11, 1979, while about 11 miles off Manitou Island near the Keweenaw Peninsula, the ASHLAND's engine stalled due to a faulty relay switch. Caught in heavy weather and wallowing in the wave troughs, she put out a distress call. True to Great Lakes tradition, four vessels immediately came to her assistance: two 1,000 footers, LEWIS WILSON FOY and EDWIN H. GOTT, along with WILLIS B. BOYER and U.S.C.G. cutter MESQUITE.

WILLIAM CLAY FORD loaded her last cargo at Duluth on December 11, 1984.

PERE MARQUETTE 21 passed down the Welland Canal (loaded with the remnants of Port Huron's Peerless Cement Dock) on December 11, 1974, towed by the tugs SALVAGE MONARCH and DANIEL MC ALLISTER on the way to Sorel, Quebec where she was laid up.

The fishing boat LINDA E vanished on Lake Michigan along with its three crewmen on December 11, 1998.

Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.’s WHEAT KING was laid up for the last time December 11, 1981.

On 11 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels in winter lay-up in Port Huron: Sailing Craft: A H MOSS, FOREST HUNTER. MARY E PEREW, SEA BIRD, REINDEER, T S SKINNER, L W PERRY, ADAIN, LITTLE NELLIE, MAGGIE, PRINCE ALFRED, CAPE HORM, KITTIE, JOHNSON (wrecker), CHRISTIANA, HOWE, C G MEISEL, AUNT RUTH, W R HANNA, IRONSIDES, GOLDEN FLEECE, JOHN L GROSS, WARRINGTON, ANGLO SAXON, MOORE, LADY ESSEX, ANNIE, FORWARDER (sunk), GROTON, NORTHWEST, FRED H MORSE, GEM OF THE LAKES, D J AUSTIN, CZAR, JAMAICA, ANNIE (scow), AND HATTIE. Side wheel Steamers: 8TH OHIO, WYOMING (lighter). Propeller Steam Barges: W E WETMORE, SANILAC, CITY OF DETROIT. Tugs: KATE MOFFAT, TAWAS, HITTIE HOYT, FRANK MOFFAT, J H MARTIN, JOHN PRIDGEON, BROCKWAY, GLADIATOR, CORAL, GRACE DORNER (small passenger vessel), AND C M FARRAR.

On 11 December 1895, GEORGE W. ADAMS (wooden schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1444 gross tons, built in 1875, at Toledo, Ohio) was in tow of the steamer CALEDONIA with a load of coal, bound from Cleveland for Chicago. Her hull was crushed by ice and she sank near Colchester Shoals on Lake Erie. A salvage operation on her the following summer was a failure.

1911: A fire broke out in a wooden grain elevator at Owen Sound. The KEEWATIN was moored nearby for the winter but not yet locked in ice. The ship was moved to safety but the elevator was destroyed.

1963: MANCOX went aground in Lake St. Clair, near Peche Island, enroute from Sault Ste. Marie to River Rouge.

1984: The Yugoslavian freighter BEOGRAD, outbound in the Seaway with soybeans for Brazil, collided with the FEDERAL DANUBE at anchor near Montreal and had to be beached. The hull was refloated and arrived at Montreal for repairs on December 27. It was scrapped at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as b) MURIEL in 1999. FEDERAL DANUBE (i) now operates for Canada Steamship Lines as c) OAKGLEN (iii).

The steamer EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND loaded the last cargo of ore for the 1942 season at Marquette.

CEDARGLEN, a.) WILLIAM C. ATWATER, loaded her last cargo at Thunder Bay, Ontario on December 10, 1984, carrying grain for Goderich, Ontario.

Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. of Cleveland, Ohio bought NOTRE DAME VICTORY on December 10, 1950. She would later become b.) CLIFFS VICTORY.

IRVIN L. CLYMER was laid up at Superior, Wisconsin on December 10, 1985, for two seasons before returning to service April 30, 1988.

An explosion occurred in IMPERIAL LEDUC's, b.) NIPIGON BAY ) forward tanks on December 10, 1951. This happened while her crew was cleaning and butterworthing the tanks. Five crewmembers were injured with one eventually dying in the hospital. Multiple explosions caused extensive damage in excess of $500,000.

On December 10, 1905, WILLIAM E. COREY finally was pulled free and refloated after grounding on Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands in late November.

FRANK A. SHERMAN laid up for the last time at Toronto, Ontario on December 10, 1981.

Donated by Cleveland-Cliffs to the Great Lakes Historical Society on December 10, 1987, the WILLIAM G. MATHER was to become a museum ship at Cleveland's waterfront.

PAUL H. CARNAHAN and her former fleet mate, GEORGE M. HUMPHREY, arrived safely under tow at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1986, for scrapping.

On 10 December 1891, a fire started on MARY (2-mast wooden schooner, 84 foot, 87 gross tons, built in 1877, at Merriton, Ontario) when an oil stove in the kitchen exploded. The vessel was at anchor at Sarnia, Ontario and damage was estimated at $10,000.

The CORISANE (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 137 foot, 292 gross tons, built in 1873, at Marine City, Michigan) was tied up alongside MARY and she also caught fire but the flames were quickly extinguished. She was towed away from MARY by the ferry J C CLARK.

PERE MARQUETTE 3 ran aground in 1893, north of Milwaukee.

1922: The wooden freighter JAMES DEMPSEY, built in 1883 as a) JIM SHERIFFS, was destroyed by a fire at Manistee, MI.

1963: The Canadian coastal freighter SAINTE ADRESSE went on the rocks off Escoumins, QC and was leaking in high winds while on a voyage from Montreal to Sept-Iles. Local residents helped lighter the cargo of beer and ale. The remains of the hull were visible at low water for several years.

