Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/6 - Ontonagon, Mich. – It has been nine years since a lake ship unloaded cargo on the Ontonagon dock. That hiatus was to have ended Sunday as the lake freighter Michipicoten was scheduled to pull into the harbor and unload 16,500 tons of road construction materials.

Over the past nine years, the state of Michigan has spent money on studies to revitalize the harbor. Last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took depth soundings in the harbor but have not yet returned this year. Lost Bowl Development — owner of the former paper mill property — and the Ontonagon County Economic Development Corporation had worked together for months to make the arrangements for the shipment.

Lost Bowl President Pat Tucker said the 698-foot-long, 70-foot-wide freighter arrived at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. “Lake Superior conditions were excellent,” Tucker said.

But after four attempts to enter the river to the EDC dock, the ship was unable to do so. Tucker explained that, as the ship entered the river it hit a row of just 17-foot draft and could not get over that area. “The ship needs 21 feet of draft and it appears all the rest of the river was fine except for that small area,” Tucker said.

He continued that he does not know if the row is a residual from dredging only one half of the river, the result of a bad storm or if the original soundings by the Army Corps was wrong.

The Michipicoten made the attempts until 3:30 Sunday morning. Tucker said the shipper is still interested in bringing in items to the port. “We were anticipating receiving two to four ships in the harbor this summer,” Tucker said.

Sue Preiss, president of the Ontonagon EDC, and Tucker said they were “very disappointed,” the ship couldn’t dock. The only revenue the EDC receives is from ships using the dock and since the last ship was in 2008, the corporation has operated on a shoestring budget.

Preiss and Tucker commented that the state spent “a lot of money” over a period of several months hiring teams from units of education and government in the state and meeting with citizens on how to “revitalize the harbor.” Both indicated it will be up to the state to decide if these efforts were just a study or if they are serious enough to take the next step to enable the area to again receive shipments through the harbor.

It is expected the EDC will meet with the village and Lost Bowl to take the next step.

YourDailyGlobe.com



Lawmakers tour Soo Locks after unveiling legislation promoting building a new lock

6/6 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – It's been talked about since the 1980s, but now more than ever lawmakers are pushing to build another super lock in Sault Ste. Marie. With a lot of talk, but not much action, it's left many in Northern Michigan wondering if the project will finally move forward.

In 1986 a new lock was authorized on the site of the unused Sabin and Davis Locks. Some funds were finally appropriated in 2009 for prep work which included dredging the locks. A flawed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that falsely said there were other ways for goods to be transported if the locks were to go down brought the project to a halt.

"We want to speed this along. We don't need yet another study. We want the money invested in building a new lock. So, that's step number one," Congressman Fred Upton said.

Money was appropriated for the Army Corps to do a new benefit-cost study they are in the process of completing. Last Thursday, lawmakers unveiled the new Soo Locks Modernization Act they plan to introduce to put them one step ahead when the study is done. Friday, they toured the locks.

Read more and view a video at this link: www.9and10news.com/story/35578728/lawmakers-tour-soo-locks-after-unveiling-legislation-promoting-building-a-new-lock



Erosion threatens historic Sleeping Bear Dunes lighthouse, $1M fix needed

6/6 - Leland, Mich. – The last few years have been rough on the shoreline ringing the South Manitou Island Lighthouse, just off the mainland of Michigan's iconic Sleeping Bear Dunes.

A combination of strong storms, punishing wave action and high water levels have worsened the erosion on the island's southeast side, threatening to undercut the fog signal building and - if not fixed quickly - its stately old lighthouse.

