Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/5 - Sheboygan, Wis. – The future of a proposed shipwreck protection zone off parts of Wisconsin's east coast could be in question after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week barring the federal government from naming new National Marine Sanctuaries.

But there are still more questions than answers about how the order, aimed mainly at opening up more offshore oil and natural gas drilling, could impact efforts long underway in Wisconsin to name parts of Lake Michigan a federal sanctuary.

The order itself, signed last Friday, directs the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, “unless expressly required otherwise,” to refrain from designating or expanding protected marine sanctuary areas. There’s an exception for sites where the federal government has already conducted recent studies touching on possible energy sources in proposed sanctuaries.

Efforts to put more than 1,000 square miles of Lake Michigan, including almost all the waters off Sheboygan and Manitowoc counties, under federal sanctuary status could have wrapped up by later this year. It's not clear how directly the Trump order could impact those efforts. A Department of Commerce spokesperson told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin the order simply establishes a review process aimed at looking more closely at marine sanctuaries.

Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels was one of the first locally to point out the executive order’s potential to upend the designation efforts. In an opinion column this week, Nickels said Trump’s order “seriously threatens the possibility of designating our area as a National Marine Sanctuary.”

“This executive order is a direct blow to the work and efforts of many individuals, organizations and cities,” Nickels continued. “It’s also a direct blow to the huge potential for economic and tourist growth in our city.”

Sheboygan Mayor Mike Vandersteen said Wednesday he wasn’t familiar with details about the executive order. The city has advocated for the sanctuary designation in the past.

“We’ve already talked to our area legislators about our marine sanctuary and our desire to keep that on track,” Vandersteen said.

Federal officials have been working since 2015 to put a large swath of Lake Michigan’s waters under sanctuary status, mainly in an effort to preserve dozens of shipwrecks in the area. The effort was spurred by a request in 2014 by Gov. Scott Walker.

Some opponents have cried foul over the sanctuary proposal, and have mainly cited potential federal overreach in the sanctuary or possible impacts on local commercial fishing.

In signing the order, the White House last week said 94 percent of the country’s outer continental shelf area “are either off-limits to or not considered for oil and gas exploration and development.” That continental shelf — the portion of the ocean floor immediately off the country’s shoreline — could contain 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 327 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the White House.

Sheboygan Tribune



May 5, 1904 the Crisp Point Light on Lake Superior went into service.

WILLIAM CLAY FORD (Hull#300) was launched at River Rouge, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works, May 5, 1953, for the Ford Motor Co.

On May 5, 1980, the SHARON, a.) ARCHERS HOPE of 1945, grounded in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River. She was freed on May 7th and proceeded to Monroe, Michigan, and was laid up there on May 8, 1980. No repairs were made and she never sailed again.

On May 5, 1914, the GEORGE F. BAKER was traveling down bound in Lake Superior in dense fog with 10,500 tons of iron ore from Ashland, Wisconsin. She ran hard aground on Sawtooth Reef off Eagle River, on Upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.

May 5, 1914 - An unusual cargo, two "Jack Johnsons" (Navy guns) were hauled by the PERE MARQUETTE 17.

The small schooner ST PETER was loaded with grain when she sank 35 miles from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 5 May 1874. The crew reached shore in the yawl.

The steam barge KITTIE M. FORBES was launched in Bay City, Michigan, on 5 May 1883. She was owned by Capt. William Forbes and named for his daughter. Her keel was laid on 1 December 1882. Her dimensions were 195 feet keel, 209 foot overall, 35 foot beam and 14 foot depth. Her engine was built by Samuel F. Hodge.

On 05 May 1902, MILWAUKEE (steel propeller freighter, 325 foot, 3,327 gross tons) was launched at the Chicago Ship Building Company (Hull #55) at South Chicago, Illinois, for the Western Transit Co. She lasted until 1940, when she was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario.

1960: The coastal freighter FEDERAL EXPRESS had been built at Midland in 1944 as H.M.C.S. WEST YORK. It was hit at the dock in Montreal on this date in 1960 by the Swedish freighter POLARIS, drifted downstream and sank. The stern was raised August 12, 1960, and the remainder of the hull came up in pieces.

1964: The downbound bulk carrier ERNEST T. WEIR sustained damage to the port bow when it collided with tanker MERCURY in Lake St. Clair. The latter had sheered to the left, went aground after the accident and developed a list. Both ships were repaired and ERNEST T. WEIR survives today as the idle self-unloader AMERICAN FORTITUDE.

1978: JALAVIHAR first visited the Great Lakes in 1966 under the flag of India. It ran aground in the Red Sea as d) KATERINA on this date in 1978. After being released it continued to Palermo, Italy, where it was declared beyond economical repair and was eventually scrapped at Split, Yugoslavia.

2009: VICTORIA first came through the Seaway in September 2004. On May 5, 2009, the ship, loaded with 10,000 metric tonnes of rice and its crew of 11 Romanian sailors, were captured by pirates, about 75 miles south of Yemen and held hostage. After the payment of a reported $1.8 million ransom, the vessel was released on July 18, 2009. It was back on the Great Lakes in 2011.

[Avenger]

Kudos to President DT (hmmm, I like the sound of that) on the Marine sanctuary order. That's been a big cluster in the actual Marine world with the so-n-sos using it to shut down recreational fishing and turn commercial fishing into a big corporate game. Just another big land and money grab by the gov't.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/8 - Toronto, Ont. – For a vessel that’s older than the Titanic, it turns out the Trillium is in pretty good shape. The 107-year-old boat, the jewel of Toronto’s ferry fleet, has plied the harbour for more than a century. But for the next few weeks it will be sitting metres above the water at the mouth of the Keating Channel, having been lifted into dry dock for an inspection and repairs to make sure it’s still seaworthy.

James Dann, the city’s manager of waterfront parks, said that based on previous reports he was concerned that up to half the hull might need to be replaced due to corrosion. That likely would have blown the department’s dry dock budget of about $250,000 and left city council with a tough choice about whether to invest more money into the aging boat.

But the diagnosis from Transport Canada inspectors came back positive this week, and only about 400 square feet, or 10 per cent of the hull, will need replacement. “I’m overjoyed,” said Dann. “We love that boat.”

Read more and view photos at this link: www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/07/trillium-ferry-gets-tuned-up-after-107-years-spent-on-torontos-waterfront.html



The 1,000-foot COLUMBIA STAR was christened May 8, 1981, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for Columbia Transportation Div., Oglebay Norton Co.

EDGAR B. SPEER (Hull#908) was launched May 8, 1980, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. (U.S. Steel Corp., mgr.), after long delay because of labor strife.

FRED R. WHITE JR was christened May 8, 1979, named for Oglebay Norton's then vice-chairman of the board.

On May 8, 1979, the ASHLAND struck the north entry pier of the Duluth Ship Canal while outbound loaded. Thick ice blowing in from Lake Superior had interfered with her maneuverability. She dropped her anchor to lessen the impact but drifted over the flukes ripping a two by five foot hole in her bottom port side forward. She was inspected and repaired at the Duluth Port Terminal. One anchor was lost.

CHAMPLAIN's starboard side was damaged when she sideswiped the Swedish steamer BROLAND near the lower end of the St. Clair River cut-off, May 8, 1963.