1975: PAUL THAYER went aground in Lake Erie off Pelee Island. It was lightered to WOLVERINE and released Dec. 12 with extensive damage.

1994: The Maltese registered YIANNIS Z. entered Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago, in leaking condition after apparently hitting bottom while enroute from Manzanillo, Cuba, to Peru. The ship was arrested for non-payment of the crew. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1970 as a) MATIJA GUBEC. The hull was sold at public auction on August 28, 1997, and apparently partially dismantled to become a barge. It was noted sinking at its moorings on October 14, 2006, under the name f) KELLYS MARK and subsequent fate is unknown.

2005: JOHN D. LEITCH hit bottom above the Eisenhower Lock and began leaking.


12/10 - Superior, Wis. – A plan to clean up Howard's Pocket is nearing completion; work could get underway next year. The project is a collaboration among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the city of Superior and Fraser Shipyards — the only U.S.-based shipyard remaining on Lake Superior.

The Superior City Council was presented with an update on the project planning.

"We're looking at funding a $12.5 million cleanup project on the pocket," said Jason Serck, economic development, port and planning director for the city. "It makes sense. It's a great project, not only for the city of Superior, but for the environment, Fraser Shipyards and putting our name on the map for cleaning up the St. Louis River."

Howard's Bay has been a used for shipyards, grain terminals, commercial shipping operations and other operations for over 100 years, said Joe Graham of the Wisconsin DNR Great Lakes Program.

"Fraser Shipyards has been around for about 125 years — family owned and everything," said Fraser's Sean Smith. "We are the only shipyard on Lake Superior; we're also a very capable shipyard."

Smith said dredging that will be done during the cleanup project will clean up existing contamination stemming from 125 years of shipyard activity and will deepen the navigable channel leading to the dry docks in the bay, which will benefit the shipyard and the city.

"The state of Wisconsin feels the shipyard is a very important business," Graham said. "Through our Wisconsin Department of Transportation, we have funded some very important infrastructure projects for the dock wall and some of the electrical upgrades through our Harbor Assistance Program."

Other facilities in the bay include the Cenex-Harvest States terminal, the largest grain elevator in the Twin Ports, which is also in the Area of Concern.

"Howard's Bay is identified as a site where action is needed to address contamination within the St. Louis River Area of Concern," Graham said. He said sediment is contaminated with elevated levels of lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum, mercury and tributyltin.

"There is no question this needs to be done," said Superior City Councilor Warren Bender. Bender said he remembers as a child swimming in the slip, and when it was closed off, there were signs that said "future recreation area," he said.

The project involves the Army Corps dredging the shipping channel to a depth of 27 feet as well as clean up dredging of the polluted areas, Graham said. He said the dredging and cleanup will happen at the same time to make the project more efficient. Handling of dredged materials will be done at Fraser, with dredge material later stored at Erie Pier for land uses while contaminated dredge material would likely go to a demolition landfill, Graham said.

Planning for the project is about 90 percent complete, and they are currently working on the remedial design, funded by Great Lakes Legacy Funding with a 35 percent in-kind match from Fraser and the state of Wisconsin, Graham said.

"We're also looking at the Wisconsin Point Landfill to improve that cap," Graham said. The landfill that closed in 1977 is experiencing some uneven settling that is causing some drainage issues so increasing the thickness over the waste could be beneficial by improving drainage and make it usable for recreation such as foot paths or a dog park, he said.

He estimates the dredging will take several months to complete, and the project is likely to get underway late next year with completion in the spring of 2018.

Superior Telegram

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/13 - Hibbing, Minn. – There's a new CEO, a new name and a new attitude at the company formerly known as Essar Steel Minnesota. But the same problems loom: How to escape more than $1 billion in debt and finish the half-built project in Nashwauk already years overdue and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.

Throw in the fact the governor of the state won't play ball with you. And, by the way, the whole thing is mired in federal bankruptcy court with tentacles that reach from Iron Range construction companies to multinational banks in India, New York and Hong Kong.

The new name is Mesabi Metallics, if a bankruptcy judge in Delaware agrees at a hearing scheduled for Thursday. Gone are the last vestiges of Essar Group, the Mumbai, India, company that took the project over in 2008 only to run out of money, twice, and then walk away owing $1.1 billion.

The new CEO is Matthew Stock, 45, a British-born veteran of the iron ore and steel business who worked developing and running ore processing plants in India and steel sales in Thailand. Stock was brought in by SPL Partners LLC, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based, three-family owned investment company that sees promise in buying the Nashwauk project for pennies on the dollar, finishing the job and then making money selling taconite iron ore pellets.

Read more, and view photos at this link: www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/mining/4177360-mesabi-metallics-hopes-rise-wreckage-essar-steel-minnesota


CANADIAN ENTERPRISE entered service for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. on December 13, 1979.

On December 13, 1989, Kinsman’s HENRY STEINBRENNER, a.) WILLIAM A. MC GONAGLE was laid up at Toledo's Lakefront Dock.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS arrived under her own power at Triad Salvage Inc., Ashtabula, Ohio, on December 13, 1979, to be scrapped.

THOMAS WILSON ran aground in the St. Marys River on December 13, 1976. The accident required lightering before she would float free.

On 13 December 1872, the Port Huron Times added three vessels to those in winter lay-up at Port Huron: Steamer MARINE CITY, tug JOHN PRINDEVILLE, and wrecking tug RESCUE. December 13, 1906 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 departed for Manitowoc, Wisconsin on her first trip.