This spring, engineers determined the erosion had eaten the shoreline within 20 feet of the fog signal building, and is about 45 feet away from the historic lighthouse itself.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/erosion_threatens_historic_sle.html



On 06 June 1891, BAY CITY (wooden propeller freighter, 152 foot, 372 gross tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan) burned to a total loss while being repaired at the foot of Rivard Street in Detroit, Michigan. She was loaded with 300,000 feet of white pine lumber at the time. Her watchman reported the fire during the night and firemen thought they had it out, but it re-ignited and the vessel burned to a total loss. This ship had previously burned 20 years before on 10 April 1871, when she was on her first trip of the season after being rebuilt over the winter. Then she caught fire and burned nearly to the waterline but was rebuilt again and lasted until this last fire in 1891.

On 06 June 1917, ISABELLA J. BOYCE (wooden propeller sandsucker, 138 foot, 368 gross tons, built in 1889, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin as a freighter) grounded on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie and then was destroyed by fire. No lives were lost.

In 1944, the C-4 bulk carrier MARINE ROBIN participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. In 1952, after conversion into a bulk freighter she began service in the lakes for M.A. Hanna Co., as b.) JOSEPH H. THOMPSON. She serves today as a tug barge combination created from the sections of the original vessel.

E.B. BARBER (Hull#111) of the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., entered service on June 6, 1953, for Algoma Central Railway Ltd.

In 1953, ARMCO (Hull#870) began her maiden voyage from Lorain, Ohio, for the Columbia Transportation Div., bound for Superior, Wisconsin, to load iron ore.

On June 6, 1959, ADAM E. CORNELIUS (Hull#) 424) began her maiden voyage for the American Steamship Co., from Manitowoc, Wisconsin. This was the last Great Lakes vessel constructed with telescoping hatch covers. Sold Canadian and converted to a barge she was renamed b.) CAPT. EDWARD V. SMITH in 1988, and c.) SEA BARGE ONE in 1991 and d.) SARAH SPENCER in 1996.

Upper Lakes Shipping's POINTE NOIRE was in collision with Cleveland Tanker's SATURN on June 6, 1977, near Fighting Island in the Detroit River.

On 6 June 1869, ASA COVELL (wooden propeller tug, 20 gross tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York) was towing the brig IROQUOIS up the Cuyahoga River at Cleveland when her boiler exploded and she sank. Her captain was killed when the pilothouse was blown into the river.

On 6 June 1883, HERCULES (wooden schooner-barge, 139 foot, 195 tons, built in 1867, at Algonac, Michigan) was upbound in the south bend of the St. Clair River near Algonac, Michigan when the CLARION (iron propeller package freighter, 240 foot, 1,711 gross tons, built in 1881, at Wyandotte, Michigan) overtook her and collided with her in broad daylight. HERCULES drifted to the bank, capsized and sank. No lives were lost.

1956: NEWBRUNDOC ran aground at Densmore Bay on the southeast side of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence after straying out of the channel in fog. The ore-laden vessel, enroute from Contrecoeur to Buffalo, was released the next day.

1964: The Norwegian freighter FRO made 10 trips through the Seaway from 1961 to 1965. It ran aground at Milwaukee after loading 7500 tons of scrap for France on June 6, 1964, and was lightered to the YANKCANUCK before being refloated June 9.

1967: FRANKCLIFFE HALL ran aground off Hare Island, Lake Superior in dense fog and received heavy damage to bottom plates. The ship was lightered and released June 9 and went to the Davie shipyard for repairs. This vessel was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, as HALIFAX in 2011.

1967: AUGUSTUS B. WOLVIN struck the bank of the Welland Canal and grounded. A subsequent survey of the damage at Port Weller Dry Docks revealed it was not worth the cost of repairs and the ship was laid up and sold for scrap.

1982: ALGOSEA (i) rammed the west pier at Port Weller entering the Welland Canal in fog turning the bulbous bow by 90 degrees. The damaged ship was allowed to go to Thunder Bay for repairs. It became c) SAUNIERE later in 1982 and was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Two Rivers, Wisconsin?

Detroit Corps office receives more than $16.5 million in recently approved Work Plan

6/7 - Detroit, Mich - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District announced additions to its fiscal year 2017 program based on the recently approved Work Plan.