May 8. 1936 – The Pere Marquette Railway Co. announced plans to construct a new $1 million ferry dock at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The 3-masted wooden schooner FRANK C. LEIGHTON was launched at 10:30 a.m. on 8 May 1875, at Dunford & Leighton's yard in Port Huron, eight months after work on her began. She was launched complete except for her mizzen mast, which was just about ready to go in position. She was named for Capt. Leighton's son. Her dimensions were 138 foot keel, 145 foot overall, 26 foot beam and 12 foot depth. She cost $20,000 and was owned by Dunford & Leighton.

The 254-foot wooden freighter AMAZON was launched at A. A. Turner's yard at Trenton, Michigan, on 8 May 1873.

On 08 May 1929, GEORGE W. PARKER wooden propeller sandsucker, 105 foot, 143 gross tons, built in 1903, at Marine City, Michigan by A. Anderson for Fishback Plaster Co., formerly a.) L. G. POWELL) was destroyed by fire and sank in the channel 6 miles south of Algonac, Michigan. Her crew escaped in the yawl.

1916: S.R. KIRBY was downbound in a Lake Superior storm when it was struck by two huge waves, broke its back and foundered. The composite hulled freighter sank quickly and only two of the 22 on board survived.

1918: The Norwegian freighter POLLUX came to the Great Lakes in 1907. It was torpedoed as b) DUX by U-54 about 7 miles northwest of Godrevy Lighthouse while carrying coal from Swansea, UK to LaRochelle, France.

1934: The hull of the first CANADOC was punctured when the ship went hard aground at St. Joseph's Island. The vessel was later freed, drydocked and repaired.

1938: JAMES B. FOOTE hit a dock at Chicago, under tow of the tug KANSAS, while loaded with corn for Sorel. The rudder, stock and a propeller blade were lost.

1942: The Hall Corp. canaller MONT LOUIS was torpedoed and sunk in the Caribbean by U-162 with the loss of 13 lives. Only 8 survived by clinging to the wreckage. The ship was carrying bauxite from Dutch Guiana to Trinidad when it was attacked and it sank so quickly that the lifeboats could not be launched. 1949: E.C. COLLINS and HENRY FORD II were in a collision in the St.Clair River.

1967 ELIN HOPE had been chartered to the Ontario Paper Company to carry newsprint from Baie Comeau to New York from 1950 to 1953. The ship came to the Great Lakes as b) PROCYON in 1961 and arrived at Madras, India, as c) KR ASHOK with the cargo of coal on fire on this date in 1967. The vessel settled on the bottom during firefighting operations. It was refloated May 19 and eventually scrapped at Madras in 1968.

1978: The third OUTARDE went aground in the St. Lawrence near Buoy 41-M and was not released until May 16. There was only minor damage to the ship.


ALGOPORT (Hull#217) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., May 7, 1979 for Algoma Central Railway.

HUTCHCLIFFE HALL entered service on May 7, 1954.

A.M. BYERS (Hull#448) was launched May 7, 1910 at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the North American Steamship Co. (R.A. Williams, mgr.). Renamed b.) CLEMENS A. REISS in 1959 and c.) JACK WIRT in 1970.

May 7, 1903 - The Benton Harbor, Coloma & Paw Paw Lake Railway was purchased by the Pere Marquette Railroad.

May 7, 1929 - The Pere Marquette notified Ludington it was interested in buying the frontage on Pere Marquette Lake that had been used by the Monroe Body Company. The city council asked $25,000 for the property, and the railroad agreed. Work on the No. 3 slip began a few months later.

On 7 May 1874, the schooner JENNIE MATHEWS was launched at Hardison's yard in Port Huron, Michigan. The launch started very slowly but with the help of men pulling on ropes, the vessel slid into the Black River nicely. Her first skipper was Capt. McGifford and her owner was Mr. Hardison. On 07 May 1954, official ground-breaking ceremonies were held for the Mackinac Bridge. It was completed three and a half years later.

1891: The new Canadian Pacific steamer MANITOBA, although built in 1889, had been laid up due to a recession and finally sailed on her maiden voyage on this date in 1891.

1935: A fire aboard ALEXANDER LESLIE at the port of Erieau, Ont., killed one member of the crew and injured two others.

1965: CEDARVILLE and TOPDALSFJORD collided in fog in the Straits of Mackinac. Ten lives were lost when the former, a self-unloader in the Bradley fleet, sank. The latter, a Norwegian freighter, had been a Seaway trader since 1960. Later, on May 11, 1984, as d) JIN XIAN QUAN, it sank the SEA CARRIER, another former Seaway trader as SVANEFJELL, in the Strait of Formosa off Taishan Island. TOPDALSFJORD was last noted as e) CHANGHI and was deleted from Lloyd's Register in 2005.

1998: CANADIAN ENTERPRISE loaded a record 32,366 tons of road salt at Goderich for delivery to Milwaukee.

On May 6, 1984 the CANADIAN RANGER sailed from Port Weller on her maiden voyage to load coal at Toledo, Ohio.

In 1944 the HILDA (2) and the barge MAITLAND NO.1 started the rescue operation of freighter GEORGE M. HUMPHREY (1) which sank in a collision with the D.M. CLEMSON (2) in the Straits of Mackinac.

This day in 1923 the EDWIN E. SLICK was struck by the steamer J. LEONARD REPLOGLE in the ice on Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior.

HARVEY D. GOULDER entered service on May 6, 1906.

On May 6, 1934, ROYALTON (1) helped rescue the steamer TEN, which had lost power in a Lake Superior ice field and required a tow to safety.

On May 6, 1975 while unloading iron ore at Conneaut, Ohio, a leg and bucket from No.2 Hulett gave way and fell into the RALPH H. WATSON's cargo hold. A crane was rigged to remove the wreckage. A nine by twelve foot patch was required on her port side tank, which was holed in the accident.

On 6 May 1847, CUBA (wooden schooner, 89 foot, 139 tons, built in 1844 at Peninsula, New York as a brig) was carrying wheat near Point Breeze, New York in Lake Ontario when she was run down and sunk in a collision with the steamer GENESEE CHIEF. No lives were lost.

On 6 May 1858, the bark E.S. ADAMS began her voyage from Amherstburg, Ontario to London, England with a load of walnut timber. The transatlantic portion of the voyage took only 26 days and the vessel was back on the lakes in September 1858.

EASTLAND was launched on 06 May 1903 at the Jenks Ship Building Company (Hull #25) at Port Huron, Michigan for the Michigan Steamship Company. She was christened by Mrs. Frances E. Perene.

1914: CITY OF ROME caught fire in Lake Erie and the blaze spread quickly. The vessel was run aground near Ripley, NY and the 15-member crew took to the lifeboats and rowed ashore. The 33-year old wooden freighter was a total loss.

1977: The West German freighter SUSANNE FRITZEN made 19 trips through the Seaway from 1963 through 1967. The vessel arrived at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with engine trouble as c) MARGRIT B. on this date in 1977. It remained idle and had to be towed to Piraeus, Greece, and laid up in 1978. The ship left there February 15, 1979, for the scrapyard in Barcelona, Spain.