In 1929, the McLouth Steamship Company filed a claim against the City of Port Huron for $687 because its sand sucker, the KALKASKA, was held up for 27-1/2 hours in the Black River because of an inability to open the north span of the Military Street Bridge.

On 13 December 1961, SWEDEN, a.) L C SMITH, steel propeller, 414 foot, 4702 gross tons, built in 1902, at W. Bay City, Michigan) arrived in tow at Savona, Italy, for scrapping.

1899: BARGE 115 broke loose of the towing steamer COLGATE HOYT in northern Lake Superior and drifted for 5 harrowing days before it stranded on Pic Island on December 18. While feared lost with all hands, the crew managed to come ashore in the lifeboat, found their way to the rail line and hiked to safety. They were found December 22.

1906: JOHN M. NICOL was loaded with barbed wire when it stranded off Big Summer Island, Lake Michigan. The crew was rescued by fishermen in a gasoline-powered launch, but the ship broke in two as a total loss.

1916: BAY PORT, a whaleback steamer built at West Superior as a) E.B. BARTLETT in 1891, struck bottom in the Cape Cod Canal enroute to Boston with coal. The ship was refloated but sank again December 14 blocking the entrance to the canal. All on board were saved. The hull had to by dynamited as a hazard.

1939: The Russian freighter INDIGIRKA went aground in a blizzard off the coast of Japan while trying to enter Laperouse Strait, near Sarafatsu, Japan. The ship rolled on its side and was abandoned by the crew. It was carrying fishermen and political prisoners. A reported 741 died in the cargo holds after being left behind. Only a few were still alive when salvagers returned after the storm had subsided. The vessel had been built at Manitowoc, WI in 1919 as a) LAKE GALVA and was renamed b) RIPON before leaving the lakes the next year.

1965: The Liberty ship PONT AUDEMER made one trip through the Seaway in 1960. It was abandoned by the crew as d) VESPER following an engineroom explosion on the Mediterranean enroute from Marseilles, France, to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The vessel arrived at Cartagena, under tow on December 18, 1965. It was sold to Spanish shipbreakers and left for Villanueva y Geltru for dismantling on May 18, 1966.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/14 - Lansing, Mich. – The decades-long effort to build a new lock connecting Lakes Superior and Huron at Sault Ste. Marie is getting renewed state attention. Advocates hope it will also be taken up by President-elect Donald Trump because of his infrastructure campaign pledge.

But it will be at least another year before the next step, a cost-benefit analysis by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It’s so important,” said Linda Hoath, executive director of the Sault Area Visitor’s Convention and Bureau. Not just for Michigan but for the whole region, she said.

The U.S. would lose $1.1 trillion if the existing lock capable of handling the biggest freighters breaks down for six months, according to a new report from Gov. Snyder’s 21st Century Infrastructure Commission. That report cited information from the Department of Homeland Security and encouraged a replacement for the aging Poe Lock as a failsafe to the nation’s economy.

The commission, created in the wake of the Flint water crisis that brought attention to the threat of aging water systems, released a 188-page report detailing the state’s infrastructure needs. It touches on transportation, communications and other issues.

Meanwhile, infrastructure was one of Trump’s key issues during his presidential campaign. He said he wants to spend $1 trillion on it. Advocates say they hope Trump will push the construction of a new lock.

“It’s kind of the perfect project for everything he talked about in his campaign,” said Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers Association, which represents Great Lakes shippers. “It’s very consistent with his national security comments, economic security interests and homeland security statements.”

A new lock would take a big bite of those funds. A 2005 estimated price tag was $580 million to complete it. Preliminary work started in 2009-2010 but was not completed. The money would come from the federal government.

The commission is calling for completion of a second lock capable of handling 1,000-foot freighters. In addition to the $1.1 trillion hit to the economy, the commission said a breakdown of the Poe Lock, which handles the largest freighters now, would kill 11 million jobs and cause a recession and bankruptcies.

The report says a second lock capable of handling the biggest ships would create the “redundancy” needed to save those jobs. But it will be at least a year before anything can be done.

That’s because the Army Corps of Engineers would be responsible for building the new lock and the project has to meet the agency’s cost-benefit standards. That means the benefits of the new lock and consequences of a Poe Lock breakdown must outweigh the cost of the project.

The last time the corps ran the numbers, the new lock didn’t measure up. But key assumptions have changed. When the corps did the math in 2005, it assumed raw materials such as iron ore could simply be transported by rail if the Poe Lock were to break down, said Scott Thieme, deputy for project management in the Detroit district of the Army Corps of Engineers.

“We now know that we can’t,” Thieme said.

The railways simply don’t exist near the mines, said Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission, an organization created by the states to track environmental and economic issues in the Great Lakes states and Canada. If the Poe Lock were to fail, railways couldn’t be built fast enough to prevent the nation from feeling the pinch.

Seventy-five percent of all U.S. steel production would halt, Eder said. The U.S. auto industry would start to shut down within six weeks, Weakley said. Quoting the Department of Homeland Security’s report, he said, “It is hard to conceive a single asset more consequential than the Poe Lock.”

A long-lasting Poe Lock failure would hurt Michigan’s unemployment rate hardest, with unemployment rates reaching 22.6 percent, Weakley said.

The corps is re-doing the math, but the Detroit division won’t know for sure if the new lock project meets its standards until December 2017, according to the commission’s report. But Weakley thinks it will take even longer because there are two more steps the corps’ report goes through. By then, it could be half-way through Trump’s presidency, Weakley said.

Building the new lock on the site of older, non-operational locks would take 10 years, Hoath said.