The additional $16.5 million will be used in 2017 to repair breakwaters, dredge harbors, repair critical components at the Soo Locks and complete various projects and studies throughout the Great Lakes.

"These Work Plan funds will help address the most critical needs in six of our harbors around the Great Lakes,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Sugrue, district engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. “We construct, maintain and operate key infrastructure projects that are crucial to the Nation’s economy, environment, safety and quality of life, now and in the future.”

The work plan was developed when Congress appropriated additional funding for ongoing work in the fiscal year 2017 Energy & Water Development Appropriations Act as contained in the 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Corps developed an allocation plan for high priority work packages based on the criteria established by Congress.

In addition to the projects being completed from the 2017 President’s budget of $67.5 million, the Detroit District’s work plan increase of $16.5 million includes four dredging projects and eight repair, replacement, or construction projects. In addition, the work plan includes design funding for two environmental projects.

Additional work that will be executed as a result of the fiscal year 2017 work plan includes the following:

Dredging projects –

Michigan –

Inland Route, Mich. $615,000

Little Lake Harbor, Mich. $540,000

Leland Harbor, Mich. $500,000

Wisconsin –

Saxon Harbor, Wis. $575,000

Repair, replacement or construction projects –

Operations and Maintenance

Michigan –

Portage Lake Harbor, Mich. $6.2 million

St. Marys River, Soo Locks, Mich. $3.7 million

Grand Haven Harbor, Mich.
$500,000
Wisconsin –

Milwaukee Harbor, Wis. $2.3 million

Saxon Harbor, Wis. $800,000

Two Rivers Harbor, Wis. $500,000

Construction

N. Wisconsin Environmental Infrastructure $50,000

Oakland County, Mich., Environmental Infrastructure $100,000

Studies

Saginaw River Deepening, Mich. $100,000

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Detroit District


6/7 - Cleveland, Ohio – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.6 million tons in May, a decrease of 5.4 percent compared to a year ago. May’s loadings were, however, slightly above the month’s 5-year average.

Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 2.9 million tons, a decrease of 4.2 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 683,000 tons, a decrease of 9.3 percent.

Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 5.3 million tons, a decrease of 12.3 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings from Michigan and Ohio quarries total 4.3 million tons, a decrease of 11.4 percent. Shipments from Ontario quarries total 980,000 tons, a decrease of 16.3 percent.

Lake Carriers’ Association



6/7 - Bay City, Mich. - Paying for something you now get for free. Not everyone will be excited about that idea, but a plan has been proposed to create two toll bridges in Bay City.

A private company, United Bridge Partners, would buy the Independence and Liberty bridges from the city. Under the proposal, the company would build a new 120 foot high bridge to replace the Independence Bridge, and would fix the Liberty Bridge. The proposal came about as the city looked for ways to pay for mounting bridge repair bills.

"Cost is like $7 million, just for this year alone to bring the bridges where they need to be," said Kathleen Newsham, Bay City's mayor. The city would no longer have to pay for the bridges and city commissioners wouldn't have to consider a tax increase or bond. "On that flip side, if they wanted to use those bridges, they would have to pay," Newsham said.

The toll discussed at Monday night's commission meeting was $1 per trip for Bay City residents. "I'm against that, that bridge is used too much," said Andy Groseclose, a Bay City resident. For some, the toll could really add up. "This one here, the Independence Bridge, I use that about four or five days a week," Groseclose said.

Money saved from selling the bridges could allow the city to shift resources elsewhere, like to road repairs. "If it frees up money, I'd say go for it," said Richard Ross, a Bay City resident. Ross is OK with paying a little extra for better bridges, as long as traffic moves better than it does now when a ship comes through. "Will it back up a lot of traffic every time you'd have to put something through there," Ross said. He hopes they'd use a pass system.

Some said they'll just use another bridge. It's an issue United Bridge Partners said was a concern in other places, but it didn't last long. "The decline was about 30 percent initially, and within I believe six months, that number came back up and then actually increased," Newsham said.