1988: The Cypriot flag freighter PONTOKRATIS was under tow and downbound in the Little Calumet River at Chicago when the CSX railroad bascule bridge ended up across the stern cabin and pilothouse. There were no injuries and both sides launched a lawsuit. The vessel was released May 16 and continued to visit the Seaway as late as 2006. It renamed NAVIGATOR M. in 2010

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/9 - Cornwall, Ont. – A request by the state of New York to release more water from a dam in Cornwall in order to lower water levels in Lake Ontario has the agency in charge in a tricky situation. If the request is accepted, the excess water from Lake Ontario, which is nearing a record level, would be diverted to the St. Lawrence River.

That would in turn affect water levels in Lac Saint-Louis, at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, which is past its record high flood level.

Jean Aubry-Morin, a Canadian member of the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, said it's a balancing act. "We're doing everything that we can to relieve everyone – that can be quite difficult," he told CBC News.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the request to release water from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam on Tuesday. Cuomo was sympathetic to the flooding situation in Ontario and Quebec.

"In a situation like this, preparation is key and getting ahead of the situation is key. Once the damage occurs, then you're playing cleanup, so the best course is to get ahead of it and be prepared," said Cuomo on Tuesday.

The river board follows strict protocols to ensure water levels are evenly distributed on both sides of the border.

Aubry-Morin said the shared water is usually readjusted once a week, but recently it's been more like three to four times a day. He said that the board would take current water levels in Quebec into consideration before adding any water into the St. Lawrence.

Because of the snow melt and spring showers, the international board redistributes water into the appropriate body of water every year. What's abnormal about this year, Aubry-Morin says is the amount of precipitation the provinces have seen in the last six weeks.

"It's a one-in-20-year situation," he said.

CBC


5/9 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is again trying to unload its two Hulett ore unloaders, which lie disassembled and rusting on the Cleveland Bulk Terminal at Whiskey Island.

The port's latest plan for the Huletts and the terminal is reviving a nearly two-decades long battle between the port, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and some preservationists, who, thanks to a federal court decision, have leverage in how the port handles the machines.

Unless one of the parties is willing to budge, it looks like the Huletts will just continue to rust away.

Here's the brief backstory.

Four 96-foot-tall Huletts once sat like giant grasshoppers on Cleveland's lakefront. Capable of grabbing 17 tons of iron ore with a single bucket bite, they revolutionized ship unloading. The massive machines, invented by Cleveland engineer George H. Hulett, were used 1912 until 1992, when they were replaced by self-unloading ships and newer technology.

In 1999, the port's plans to raze the steel structures to make more space on the terminal - which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places - sparked a robust fight and lawsuit to save the Huletts. The port, with a permit from the Army Corps, cut up two and sold them as scrap. The port dismantled the other two Huletts and stored them on the terminal. Public officials promised that they would someday be reassembled along waterfront. In 2001, a federal judge ruled that the Army Corps failed to pay attention to the historic designation of the bulk terminal when it allowed the port to remove the machines. The ruling also said that any future related permit requests by the port must be evaluated for their impact on the historic property and be subject to input from preservationists.

The port wants to dredge the bulk terminal, which provides dock space to ships. So, it recently asked the Army Corps for a permit to do the work. The Army Corps says the permit can only be issued if "adverse effects to historic priorities are resolved and formalized" in an agreement that involves a handful of officials and preservationists, including the Committee to Save Cleveland's Huletts, now known as the non-profit Citizens' Vision.

The Army Corps has posted the proposed agreement online and is seeking feedback. It will close comments May 11.

In short, the port is proposing to form a working group with the Canalway Partners and find a place to display the bucket and leg of one Hulett at a location near the waterfront. Canalway Partners, a nonprofit that works to develop trails and parks along the Ohio & Erie Canal, has long wanted to incorporate pieces of the Huletts into a park. Canalway Partners does not support the position of some preservationists who will settle for nothing short of seeing the two Huletts fully re-assembled on waterfront. (Canalway Partners did not respond to a request to comment on the issue.)

The port is also proposing to donate a bucket and leg of one Hulett to the National Great Lakes Museum in Toledo and to create a single resource of scholarly work on railway and Hulett history.

The port's proposal gives the working group three-years to find a home for the Huletts after which the Port Authority would have discretion to move the Huletts.

This isn't the first time the port has tried to dredge waters around the terminal and move the Huletts. It made a similar proposals around 2006 and 2011 but failed to get buy in and the Army Corps did not issue a permit.

Will Friedman, the port's president and chief executive officer, said he continues to favor displaying the bucket and a leg of one Hulett near the Cuyahoga River or lakefront. But Friedman, who was not at the port when the Huletts were taken down, said reassembling the massive machines for display is not practical.

Friedman also said he disagrees with the Army Corps that dredging will impact the terminal's status as a historic site but nonetheless wants to work with Army Corps to settle the Hulett issue. But the leader of Citizens' Vision wants nothing to do with the agreement.

Ray Saikus rejects the proposal because it does not restore two Huletts to their original majesty. A mechanical engineer behind the federal lawsuit against the Army Corps, Saikus has been trying to save the Huletts for 25 years.

Saikus, who said he will fight any attempt to enact the proposed agreement, has never stopped trying to find a home for the machines or raise money to restore them. He said the cost of moving and reassembling the machines is estimated at $2 million.

Recently he pitched a bold and massive plan to the city of Cleveland that would relocate the Huletts to the Scranton Peninsula, which sits below Tower City in the Flats. His plan calls for cutting a new channel through the peninsula, which would create an island on which to re-assemble the Huletts.

Saikus said he'd also like to relocate to the peninsula the historic Steamship William G. Mather and USS Cod submarine, which are both now at North Coast Harbor and in the way of some waterfront plans. Saikus said cutting the channel (and building a new access bridge) would create a more efficient shipping channel for freighters, eliminate the need for a mile of waterway dredging, provide material to help fix collapsing Irish Town Bend and leave the city with a massive new park for recreational development.

"We are not complainers," he said. "We are here to preserve the heritage and present solutions. We see this as a win-win-win."

The Huletts remain an important and unique link to Cleveland's industrial past. Saikus' vision is exciting but looks unrealistic in the current political and economic climate. Asked about this, he said that he will consider any proposal that includes reassembling the machines in full for display on the waterfront.

At the moment, it appears that the port and preservationists are not any closer to saving the Huletts.

Cleveland.com


5/9 - Traverse City, Mich. – A Coast Guard aircrew from Air Station Traverse City returned home from supporting flood response efforts in Missouri late Sunday night. The aircrew arrived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Tuesday to support response efforts in areas that were hit hard by heavy rains and significant flooding along the Mississippi River.

While there, members of the crew conducted damage assessments and provided Congressman Jason Smith, who represents Missouri’s southeastern region, with an over flight of the affected areas. Aircraft and crews from other Coast Guard units including Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans; Detroit; and Corpus Christi, Texas, also assisted in the effort.

USCG



The JOHN J BOLAND (Hull# 417) was launched May 9, 1953 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. for the American Steamship Co. making way for the keel of the DETROIT EDISON (2) to be laid. The BOLAND was renamed b.) SAGINAW in 1999.