Building the lock would mean 1.5 million hours for middle-class workers, Weakley said. He wasn’t sure how many contractors would be local.

Mining Journal


12/14 - Duluth, Minn. – The barge/tug combo Great Lakes Trader/Joyce L. VanEnkevort arrived in Duluth on Tuesday morning to pick up a load of taconite. It already was carrying a cargo of ice.

Below-zero temperatures and westerly winds left the vessel coated in ice as it passed through the Duluth ship canal before a group of onlookers who braved the frigid conditions. It had warmed up to about zero in Canal Park by the time the ship arrived at about 10:20 a.m., after subzero temperatures to start the day.

Meanwhile, at least one other vessel was at anchor on Lake Superior offshore from Duluth on Tuesday morning, shrouded in steam rising from the still relatively warm waters of the lake.

Morning lows in the Northland were in the single digits and teens below zero, including 11 below at the Duluth airport, 14 below at Hibbing and International Falls, 16 below at Cotton and 17 below at Togo, according to the National Weather Service. Wind chills dropped to 30 below zero in parts of the region.

The cold weather is going to continue through much of the week ahead, with highs near zero on Wednesday and Thursday. After a slight warmup on Friday - highs perhaps near 10 degrees - temperatures are forecast to again struggle to climb above zero on Saturday and Sunday.

View the video at this link www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4179084-video-ice-coated-ship-arrives-duluth

On 14 December 1902, JOHN E. HALL (wooden propeller freighter, 139 foot, 343 gross tons, built in 1889, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was towing the barge JOHN R. NOYES (wooden schooner, 137 foot, 333 gross tons, built in 1872, at Algonac, Michigan) on Lake Ontario when they were caught in a blizzard-gale. After a day of struggling, the NOYES broke loose and drifted for two days before she went ashore and broke up near Lakeside, New York without loss of life. The HALL tried to run for shelter but swamped and sank off Main Duck Island with the loss of the entire crew of nine.

On December 14, 1984, WILLIAM CLAY FORD laid up for the final time at the Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

The JIIMAAN was towed out of dry dock at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. on December 14, 1992, by the tugs JAMES E. McGRATH and LAC VANCOUVER to the fit out dock for completion.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE was sold for scrap in 1988, and was towed up the Welland Canal on December 14, 1988, by the tugs THUNDER CAPE and MICHAEL D. MISNER to Port Colborne, Ontario.

On December 14, 1926, W.E. FITZGERALD was caught in heavy seas and suffered damaged frames and hull plating. Repairs consisted of replacing nearly 25,000 rivets and numerous hull plates.

The package freighter GEORGE N. ORR, a recent war acquisition from the Canada Atlantic Transit Company, was wrecked off Savage Point, Prince Edward Island, on December 14, 1917. She was enroute to New York City with a load of hay.

On 14 December 1883, MARY ANN HULBERT (wooden schooner-barge, 62 gross tons, built in 1873, at Bayfield, Wisconsin) was carrying railroad workers and supplies in tow of the steamer KINCADINE in a storm on Lake Superior. She was sailing from Port Arthur for Michipicoten Island. The HULBERT was overwhelmed by the gale and foundered, The crew of five plus all 15 of the railroad workers were lost.

December 14, 1903 - The PERE MARQUETTE 20 left the shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio on her maiden voyage.

1977: SILVER FIR, outbound from Great Lakes on her only trip inland, went aground at Squaw Island, near Cornwall and was released two days later.

1991: The small tug HAMP THOMAS sank off Cleveland while towing a barge. They were mauled by 12-foot waves but the barge and a second tug, PADDY MILES, survived as did all of the crew.

1997: CANADIAN EXPLORER of Upper Lakes Shipping and the ISLAND SKIPPER collided in the St. Lawrence at Beauharnois with minor damage. The former reached Hamilton and was retired. The latter was repaired and resumed service. It revisited the Great Lakes as late as 2010.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/15 - With strong northwest winds and waves as much as 27 feet in the forecast, several lakers sought shelter in the lee of the land Wednesday night.

Lee A. Tregurtha and Cason J. Callaway were at anchor in the lee of the Wisconsin shore north of Marinette/Menominee.

On the St. Marys River, Roger Blough was waiting out the storm in the shelter of Whitefish Point with Algolake Ruddy, Manitowoc and GS Marquis. Hon. James L. Oberstar and Algoway were stopped off Bay Mills. In the lower river, Edwin H Gott was at anchor in Potaganissing Bay in company with Lakes Contender/Ken Boothe Sr. and Capt. Henry Jackman.

Kaye E. Barker and James R. Barker were tucked in between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.

CSL Welland, Avenger IV/barge, John D. Leitch, Spruceglen, Algocanada and Whitefish Bay were at anchor off of Long Point on Lake Erie.


On 15 December 1902, the TIONESTA (steel propeller passenger steamer, 340 foot, 4,329 gross tons) was launched at the Detroit Ship Building Company, Wyandotte, Michigan (Hull #150) for the Erie & Western Transportation Company (Anchor Line). She was christened by Miss Marie B. Wetmore. The vessel lasted until 1940, when she was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario.

ROBERT KOCH went hard aground December 15, 1985, on Sheldon Point off Oswego, New York, loaded with 2,000 tons of cement, when her towline parted from the tug R & L NO 1. Dragging her anchors in heavy weather, she fetched up on a rocky shelf in 16 feet of water 300 yards off shore. She spent the winter on the bottom but was released in July 1986 and taken to Contrecoeur, Quebec, for scrapping. The dismantling was finally completed at Levis, Quebec, in 1990-1991.