While no official dates has been set, Newsham hopes to have a public hearing set for July for people to voice their opinion.

ABC 12 - WJRT



1958, the largest freighter ever built on the Great Lakes slid down the ways at River Rouge, Michigan. The new freighter was christened by Mrs. Edmund Fitzgerald and named EDMUND FITZGERALD. The 729-foot FITZGERALD was owned by Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company and operated by Columbia Transportation under a 25-year bare boat charter.

In 1977, tugs refused to tow the new MESABI MINER out of the harbor due to high winds. Captain William McSweeney brought the MESABI MINER out under her own power to begin her maiden trip. On 07 June 1890, EMILY P. WEED (steel propeller freighter, 300 foot, 2,362 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #69) at W. Bay City, Michigan for the Hollister Transportation Co. She lasted until 02 September 1905, when she stranded on Sand Island Reef, Apostle Islands on Lake Superior and broke in two.

On 07 June 1862, MORNING STAR (wooden side-wheel steamer, 248 foot, 1,265 gross tons) was launched by A. A. Turner at Trenton, Michigan. She only lasted until 1868, when she sank in Lake Erie in a collision with the bark COURTLAND.

In 1977, WILLIAM A. IRVIN ran into the side of the Rock Cut after a power failure on board. The vessel received only slight damage. (For a more detailed account, read Jody Aho's book "The Steamer William A Irvin: Queen of the Silver Stackers").

On June 7, 1991, the ALPENA, the former LEON FRASER) began her maiden voyage as a cement carrier, departing Superior, Wisconsin, for her namesake port. Fraser Shipyards, which performed the conversion, took out a full-page ad in the Superior Evening Telegram proclaiming "INLAND LAKES MANAGEMENT, YOUR SHIP IS READY" and a picture of the vessel.

On 7 June 1859, COLUMBIA (2-mast wooden brig, 92 foot, 177 gross tons, built in 1842, at Sandusky, Ohio) broke up in a storm near Sherwood Point, Green Bay (Death's Door). She was famous for bringing the first load of copper ore from the Keweenaw Peninsula to through the Soo. She also brought the first locomotive to Marquette.

The METEOR (wooden steam barge, 201 foot, 729 gross tons, built in 1863, at Cleveland, Ohio) burned at Buckley's dock at the foot of 2nd Street in Detroit, Michigan on 7 June 1873. The fire supposedly started in her hold at 1:30 a.m. and was not discovered until it was too late. The ship burned to the waterline and sank. Some docks and warehouses also burned in this catastrophe. The wreck was raised in early September 1875, and towed to the foot of Belle Isle where the machinery and hull were sold at the U.S. Marshall's sale on 24 April 1876. Although originally thought to be the end of this vessel, the hull was purchased by Stephen B. Grummond of Detroit for $480. It was rebuilt as the schooner-barge NELSON BLOOM in 1882 and lasted until abandoned in 1925.

1894: The wooden steamer OCEAN received a massive hole in the bow after a collision with the barge KENT at Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence.

1902: The whaleback steamer THOMAS WILSON sank after a collision with the GEORGE G. HADLEY a mile off the Duluth piers while outbound with iron ore and nine lives were lost.

1915: JAMES B. EADS and the CHICAGO collided in the St. Clair River.

1941: The fish tug FINGLO caught fire and burned at Toronto. It was rebuilt for harbor duty as the steam tug H.J.D. NO. 1. In 1956-1957, the ship was unofficially renamed Salamander to star in the Canadian television series Tugboat Annie.

1971: SILVER CREST visited the Seaway in 1971 after previous calls as a) VIGRID in 1959 and 1963. It also returned as b) ROSTO in 1963 before becoming d) SILVER CREST in 1968. The ship stranded on Sisal Reef, in the Gulf of Mexico while enroute from Veracruz to Progresso, Mexico, but was refloated on June 12. The vessel arrived at Whampoa, China, for scrapping in July 1973.