On May 9, 1951 the CLIFFS VICTORY arrived at the South Chicago yard of the American Ship Building Co. completing her 37-day, 3,000 mile journey from Baltimore, Maryland. There her deck houses, stack, masts, deck machinery, rudder and propeller were installed and the floatation pontoons removed.

The ROBERT C. NORTON (2) was laid up on May 9, 1980 for the last time at the Hans Hansen Dock at Toledo, Ohio.

PETER REISS (Hull#522) was launched at Superior, Wisconsin by Superior Ship Building Co., on May 9, 1910 for the North American Steamship Co. (Reiss Coal Co.).

On 9 May 1864, AMAZON (2-mast wooden brig, 93 foot, 172 tons, built in 1837 at Port Huron, Michigan as a schooner) was carrying coal from Cleveland for Lake Superior when she went out of control in a storm just as she was leaving the St. Clair River for Lake Huron. She was driven ashore near Point Edward, Ontario and was broken up by the wave action. At the time of her loss, she was considered the oldest working schooner on the Lakes.

May 9, 1900: The carferry PERE MARQUETTE (15) began carferry service to Milwaukee for the Pere Marquette Railway.

On Friday night, 9 May 1873, the schooner CAPE HORN collided with the new iron propeller JAVA off Long Point on Lake Erie. The schooner sank quickly. The only life lost was that of the cook.

On 09 May 1872, the CUBA (iron propeller bulk freighter, 231 foot, 1526 gross tons) was launched at King Iron Works in Buffalo, New York for the Holt and Ensign Commercial Line. Innovations in her design included water-tight compartments for water ballast, 4 water-tight bulkheads that could be closed if the hull were damaged, and a new fluted signal lamp that could be seen for 13 miles. She was powered by two 350 HP engines. She was a very successful vessel and lasted until 1947 when she was scrapped. She was renamed b.) IONIC in 1906 and c.) MAPLEBRANCH in 1920. Converted to a tanker in 1935. Scrapped at Sorel, Quebec in 1946-7.

1906 – The schooner ARMENIA was wrecked in Lake Erie near Colchester Reef when it began leaking in a storm while under tow of the FRED PABST on the first trip of the season. The ore-laden barge was cut loose but all on board were saved. The wreck was later struck by the CHARLES B. PACKARD on September 16, 1906, leading to the latter's demise.

1926 – While backing from the NHB Elevator in Port Colborne, the JOHN P. REISS struck the A.D. MacBETH at the dock, damaging the latter's stem.

1964 – The small ferries JOHN A. McPHAIL and JAMES CURRAN broke loose while under tow of the G.W. ROGERS and sank in a storm off the mouth of Saginaw Bay. They were en-route to Kingston from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a new service to Wolfe Island.

1974 – The coastal freighter ST. PIERRE ran aground in the old Lachine Canal at Montreal, was holed, capsized and sank. The vessel was broken up on location later in the year.

2011 – The Erie, Pa.-based passenger excursion ship VICTORIAN PRINCESS sustained major fire damage when a welding torch ignited materials in the engine room. The ship was out of the water and on blocks for maintenance work when the blaze broke out. The vessel missed the 2011 season.

[yachtsmanwilly]

1923 –H.A. ROCK of the Forest City Steamship Co. went aground in Georgian Bay. The vessel was taken to drydock where the plates were removed, re-rolled and put back. The ship was idle May 18 to June 1 and the cost was $13,707.60.

Steamer COLUMBIA (Hull#148) was launched in 1902 by the Detroit Ship Building Co., Wyandotte, Michigan. The steamer was built for day excursions between Detroit and Bob-Lo Island. The vessel has been in lay-up since September 2, 1991 at Nicholson's Terminal.

On May 10, 1981, WILLIAM J. DELANCEY entered service for Interlake Steamship Co.. She became the largest vessel on the Great Lakes at that time, and at least in the last 130 years, she has held the honor of being the largest vessel on the Great Lakes longer than any other vessel. Renamed b.) PAUL R TREGURTHA in 1990.

On 10 May 1858, LEMUEL CRAWFORD (3 mast wooden bark, 135 foot, 450 tons, built in 1855, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying wheat from Chicago to Buffalo. She ran into a heavy gale and went out of control near Pelee Passage and struck a reef 1-1/2 miles off East Sister Island in Lake Erie. She began to sink immediately and the 13 onboard scrambled up her masts and lashed themselves to her rigging. After two days, they were finally rescued by the tug R R ELIOTT out of Detroit.

May 10, 1922 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 ran aground at Green Isle. She was released with no damage.

The first Welland Canal was opened between St. Catharine's and Lake Ontario on 10 May 1828. The first vessel to navigate this route was the schooner WELLAND CANAL. This was a new vessel having been launched at St. Catharines, Ontario on 24 April 1828.

On 10 May 1898, ISAAC LINCOLN (wooden propeller freighter, 134 foot, 376 gross tons) was launched at Anderson's yard in Marine City, Michigan for A. F. Price of Freemont, Michigan and Capt. Egbert of Port Huron, Michigan. She cost $40,000. She lasted until 1931, when she was abandoned.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/11 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – U.S. Coast Guard officials confirm a float plane overturned in Soo Harbor on the American side of the St. Marys River at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday. The plane was in taxi mode when it flipped over, said U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Creighton Chong.

It is not known if the plane was getting ready to take off or if it had just landed when it flipped, nor what exactly caused it to flip. The U.S. Coast Guard was called to the scene and discovered boaters passing by had come to the pilot’s aid.

The pilot, a male, was recovered “safe, conscious and in stable condition,” Chong said. There was no one else on board. Chong said the man was being transported back to Canada by the RCMP.

The plane was towed back to the dock area near the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, where it will be lifted from the water, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Laughlin.

Soo Today


Lake Ontario, Montreal are flooded. Can the Moses-Saunders Dam help?

5/11 - Flooding continues for a second week along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway and there’s no end in sight. Many lake residents - and New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo - want more water released downstream, through the huge Moses-Saunders Dam that holds water back for the St. Lawrence Seaway. But it’s not that simple.

Tom Piekunka stands in an inch of water in his backyard in Sodus Point, N.Y. Water from Lake Ontario is still on the rise, and it's creeping closer and closer to the bright yellow two-story cottage where his family has lived for generations.

Piekunka says this is the highest he's ever seen the water, and he’s blaming the International Joint Commission, the U.S.-Canadian body that helps to oversee the Great Lakes. This year, it changed the way water levels on Lake Ontario are regulated. Piekunka says he's particularly upset because he believes all this flooding was avoidable. "It's the government that's doing this."

Piekunka isn't the only one pointing the finger at the IJC and its new plan for Lake Ontario. Residents and elected officials along the lakeshore have been calling for the plan to be scrapped.

At the center of this debate is the Moses-Saunders Power Dam — a mammoth concrete structure that stretches over half a mile across the St. Lawrence River from upstate New York to Ontario, Canada.

It was built in the 1950s, not just to generate power, but also to control two powerful bodies of water. The water flows east from the Great Lakes toward the Atlantic Ocean. And all that water – from a lake system far bigger than New England — passes through the dam.