NORTHCLIFFE HALL departed Kingston on December 15, 1974, headed for Colombia with a load of newsprint. She traded briefly in the Caribbean and then laid up at Houston, Texas, later to return to the lakes.

On December 15, 1972, GEORGIAN BAY was reported as the last ship to pass through the city of Welland as the new $8.3 million by-pass channel was to be ready for the beginning of the 1973, shipping season. (Actually two other ships, the TADOUSSAC and PIC RIVER, followed her through.)

The JOHN E. F. MISENER, a.) SCOTT MISENER, was laid up for the last time on December 15, 1982, at Port McNicoll, Ontario.

JOE S. MORROW (Hull#350) was launched December 15, 1906, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

RED WING was laid up for the last time at Toronto on December 15, 1984, due in part to the uneconomical operation of her steam turbine power plant.

The self-unloader ROGERS CITY cleared Lauzon, Quebec, on December 15, 1987, in tow of the Maltese tug PHOCEEN on the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch.

On December 15, 1988, Purvis Marine's ANGLIAN LADY departed Mackinaw City with the CHIEF WAWATAM under tow, arriving at the Canadian Soo the next day. During the winter of 1988-89, Purvis removed items tagged by the state of Michigan (including the pilot house) and began converting her into a barge.

On 15 December 1888, GEORGE W. ROBY (wooden propeller, 281 foot, 1,843 gross tons,) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan. She was built by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#45).

Below is a winter lay-up list as published in the Port Huron Times on 15 December 1876. At Port Huron -- Steam barges: ABERCORN, BIRKHEAD, BAY CITY, H D COFFINBURY, WILLIAM COWIE, N K FAIRBANK, GERMANIA, GEORGE KING, V H KETCHUM, MARY MILL, MARY PRINGLE, E W POWERS, D F ROSE, SALINA, TEMPEST. Propellers: CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE. Tug: CORA B Schooners and Barges: T Y AVERY, BUCKEYE STATE, GEORGE W BISSEL, KATIE BRAINARD, D K CLINT, DAYTON, S GARDNER, A GEBHART, C G KING, T G LESTER, MARINE CITY, H R NEWCOMB, J H RUTTER, REINDEER, C SPADEMAN, SAGINAW, ST JOSEPH, TAYLOR, TROY, C L YOUNG, YANKEE. At Marysville -- D G WILLIAMS, 7 tow barges, JUPITER, and LEADER.

1915: The passenger and freight steamers MAJESTIC and SARONIC of Canada Steamship Lines caught fire and burned while laid up at Point Edward, Ontario.

1952: The three-masted barquentine CITY OF NEW YORK came to Chicago for the World's Fair in 1933 and was also on display at Cleveland while inland. The famous ship had been active in Antarctic exploration and the Arctic seal hunt. The shaft broke on this date in 1952 and the vessel stranded off Yarmouth, N.S. Released at the end of the month, the vessel caught fire and stranded again off Chebogue Point as a total loss.

1973: RICHARD REISS (ii) broke loose in a gale at Stoneport, Michigan, and went aground with heavy bottom damage. The ship was refloated, repaired at South Chicago, and returned to service in 1974. It has been sailing as d) MANISTEE since 2005.

1983: CARIBBEAN TRAILER spent much of the summer of 1983 operating between Windsor and Thunder Bay. It was outbound from the Great Lakes when it was caught pumping oil in the St. Lawrence. The vessel remained active on saltwater routes until arriving at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on August 29, 2009.

1987: The French bulk carrier PENMARCH began regular Seaway service when new in 1974. It was also back as b) PHILIPPI in 1985 and became c) MIMI M. in 1987. The ship was attacked by Iraqi aircraft December 15 and again on December 16, 1987. It reached Bushire, Iran, December 22 with heavy damage and was ultimately sold to shipbreakers in Pakistan.

2008: ALIKRATOR began Great Lakes trading in August 1983. It was moored in the estuary at Vilagarcia, Spain, as b) DOXA when a fire broke out in the accommodations area. One life was lost and another 8 sailors injured. The ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling as c) ADO on June 29, 2009.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/16 - The St. Lawrence Seaway is expecting a strong finish to the shipping season as freighters deliver critical raw materials and exports for North America’s industrial and agricultural sectors before the waterway closes December 31.

"The St. Lawrence Seaway has been a significant export gateway for American grain and iron ore pellets this season and that’s expected to continue in these final weeks of December,” said Bruce R. Burrows, the new president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “High-value project cargo such as wind turbines and machinery have also been a star cargo category this season with shipments up 42 percent. Manufacturers increasingly recognize that the Great Lakes-Seaway system is a safe, cost-effective way to ship these very large components directly into the heart of North America.“

According to the latest figures from the St. Lawrence Seaway, total year-to-date cargo shipments for this year (March 21 through November 30) have reached 30.3 million metric tons.

U.S. grain shipments reached nearly 2.3 million metric tons through November, about 7.7 percent above last year’s strong performance.. Iron ore shipments, albeit down 10 percent over 2015 volumes, have improved in recent months due to the resurgence of iron ore pellet exports via the Seaway to Japan and China following improved global pricing.

The Port of Duluth-Superior is among those reporting a recent uptick in shipping. “We have seen a 15 percent increase in vessel visits by Canadian lakers through November of this year, reflective of increased shipments of iron ore and grain through the Seaway,” said Vanta Coda, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. “We all know economic recovery in Minnesota’s mining industry still has a way to go, but seeing pellets pick up the pace is encouraging. And the stream of grain shipments is still running nearly 25 percent above the Port’s 5-year average.”

November 2016 shipments through the Port of Toledo outpaced last November and brought total tonnage increasingly closer to 2015 totals. Despite a slow start and much lower iron ore throughput, grain, coal, petroleum products, and general cargo shipments are outpacing last year and the Port is finishing the season strong. “We have now surpassed the 7 million ton mark and all the terminals have been very busy over the last several weeks firing on all cylinders,” said Joe Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “We are having a record year for aluminum shipments and the fall grain harvest was also very good. This is a great way to end the season and we hope to continue the momentum into next year.”

For the Port of Green Bay, petroleum products lead the way following the shutdown of the main pipeline that supplies petroleum products to Northeast Wisconsin. “This year’s shipping season, which typically ends between Christmas and New Year’s, will extend through January and possibly into February, with the U.S. Coast Guard breaking ice to allow for continued shipments of petroleum products within the Great Lakes,” said Dean Haen, director of the Port of Green Bay. “Those shipments, coupled with expected import of additional salt and limestone this month, will help the overall 2016 shipping totals.”

Chamber of Marine Commerce


Help wanted: McKeil Marine

12/16 - McKeil Marine Limited has immediate openings for captains aboard our modern 15,000 DWT bulk ship on a permanent full-time basis. We are looking for eager and self-starting individuals to lead the operation of this newly acquired vessel. To qualify, candidates will need a minimum of Master Near Coastal, and GLPA certificate. If interested, please forward your resume to [e-mail]

McKeil Marine Limited has immediate openings for Chief Engineers on a permanent full-time basis on our cargo ships. We are looking for eager and self-starting individuals to manage all machinery and lead engine room personnel. To qualify, candidates will need a Second Class Motor or higher Certificate of Competency issued by Transport Canada. If interested, please forward your resume to [e-mail]



In 1949, the tow line between the tug JOHN ROEN III and the barge RESOLUTE parted in high seas and a quartering wind. The barge sank almost immediately when it struck the concrete piers at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Eleven crewmembers, including Captain Marc Roen, were safely taken off the barge without difficulty.

On 16 December 1922, the JOSHUA W. RHODES (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 4,871 gross tons, built in 1906, at Lorain, Ohio) struck bottom in the middle of the St. Clair River abreast of Port Huron, Michigan. Damages cost $6,179.32 to repair.

In 1983, HILDA MARJANNE's forward section, which included a bow thruster, was moved to the building berth at Port Weller Dry Docks where it was joined to CHIMO's stern. The joined sections would later emerge from the dry dock as the b.) CANADIAN RANGER.

IMPERIAL BEDFORD (Hull#666) was launched December 16,1968, at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co.

Canada Steamship Lines’ J.W. MC GIFFIN (Hull#197) was launched December 16, 1971, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards.

Litton Industries tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE departed light from Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1973, on its maiden voyage bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the latest maiden voyage date at that time. There, the PRESQUE ISLE loaded 51,038 long tons of taconite pellets for delivery to Gary, Indiana. After this ice-covered trip, the vessel returned to Erie for winter lay-up. PRESQUE ISLE was the second thousand-foot vessel on the Great Lakes (the Erie-built STEWART J. CORT which came out in 1972, was the first).

While in tandem tow on the way to scrapping with the former Ford Motor Co. steamer ROBERT S. McNAMARA, BUCKEYE MONITOR developed a crack in her deck amidships. The crack extended down her sides to below the waterline and she sank at 0145 hours on December 16, 1973, at position 43¡30'N x 30¡15'W in the North Atlantic.

BENSON FORD, a) RICHARD M. MARSHALL made her last trip to the Detroit’s Rouge River where she was laid up on December 16, 1984.

The PIC RIVER was the last vessel to use the old Welland City Canal on December 16, 1972, as the new Welland by-pass opened the following spring.

WOLFE ISLANDER III arrived in Kingston, Ontario on December 16, 1975. Built in Thunder Bay, she would replace the older car ferries WOLFE ISLANDER and UPPER CANADA on the Kingston - Wolfe Island run.

WILLIAM A. IRVIN sustained bottom damage in Lake Erie and laid up December 16, 1978, at Duluth, Minnesota.

The Maritimer THOMAS WILSON operated until December 16, 1979, when she tied up at Toledo. During that final year, the vessel carried only 30 cargoes and all were ore.

On 16 December 1906, ADVENTURER (wooden propeller steam tug, 52 foot, built in 1895, at Two Harbors, Minnesota) broke her moorings and went adrift in a gale. She was driven ashore near Ontonagon, Michigan on Lake Superior and was pounded to pieces.

On 16 December 1954, the 259-foot bulk carrier BELVOIR was launched at the E. B. McGee Ltd. yard in Port Colborne, Ontario. She was built for the Beaconsfield Steamship Co. and sailed in the last years before the Seaway opened. During the winter of 1958-59, she was lengthened 90 feet at Montreal. She left the lakes in 1968, and later sank in the Gulf of Honduras with the loss of 21 lives.

1939: GLITREFJELL was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-59 while sailing southwest of Norway. The vessel was newly built when it first came to the Great Lakes in 1934.

1941: The Norwegian freighter NIDARDAL, best remembered as LAKE GORIN, a World War One-class laker, foundered in the Atlantic P: 56.07 N / 21.00 W enroute from Freeport, Bahamas, to Manchester, England, with sulphur.

1962: ARISTOTELES of 1943 sank in the Atlantic 250 miles off Cape Vincent, Portugal, after developing leaks. The vessel, enroute from Detroit to Calcutta with steel, had first come inland in 1961. All on board were rescued by the Liberty ship HYDROUSSA, which had also been a Seaway trader in 1962.