Jacob Bruxer helps manage it. He's a water resources engineer with the Canadian government, and his job is to calculate how high the lake is and how high the river is. He uses that information to advise the board that decides how much water passes through the dam.

But figuring out how much water is in one of the largest lakes in the world can be tricky. Bruxer and his colleagues have to consider rainfall, runoff, ice melt, water coming in from tributaries, and even the rate of evaporation. These are the same variables every hydrologist considers, he says. "It's just, this is on a much bigger scale with the Great Lakes."

The water on both Lake Ontario and the lower St. Lawrence reached record highs this season, but Bruxer says that is not because of changes to the regulation plan.

What has changed, he says, "is that we've had an exceptionally wet month of April. Then, the start of May here has been exceptionally wet as well."

Because both the lake and the river were swollen with rain, it has been hard to provide relief to one area without damaging another. Hold too much water above the dam and homes along Lake Ontario shoreline get flooded. But downstream in Montreal, they’re dealing with flooding problems of their own.

Speak says releasing more water from the dam would be a disaster. “If they open up dramatically there, then we all end up swamped, millions of people down here in this part of the system. "There’s no happy solution.”

While this flooding coincided with the new lake management plan, Bruxer says there's nothing the board would have done differently if this had happened last year, under the old plan. In the meantime, the IJC is still working to minimize flooding both upstream and downstream and hoping for dryer weather.

North Country Public Radio


On May 11, 1953, the HENRY STEINBRENNER went down in Lake Superior near Isle Royale with 17 of her 31 crewmembers. The storm followed an unseasonably warm and humid stretch of weather in northern Minnesota for that time of year, which fueled the storm's fast growth. The high temperature of 87 degrees set in Grand Marais, Minnesota on May 8, 1953, still stands as that town's all-time record high for the month of May, and it is just eight degrees shy of the town's all-time record for any month.

The 144 foot, 3-mast, wooden bark JESSE HOYT was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan, by Smith & Whitney on 11 May 1854. Later in her career, she was converted to a schooner and lasted until 1896, when she sank in Lake Michigan in a collision.

The A. WESTON (wooden steam barge, 164 foot, 511 gross tons) left Mount Clemens, Michigan on her maiden voyage on 11 May 1882. She was built by William Dulac. Her hull was painted black. She was powered by a single 28 inch x 32 inch engine and she was designed for the lumber trade. She was sold Canadian in 1909, and was renamed CONGERCOAL. She lasted until she burned to a total loss at Fair Haven, New York on 10 May 1917.

On 11 May 1886, OSSIFRAGE (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 123 foot, 383 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #26) at West Bay City, Michigan. She was rebuilt a number of times and ended her days on salt water. While being towed in the Northumberland Strait in the Atlantic Ocean, she struck a shoal and foundered in September 1919.

1934 – KEYBAR ran aground above the Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie and was stuck for 12 hours. Part of the cargo of grain was lightered before the ship floated free. The vessel was scrapped at Port Dalhousie in 1963.

1945 – MOYRA began Great Lakes trading in 1931. It was owned by the Government of Newfoundland when fire broke out in the St. Lawrence east of Quebec City on this date in 1945. The ship was beached off Ile d'Orleans and was heavily damaged. The vessel was rebuilt at Montreal and sold to Norwegian interests as b) HEIKA returning to the Great Lakes in 1953. It also visited as c) MARISCO in 1957 and foundered in the Gulf of Laconia, Greece, while en route from Varna, Bulgaria, to Genoa, Italy, with iron ore on October 20, 1959.

1974 – While outbound in the Cuyahoga River, a fire broke out aboard the GEORGE D. GOBLE. The Kinsman Lines bulk carrier was docked and the blaze was extinguished with about $2,500 in damage.

1987 – LONDON FUSILIER, an SD-14, was a year old when it first came through the Seaway in 1973. Fire broke out in #5 hold while unloading at Hamburg, West Germany, as c) HER LOONG on this date in 1987 resulting in extensive damage. The ship was towed to Valencia, Spain, in July 1987 and scrapped.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series. The Detroit Free Press and the Duluth Evening Herald.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit medically evacuated a man experiencing a life-threatening illness aboard a cargo vessel in lower Lake Erie near Marblehead, Ohio, Wednesday afternoon.

At 3 p.m., the Joseph H. Thompson notified a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit that a crewmember was suffering symptoms of a life-threatening condition aboard the vessel and needed immediate medical attention.

After consulting with a Coast Guard flight surgeon, a rescue air crew launched from Air Station Detroit in an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a rescue boat crew launched from Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, aboard a 45-foot response boat. An emergency medical technician traveled with the response boat, boarded the cargo vessel with the crew, and was able to better assess the man.

Once on scene with the cargo vessel, the aircrew hoisted the man into the helicopter then transported him to Firelands Regional Medical Center in Sandusky, Ohio. The man was last known to be in stable condition.

USCG


5/12 - Spring cargo numbers from the St. Lawrence Seaway and U.S. ports are signaling a better year for Great Lakes-Seaway shipping. According to the latest figures from the St. Lawrence Seaway, total cargo shipments via the Seaway from the start of the shipping season (March 20 through April 30) reached 3.7 million metric tons, up 8 percent from the same period a year ago.

“It’s still very early in the season, but we’re optimistic that 2017 will be a better year for Great Lakes-Seaway shipping,” said Bruce Burrows, president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce.

“U.S. iron ore pellet exports to Japan and China that started in the fourth quarter have continued this spring, while U.S. grain shipments remain relatively in line with last year’s strong performance. Road salt volumes are also up over 2016 levels as municipalities replenish their stockpiles throughout the region,” he added.

Year-to-date iron ore shipments via the St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 800,000 metric tons, up 70 percent over 2016 levels, with Canadian domestic carriers loading U.S. iron ore pellets at Minnesota ports/docks to ship to Quebec, where the cargo is then transferred to larger ocean-going vessels for onward transport to Asia. Salt shipments via the Seaway (from March 20 to April 30) totaled 432,000 metric tons, up 20 percent over the same period in 2016.

U.S. Great Lakes ports are also reporting a solid start to spring operations.

“Actually, it seems like the 2016 shipping season never really ended,” said John Loftus, Executive Director of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. “With the mild weather that we experienced, barge loads of steel continued in January and February with both domestic and Canadian shipments.”

Dean Haen, director for the Port of Green Bay, said “the 2017 shipping season started early and strong with increases in cement, coal, salt and petroleum products.” Through April, the Port of Green Bay has seen a 31 percent increase in total domestic imports compared to 2016, largely due to the shipments of coal and cement. “We’ve also seen a strong increase in foreign imports thanks to additional salt shipments from Canada,” Haen added.

Joseph Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, said “With 1.75 million short tons handled through April, iron ore and grain shipments are leading the way. A lot of people think that the port is idle during the winter months but that is certainly not the case. We were receiving iron ore vessels well into January and we started right back up again in March. Activity never stops at Toledo’s 19 active marine terminals. When vessel activity pauses, the facilities are busy handling rail cars and trucks and preparing for their next vessel.”