1964: DONNACONA (ii) was disabled by a fire while downbound in Lake Huron and the forward cabin was burned out before a distress call could be sent. The ship was found, brought to safety and repaired.

1966: CABOT was loading at Montreal when the ship rolled on her side at Montreal and sank in 30 feet of water. Two lives were lost. It was righted on the bottom and refloated in January 1967 for a return to service. The stern of this vessel was cut off to help form CANADIAN EXPLORER in 1983 and has been part of ALGOMA TRANSFER since 1998.

1975: THORNHILL (i) went aground in the St. Marys River, was lightered and released.

1979: ARCHANGELOS ran aground in the St. Lawrence while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of scrap. The ship was lightered and released December 21. It had to spend the winter in the harbor at Port Weller as it was too late to depart the Seaway that year.

1980: D.G. KERR (ii), enroute overseas to Spain for scrapping, was lost in the Atlantic, after it began leaking in bad weather.

[yachtsmanwilly]

While breaking ice off Colchester Reef, Lake Erie on 17 December 1917, the HENRY CORT (steel propeller whaleback bulk freighter, 320 foot, 2,234 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Superior, Wis., formerly a.) PILLSBURY) was in a collision with the MIDVALE (steel propeller bulk freighter, 580 foot, 8,271 gross tons, built in 1917, at Ashtabula, Ohio). The PILLSBURY sank in thirty feet of water 4 1/2 miles from Colchester Reef. Her crew walked across the ice to the MIDVALE. The wreck was located on 24 April 1918, four miles from its original position, with seven feet of water over her and raised later that year to be repaired.

C. L. AUSTIN was launched December 17, 1910, as a.) WILLIS L. KING (Hull#79) at Ecorse, Mich., by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

With an inexperienced Taiwanese crew, boiler problems and the collapse of Lock 7's west wall in the Welland Canal, the departure of SAVIC (CLIFFS VICTORY) was delayed until December 17, 1985, when she departed Chicago, Illinois, under her own power.

Paterson’s NEW QUEDOC sank at her winter moorings at Midland, Ont., on December 17, 1961, with a load of storage grain. The sinking was caused by the automatic sea valves that were accidentally opened.

The ROGERS CITY was laid up for the last time at Calcite, Mich., on December 17, 1981.

On December 17, 1955, in heavy fog, the B.F. AFFLECK collided head-on with her fleetmate HENRY PHIPPS in the Straits of Mackinac. Both vessels were damaged but were able to sail under their own power for repairs.

In 1905, the Anchor Line steamer JUNIATA was launched at the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The JUNIATA was the first large passenger boat built in Cleveland since the NORTH LAND and NORTH WEST. Today the JUNIATA exists as the National Historic Landmark MILWAUKEE CLIPPER in Muskegon, Mich.

On 17 December 1875, the steamboat JENNISON of Captain Ganoe's line, which ran between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, burned at Grand Rapids. She was laid up for the winter just below the city on the Grand River. She was insured for $12,000.

1957: The Great Lakes-built LAKE HEMLOCK foundered in Long Island Sound.

1964: The former T-2 tanker GOOD HOPE, operating as a bulk carrier, ran aground in a blizzard at Ulak Island, in the Aleutians, as d) SAN PATRICK. The ship had loaded wheat and cattle feed at Vancouver for Yokohama, Japan, and all on board perished. It had been a Seaway trader in 1962.

1972: THOMAS SCHULTE began Great Lakes trading in 1957 and returned through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) CAPE SABLE when it sank with the loss of 13 lives in a gale 100 miles west of La Corunna, Spain. The vessel was enroute from Antwerp, Belgium, to Algiers, Algeria, with general cargo when it went down.

1977: STADACONA (iii) went aground after clearing the Manitoulin Island community of Little Current with a cargo of ore pellets. The ship was stuck for several days.


The 425-foot Finnish tanker KIISLA ran aground while transiting the North Entrance of Buffalo Harbor on the 29th of December 1989. The ship was inbound with xylene for the Noco Product Terminal in Tonawanda when it strayed from the navigation channel due to reduced visibility from heavy snow squalls and grounded near the #1 green buoy of the Black Rock Canal. She was towed off the rocks by tugboats from Buffalo and then tied up at the Burnette Trucking Dock (formerly the Penn Dixie Dock) on the Buffalo River for Coast Guard inspection. A diver found a 47-inch by 5-inch crack below the waterline at the #1 ballast tank, with a large rock firmly wedged in the outer hull plating, but with no damage to the inner hull or cargo tanks. The ship was cleared to head back to Sarnia to off-load her cargo before repairs could be made.

In 1921, 94 vessels were laid up at Buffalo with storage grain when a winter gale struck. The 96 mile-per-hour winds swept 21 vessels ashore and damaged 29 others. Three weeks were required to restore order to the Buffalo waterfront.

Canada Steamship Lines NANTICOKE (Hull#218) was launched December 18, 1979, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The tug AMERICA freed the ore carrier IRVING S. OLDS in 1956, after the OLDS grounded entering the River Raisin from Lake Erie. The OLDS stuck at a 45-degree angle to the channel, while entering for winter lay up.

Canada Steamship lines GEORGIAN BAY (Hull#149) was launched during a snowstorm on December 18, 1953, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was laid up for the last time December 18, 1981, at Cleveland, Ohio.

On December 18, 1921, gale force winds drove the CARMI A. THOMPSON ashore at Buffalo, New York where she was laid up with grain for winter storage. She ended up wedged between the LOUIS W. HILL and the MERTON E. FARR. The THOMPSON was released on January 5, 1922, but required the replacement of 156 hull plates before her return to service.

The Goodrich Transit Co.’s ALABAMA (Hull#36) was launched in 1909, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. Reduced to a barge in 1961.

On 18 December 1899, 115 (steel whaleback barge, 256 foot, 1,169 gross tons, built in 1891, at Superior, Wisconsin) was carrying iron ore in a storm on Lake Huron when she broke from her tow steamer well out in the lake. She went ashore five days later at Pic Island off Thunder Bay, Ontario, and broke up. Her crew was thought to be lost, but they showed up days later after a long trek through the wilderness.

On 18 December 1959, BRIDGEBUILDER X (propeller tug, 71 foot, 46 gross tons, built in 1911, at Lorain, Ohio) foundered in a storm while enroute from Sturgeon Bay to N. Fox Island on Lake Michigan. Two lives were lost. She had been built as the fish tug PITTSBURG. In 1939, she was converted to the excursion boat BIDE-A-WEE. Then she was converted to a construction tug for the building of the Mackinac Bridge and finally she was rebuilt in 1958, as a logging tug.

1909: Ice punctured the hull of the F.A. MEYER, formerly the J. EMORY OWEN, on Lake Erie while enroute from Boyne City, Michigan, to Buffalo with a cargo of lumber. The crew was rescued by the sailors aboard MAPLETON.

1915: The canaller PRINCE RUPERT, requisitioned for World War 1 service, was lost at sea enroute from Newport News, Virginia, to Trinidad with a cargo of coal. It foundered P: 34.40 N / 74.45 W.

1932: A fire in the coal bunker of the BROWN BEAVER, laid up at Toronto with a winter storage cargo of wheat, brought the Toronto Fire Department to extinguish the blaze.

1947: The tug EMERSON was Hull 5 at the Collingwood shipyard and completed in 1903. The ship stranded at Punta Sardegna, in the Maddalena Archipelago, as f) GIULIANOVA. The hull broke in two January 8, 1948, and sank.

1950: The tug SACHEM sank in Lake Erie and all 12 on board were lost. The hull was later located, upright on the bottom. It was refloated October 22, 1951, reconditioned and returned to service. The ship became c) DEREK E. in 1990.

1962: RIDGEFIELD, a Liberty ship that visited the Great Lakes in 1961 and 1962, ran aground at the east end of Grand Cayman Island in ballast on a voyage from Maracaibo, Venezuela, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The hull was never removed and visible for years.

1968: The Canadian Coast Guard vessel GRENVILLE was trapped in an ice flow and rammed against the St. Louis Bridge along the Seaway. The crew was removed safely by stepping on to the bridge before the ship sank. It had been retrieving buoys. The hull received considerable ice damage over the winter but was refloated in June 1969, towed to Sorel and scrapped.

1975: TECUN UMAN visited the Seaway in 1969. It disappeared without a trace in heavy seas 250 miles east of Savannah, Georgia, enroute from Mobile, Alabama, to Port Cartier, Quebec, as b) IMBROS. All 22 on board were lost.

1985: FEDERAL ST. LAURENT (ii) collided with the Mercier Bridge in the Seaway with minor damage to both the ship and the structure. The vessel was scrapped at Chittagong, Bangladesh, as c) DORA in 2003.


ASHLAND was launched December 19, 1942, as the L6-S-B1 class bulk carrier a.) CLARENCE B. RANDALL (Hull #523) at Ashtabula, Ohio, by Great Lakes Engineering Works. She laid up for the last time on the same day in 1979.

ELMGLEN ran aground December 19, 1989, near Johnson’s Point in the Munuscong Channel of the St. Marys River. Downbound, loaded with grain, she had been diverted to the Munuscong Channel because of difficulties encountered by her fleet mate BEECHGLEN in the ice-clogged West Neebish Channel.

Because of the increased demand for iron ore during the Korean conflict, more ships were needed and as a consequence the yards on the Great Lakes were operating at capacity. In December 1950, the Republic Steel Corp. bought 70 percent of Nicholson-Universal stock in order to purchase ships from the surplus fleet.

On 19 December 1927, ALEXANDRIA (wooden propeller freighter, 97 foot, 201 gross tons, built in 1902, at Chatham, Ontario) burned in the harbor of Little Current, Ontario, off the Government Dock, where her remains still lay.

1959: The British freighter ALBANO, which had made three trips through the newly opened Seaway earlier in the year, ran aground at Rethymo, Crete, in heavy weather and was not refloated until December 27. It received extensive hull and engine repairs and was back on the Great Lakes in 1960.

1980: The tanker LAKESHELL (III) went aground at Telegraph Rock, near Parry Sound, due to high winds and ice. The vessel was lightered to IMPERIAL SARNIA and released December 21.

1998: SHURA KOBER first came to the Great Lakes under the flag of the USSR in 1971. The vessel went missing on the Mediterranean north of Cyprus as d) MARELIE after sending out a distress call. It disappeared with all hands.

2006: SELNES came through the Seaway in the 1980s after having been inbound as a) RISNES in 1978. The ship went aground off Stafnes, Iceland, as c) WILSON MUGGA and the crew were rescued by helicopter. It was expected to be broken up on location but was salvaged and repaired. It returned to service as d) KARIM in 2007 and became f) RAKAN M. in 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

no ships launched or lost

[yachtsmanwilly]

Cold and frozen over. A shitty day for a boat ride. ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Lake is slushy with 3 foot rollers. Dry suits required for diving. ws

[yachtsmanwilly]

Seen a few ships heading for winter layup in Sturgeon Bay chopping through the needle ice on the lake.