At the Port of Cleveland, there’s cautious optimism moving forward. “The Port of Cleveland began the 2017 shipping season with lighter volumes than April last year, but vessel traffic will increase significantly in May,” said Jade Davis, the port’s Vice-President – External Affairs. “The Cleveland-Europe Express began its 4th year of service with three vessel calls in April and volume will continue to build in the coming months. Cleveland Bulk Terminal, now managed by Logistec, moved almost 300,000 tons of cargo in April, with further volume expected as we move toward the summer months.”

Chamber of Marine Commerce


5/12 - The International Joint Commission is increasing the St. Lawrence River flow at the dam in Massena. The IJC regulates water levels on the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. It's releasing more water at the Moses-Saunders Power Dam to get a grip on the high water problem, but it's not releasing as much water as it normally would.

On Wednesday, the flow was increased to 7,000 cubic meters of water per second. That's more than the IJC has been able to release since flooding began. The average for this time of year is 7,500 cubic meters per second.

Officials say more water is being released now because levels are going down on the Ottawa River downstream. Officials say it's a balancing act to protect both sides of the dam as much as possible.

NYTV


The CABOT (Hull#649) was launched May 12, 1965, at Lauzon, Quebec by Davie Shipbuilding Ltd., for Gulf Ports Steamship Co. Ltd. (Clarke Steamship Co. Ltd., mgr.). In 1983, the CABOT's stern was attached to the bow section of the NORTHERN VENTURE to create the CANADIAN EXPLORER.

The THOMAS WALTERS, American Shipbuilding, Lorain (Hull#390) entered service on May 12, 1911, with coal from Sandusky, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota. Renamed b.) FRANK R. DENTON in 1952, she was scrapped at Ashtabula, Ohio in 1984.

The carferry GRAND HAVEN was sold to the West India Fruit & Steamship Co., Norfolk, Virginia on May 12, 1946, and was brought down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana for reconditioning before reaching Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach, Florida.

On 12 May 1875, the scow-schooner SEA BIRD of Chicago was driven onto the beach a half-mile south of the harbor at Holland, Michigan by a Northeaster. After the storm, she was high and dry on the beach.

The wooden J.S. SEAVERNS stranded near Michipicoten Island on Lake Superior on 12 May 1884. She had been carrying passengers from Chicago to Port Arthur. She was pulled free by a tug, but then sank. She was formerly a steam barge, being built on the bottom of the side-wheel tug JOHN P. WARD in Saugatuck, Michigan in 1880. The WARD dated back to 1857, had burned in 1865, was then rebuilt as a schooner, and in 1880, was finally rebuilt as the SEAVERNS.

1975 – The tug TARA HILL was damaged by a fire set by vandals at New Orleans. This vessel had operated on the Great Lakes as NORTHERN, CHARLES R. RANDLE SR., HELEN HINDMAN, SUSAN HINDMAN and HERBERT A. Lloyds notes “continued existence in doubt” in 1997, but the hull was likely dismantled much earlier.

1978 – PHOTINIA ran aground off Milwaukee in rough seas and the crew was rescued. The ship was refloated but declared a total loss. It was towed to various Lake Michigan ports in the next two years and was eventually dismantled at Kewaunee, Wis., in 1981.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 15 May 1901, the GILCHRIST (Hull #603) (steel propeller freighter, 356 foot. 3,871 gross tons) was launched at the West Bay City Ship Building Co. in West Bay City, Michigan, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She lasted until 1943, when she was sunk in a collision on Lake Superior.

On May 15, 1997, the "This Day in History" feature started on this web site.

The PHILIP R. CLARKE, first of the AAA class of vessel, began her maiden voyage from Lorain, Ohio, on this date in 1952.

After extensive renovation at Fraser Shipyard, the IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain, Ohio.

On May 15, 1971, the STONEFAX was sold and was scrapped at Santander, Spain.

On 15 May 1854, GARDEN CITY (wooden passenger/package side-wheeler, 218 foot, 657 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing from Chicago to the Soo in a storm when she went on Martin Reef, west of Detour, Michigan, and was wrecked. Her passengers were picked up by the steamer QUEEN CITY.

May 15, 1992 -- The BADGER was rededicated and began a new career as a non-railroad carferry.

At 3:30 a.m., 15 May 1874, the tug TAWAS came along side of the schooner ZACH CHANDLER several miles off shore from Sand Beach, Michigan on Lake Huron. The boiler of the TAWAS exploded and she sank. Capt. Robinson, 2nd Engineer Dyson, Firemen Thomas Conners and James McIntyre, and Lookout Dennis Burrow were all on the tug and died in the explosion. The blast tore the CHANDLER's sails and rigging, and caused the death of one of her officers when he was struck on the head by a flying piece of debris. The CHANDLER drifted away in the heavy seas, but returned to pick up five survivors from the water. The TAWAS was built at Vicksburg, Michigan by Myron Williams in 1864. Her dimensions were 95-foot x 18-foot, 6-inches x 8-foot, 6-inches. She carried the two old engines from the tug BLISH, which when new were 11-1/2 inches x 20 inches, but having been bored out several times, were 15 inches x 20 inches at the time of the explosion. Her boiler was built by Mr. Turnbull of Corunna, Ontario.

1907 – SAXON ran aground near Caribou Island, Lake Superior, and dumped about 1,000 tons of ore overboard before being released. The ship went to the Atlantic in 1918 and was scrapped at Copenhagen, Denmark, as c) ANNE JENSEN in 1927.

1923 – PERE MARQUETTE 4 and PERE MARQUETTE 17 collided in fog off Milwaukee and the former sustained severe damage above the waterline and was laid up.

1929 – RALPH BUDD stranded at Saltese Point, near Eagle Harbor, Mich., and was abandoned to the underwriters. The grain-laden vessel was released by Reid and sold to Canadian interests. It was scrapped at Hamilton as b) L.A. McCORQUODALE of the Upper Lakes Shipping fleet in 1966.

1963 – LOBIVIA, WESTMOUNT and ROGERS CITY were in a three-way collision in the St. Clair River at Port Huron but there was only minor damage.

1967 – GOLDEN HIND was loaded with grain when it stranded off Cassidy Point, Lake Erie, and was holed in the forward compartment.

1968 – The stern cabins of HOMER D. WILLIAMS were damaged from a collision with WHEAT KING in the St. Marys River and this ship was repaired at Lorain. The latter vessel received bow damage that was repaired at Port Weller.

1972 – The Dutch freighter COLYTTO first came through the Seaway in 1963 and made 8 trips to the end of 1966. It was swept ashore by a typhoon near the mouth of the Limpopo River off the coast of Mozambique as b) CAPE NERITA on this date in 1972. All on board were rescued but the ship was abandoned on the beach as it was not feasible to dig the ship out by a canal. The nearest road was 25 miles away so the hull was not scrapped either.

1999 – The former sandsucker NIAGARA II was scuttled as an attraction to divers off Tobermory, ON.


On 14 May 1881, CITY OF ROME (wooden propeller freighter, 268 foot, 1,908 gross tons) was launched by Thomas Quayle & Sons in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the largest vessel on the Lakes when she was launched. She lasted until 1914, when she burned near Ripley, New York on Lake Erie.

On May 14, 1959, the SHENANGO II and the HERBERT C. JACKSON both entered service. While the vessels have been fleet mates since 1967, the SHENANGO II was built by the Shenango Furnace Company. She operates today as the c.) HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR, renamed last spring.

On May 14, 1943, the THOMAS WILSON entered service as the first of the sixteen vessels in the "Maritime" class.

The HOCHELAGA's self-unloading boom was installed on the RICHARD REISS, which had lost her boom April 13, 1994, when it collapsed at Fairport, Ohio. The REISS’ replacement boom was installed on May 14, 1994 by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd.

BLACK HAWK (wooden schooner, 98 foot, 178 gross tons) was launched in East Saginaw, Michigan on 14 May 1861. Thomas A. Estes was her builder. She was active until abandoned in the Kinnickinnic River at Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1908. On 13 October 1913, she was filled with flammable material and burned off Milwaukee as a public spectacle for the Perry Centennial Celebration.

On May 14, 1905, the new Anchor Line passenger steamer JUNIATA made her maiden voyage from the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan. Sailing under the command of Capt. Edward J. Martin she left Cleveland at 7:05 in the morning and arrived at Detroit shortly before 4. On board, in addition to several officials of the line was her designer, Frank E. Kirby. Detroiters were treated to the sight of seeing both the JUNIATA and TIONESTA together for the first time as TIONESTA was loading for Duluth, Minnesota when the JUNIATA arrived from Cleveland and tied up alongside her older sister. The JUNIATA later departed for Chicago where her furnishings were installed.

On 14 May 1861, COMET (wooden side-wheeler, 174 foot. 337 gross tons, built in 1848, at Portsmouth, Ontario) collided with the 2-mast wooden schooner EXCHANGE, ten miles off Nine-Mile Point on Lake Ontario. Then an explosion rocked the COMET and she was destroyed by fire 2 or 3 lives were lost, but the survivors reached Simcoe Island in a lifeboat.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., May 14, 1900. - The tug W.A. ROOTH of the Great Lakes Towing company fleet was caught between the barge JOHN A. ROEBLING and the steamer HENRY C. FRICK in the American canal last night and sunk. The crew escaped without injury. The tug was towing the barge ROEBLING out of the canal and in some manner got between the ROEBLING and the big steamer FRICK. Her sides were crushed in and she went down immediately in twenty feet of water.

1917 – SAXONA and PENTECOST MITCHELL collided head-on in the St. Marys River near Detour and both ships sank with their bows locked together. The former was refloated and repaired as LAKETON while the latter was also salvaged and remained in the U.S. Steel fleet.

1921 – The barge MIZTEC broke loose of the steamer ZILLAH in a storm and sank with all hands in Lake Superior northeast of Vermilion Point.

1952 – JAMES NORRIS began her sailing career, loading a cargo of grain at Fort William.

1991 – The Yugoslavian bulk carrier MALINSKA ran aground off Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario, while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of steel coils. It was lightered and released. The ship had been a Seaway trader since 1987 and now sails in the Algoma fleet as c) ALGOMA DISCOVERY.


The tanker GEMINI (Hull#746) was launched at Orange, Texas by Levingston Ship Building Co. in 1978, for Cleveland Tankers Inc., a subsidiary of Ashland Oil. Renamed b.) ALGOSAR in 2005.

The tanker JUPITER made her maiden voyage May 13, 1976 from Smith's Bluff, Texas loaded with lube oil bound for Marcus Hooks, Penn. She was destroyed after exploding in the Saginaw River on September 16, 1990.

On May 13, 1913, Pittsburgh Steamship's THOMAS F. COLE collided with the barge IRON CITY on Lake St. Clair. The barge was cut in two.

Delivered May 13, 1943, THOMAS WILSON departed under the command of Captain Henry Borgen on her maiden voyage from Lorain, Ohio, bound for Duluth, Minnesota, to load iron ore.

The green-hulled schooner EMMA C. HUTCHINSON was launched at 4 p.m. on 13 May 1873, at the E. Fitzgerald yard in Port Huron. She was the largest vessel built at that yard up to that time. She was named for the wife of Mr. J. T. Hutchinson of Cleveland. Her dimensions were 195foot keel, 215 feet overall, 35 foot beam, 14 foot depth, 736 tons. She cost $55,000. Frank Leighton was her builder and Matthew Finn the master fitter. She was outfitted by Swan's Sons of Cleveland. Her painting was done by Ross & Doty of Port Huron.

On 13 May 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that someone had stolen the schooner ANNIE FAUGHT and that John Hoskins, the owner, was offering a reward for her recovery.

May 13, 1898 - The steamer JOHN ERICSSON, having in tow the barge ALEXANDER HOLLEY, bound down with ore, went aground while making the turn at the dark hole in little Mud Lake. She is on a sand bottom. Tugs and lighters have gone to release her. When the steamer grounded the barge ran into her, damaging the latter's bow and causing a large hole above the water line on the starboard side of the ERICSSON. Both were repaired temporarily.

On 13 May 1871, NORTHERNER (wooden barge, 220 foot, 1,391 gross tons) was launched by Capt. Wescott at Marine City, Michigan. Her master builder was John J. Hill. She was towed to Detroit to be fitted out and there was talk of eventually converting her to a passenger steamer. She remained a barge until 1880, when she was converted to a propeller freighter in Detroit. She lasted until 1892, when she burned at L'anse, Mich.

1914 – The package freight carrier CITY OF OTTAWA was upbound in the Cornwall Canal when it sheered over and struck the downbound S.N. PARENT on the port side at #2 hatch. The former was part of Canada Steamship Lines but was best known as the INDIA of the Anchor Line.

1915 – VALCARTIER and A.W. OSBORNE collided in Lake Huron above Corsica Shoal.

1933 – CALGARIAN, en route from Toronto to Montreal with automobiles and general cargo, stranded at Salmon Point in Lake Ontario, and was refloated two days later. 1943 – The caustic soda tanker DOLOMITE 4 was in and out of the Great Lakes via the New York State Barge Canal system. The vessel was torpedoed and sunk by U-176 off the north coast of Cuba on the date in 1943 as b) NICKELINER.


5/14 - For the first half of the 20th century, the dream of harnessing the St. Lawrence River to the twin ends of large-vessel transport and hydroelectric generation must have seemed as timeless and enduring as the mighty waterway itself.

On both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, politicians had talked about building a navigable artery into the “heart of the continent,” where much of the population lived, for 50 years and more.

Presidents and prime ministers came and went. Engineering reports and feasibility studies piled up. Until finally an agreement was reached. And, for five years starting in 1954, construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project got done.

As the 150th anniversary of Confederation is marked this year, one of the achievements in which Canada can take pride is a project (now pretty much taken for granted) variously described over the years as the “8th wonder of the world,” “the greatest construction show on Earth,” and “a study in politics and diplomacy.”

If it was, famously, the longest-running unresolved issue in Canada-U.S. relations, it also remains the largest navigable inland waterway in the world, the largest frontier project jointly undertaken by two countries, and a heroically large infrastructure project.

As Carleton Mabee wrote in 1961 in his book The Seaway Story, conquering the shoals, currents, shallows and rapids meant expropriating land, “lifting bridges, moving houses, railways and factories out of the way; it meant building canals, dikes, dams and locks; it meant re-planning old towns and creating entirely new towns . . .”

Read more and view photos at this link: www.thestar.com/news/canada-150/2017/05/13/canada-150-how-the-st-lawrence-seaway-changed-the-channel.html


Great Lakes shipping season off to a solid start

5/14 - Duluth, Minn. – The Great Lakes shipping season is off to a solid start in 2017, thanks to a mild winter and an upsurge in iron ore exports. The latest figures from the St. Lawrence Seaway indicate that total cargo shipments via the Seaway during the first six weeks of the shipping season were up 8 percent from the same period a year ago. The season began March 20.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority is seeing that trend with increased vessel traffic in Duluth and Superior, Wis., said spokeswoman Adele Yorde. Final April tonnage numbers are not available yet, she said, but show a similar upswing in several commodities.

“With the light ice season at this end of the lakes, we were really able to get started right on schedule,” she said. “We had some strong grain [shipments] through here already this spring, but in March particularly it was iron ore that was up significantly,” Yorde said, running 45 percent more than last year for that time period.

Bruce Burrows, president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, a binational industry group, said that U.S. iron ore pellet exports to Japan and China that started in the fourth quarter have continued this spring.

Year-to-date iron ore shipments via the St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 800,000 metric tons, he said, up 70 percent over 2016 levels during the same time.

The taconite pellets are typically loaded onto U.S. or Canadian domestic carriers at Minnesota ports and shipped to Quebec, where the cargo is transferred to larger oceangoing vessels for transport to Asia.

Road salt shipments via the Seaway between March 20 and April 30 totaled 432,000 metric tons, officials said, up 20 percent over the same period in 2016.

“Actually, it seems like the 2016 shipping season never really ended,” said John Loftus, executive director of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. “With the mild weather that we experienced, barge loads of steel continued in January and February with both domestic and Canadian shipments.”

Overall on the Great Lakes, shipments were down about 4.5 percent in 2016, the report said. Iron ore began to pick up toward the end of the year as mining and steel production increased, but coal shipments fell by more than 26 percent.

Low natural gas prices and retirement of coal-fired power plants, especially in Canada, have caused western coal sent through Duluth to fall dramatically during the past several years.

Coal, grain and iron ore are the three largest commodity groups shipped from the Twin Ports each year, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s records. In 2016, about 30 million tons of products moved to and from Duluth and Superior on 707 vessels, a decrease of nearly 8.5 percent compared to 2015.

“We’re all cautiously optimistic at this end that this is going to be a stronger year based on how the year started,” Yorde said.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

5/15 - A breakdown in the flight locks stopped traffic for about 22 hours from 3:30 p.m. Saturday to about 1 p.m. on Sunday. Traffic was limited to the west side locks only. The Federal Cedar was delayed in Lock 5 from about 1:50 p.m. Saturday until 8 p.m. Sunday.

[yachtsmanwilly]

radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/index_loop.php

www.intellicast.com/National/Precipitation/Daily.aspx

forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Two+Rivers&state=WI&site=GRB&textField1=44.1523&textField2=-87.5857#.WRrSFeGGM2z

forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=43.4100107&lon=-86.34867919999999&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Whitehall%2C%20MI%2C%20USA#.WRrSK-GGM2z

forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.6789893&lon=-73.41706729999998&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Amityville%2C%20NY%2C%20USA#.WRrSO-GGM2z

forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=27.7980814&lon=-82.79732469999999&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Madeira%20Beach%2C%20FL%2C%20USA#.WRrSTuGGM2z

[yachtsmanwilly]

Too many Quaaludes last night Hahahahaha! ws

5/16 - The CCGS Tracy has been sold to Groupe Ocean and officially renamed Ocean Tracy, according to the Transport Canada register of Canadian ships. She remains docked at the Prescott Coast Guard base, but work has been underway to prepare her for a trip down the river.

On 16 May 1894, the SHENANDOAH (wooden propeller freighter, 308 foot, 2,251 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #60) in West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1924, when she was abandoned.

CANADIAN PROSPECTOR passed upbound in the Welland Canal May 16, 1979, with Labrador ore bound for Ashtabula, Ohio. This was her first trip after being reconstructed.

W. R. WOODFORD (Hull#626) was launched May 16, 1908, at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for W. A. & M.A. Hawgood. Renamed b.) N.F. LEOPOLD 1911, and c.) E. J. BLOCK in 1943. She was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario, arriving in 1998.

IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin, on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain. On May 16, 1981, having departed Duluth in 35 mph winds and 10-foot seas, the CLYMER began taking on water in her ballast tanks. She returned to Duluth, and was quickly repaired.

On May 16, 1972, in dense fog, the ROBERT HOBSON struck the Peerless Cement dock at Port Huron, Michigan when her bow was caught by the strong current at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Damage to the hull was estimated at to $100,000.

In 1985, the steamer PONTIAC was towed down the Welland Canal by the Mc Keil tugs GLENEVIS, ARGUE MARTIN and STORMONT bound for Quebec City. She would later be scrapped in Spain.

The tug B. W. ALDRICH burned at Ludington, Michigan, on 16 May 1874. The damage was estimated at $5,000 and she was rebuilt.

May 16, 1997 - The BADGER's planned first voyage of 1997 was delayed for one day because of a faulty boiler tube.

E. W. OGLEBAY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 375 foot. 3,666 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #114) at West Bay City, Michigan, on 16 May 1896. She lasted until she stranded on Shot Point, 10 miles east of Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior, during a heavy northeast gale and blizzard, on December 8, 1927. Shortly afterwards the hull was gutted by fire and declared a constructive total loss. The hull was removed, partially scrapped, and used as dock at Drummond Island, Michigan.

1905 – The second THOMAS W. PALMER, a composite bulk carrier, collided with HARVARD of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company off Stannard Rock, Lake Superior in dense fog and was nearly cut in two. The crew was able to walk to safety aboard HARVARD before their ship sank.

1919 – D.R. HANNA sank in Lake Huron 6 miles off Thunder Bay Light after a collision with the QUINCY A. SHAW. All hands were saved but the sinking of the grain laden 552-foot freighter was the largest insurance loss on the lakes to that time. The hull has been located upside down in 90 feet of water.

1941 – The Norwegian freighter REINUNGA began Great Lakes visits in 1926 and was forced to spend the winter of 1932-1933 at Dain City along the Welland Canal. The vessel, which dated from 1902, was bombed and sunk by German aircraft as d) KYTHERA at Suda Bay, Crete, on this date in 1941.

1962 – ARGENTEUIL, a former Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender, was rebuilt as a coastal freighter in 1961. It sank in the St. Lawrence near Lauzon, QC, with the loss of 3 lives on this date in 1962.

1975 – MANCHESTER RAPIDO provided a container shuttle service in the Seaway beginning in 1971, went aground off Pasajes, Spain, on March 15, 1975, and then sank. The hull was refloated May 16, 1975, for repairs and a return to service. 1987 – MARIA ANNA SCHULTE first came inland in 1958. It ran aground as e) LUCKY VIRGIN off San Andras Island, Colombia, while en route from Colon, Panama, to Aruba in 1974 and had to be abandoned as a total loss.