1991: HERMES SCAN, a first time Seaway trader in 1977, sank in the Bay of Bengal as d) BRAUT TEAM after developing leaks the previous day. The heavy-lift vessel was reportedly carrying a Chinese steam locomotive for delivery to New York for the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad. All on board were saved.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/8 - Cleveland, Ohio – Lake Erie's water levels are the highest they've been since 1998, and will remain 4 to 9 inches above normal through November. The latest reading measured just 7.32 inches below the all-time record high set in 1986. Within the next week, the level could increase to just 6 inches below that record.

The high water is due to the recent heavy rain and months of snow melt surging into the lake. In May, Lake Erie received 150 percent of its typical rainfall, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Some locals have complained about the rising tides along beaches and piers, but no physical damage has been reported along the Erie coastline.

The rest of the Great Lakes are also higher than normal.

As for Lake Ontario, water levels are peaking at the highest point since 1918. It all comes down to the same reason: heavy April and May rainfall from both the Lake Ontario drainage basin and the other Great Lakes drainage basins, says mlive.com.

If precipitation totals stick around average through the end of June, this record-high water level won't retreat. But if strong storms continue to move through the region with drenching downpours, Lake Ontario will swell more -- the lake is already 4 inches above the mean June level.

That's a problem for those with waterfront property. Residents are losing patios and beach staircases; areas are flooding and damaging property.

Lake Superior and Huron aren't an exception. Current water levels are still topping 7 and 13 inches, respectively, above the long-term June monthly average. Over the next month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts a further increase of 2 to 3 inches.

Cleveland.com



6/8 - Great Lakes steel production plummeted to 621,000 tons last week, a decrease of 4.6 percent. Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 651,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 38.1 million tons of steel, about 2.8 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.4 percent so far this year, up from 72.1 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 75 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended June 3, down from 75.2 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Some analysts say 90 percent would be considered healthy for the industry.

Steelmaking capacity utilization was 74.5 percent during the same time period in 2016. Overall, U.S. national steel output dipped by 4,000 tons last week to 1.749 million tons, a 0.22 percent decrease, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern District, the country's second-largest steel-producing region, which spans mini-mills across the South, rose to 665,000 tons last week, up from 644,000 tons the previous week.

NW Indiana Times



June 8 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered Cleveland with a load of iron ore from Marquette. The VICTORY completed the one-way trip in 37 hours - 20 hours faster than the best previous time.

On 08 June 1854, J. YOUNG SCAMMON (2-mast wooden brig, built in 1845, at Chicago, Illinois) was sheltering from a storm at S. Manitou Island on Lake Michigan when she dragged her anchors, stranded and broke in three pieces. She was driven in so close to the shore that the crew was able to use a broken spar to climb to the beach. No lives lost.

On 08 June 1897, RITA MC DONALD (wooden propeller tug, 72 foot, 69 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #84) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1920, when she was abandoned in Chicago, Illinois.

In 1978, the LEWIS WILSON FOY was christened for the Bethlehem Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991. She now sails as AMERICAN INTEGRITY.

In 1938, the GOVERNOR MILLER (Hull#810) a sister ship to the WILLIAM A. IRVIN, began her maiden voyage, leaving Lorain, Ohio. The GOVERNOR MILLER was only the second Great Lakes vessel to be powered by a steam turbine with a direct drive to the propeller shaft via reduction gear.

In 1976 - the Midwest Energy Terminal at Superior, Wisconsin, loaded its first cargo of low-sulfur coal. The steamer JOHN J. BOLAND of 1953, took the honors as the first vessel to load at this dock. She was sold Canadian and renamed b.) SAGINAW in 1999.

On this date in 1977, the HARRY .L ALLEN was the first freighter to load at Burlington Northern's Dock #5 in Superior, Wisconsin.

On 8 June 1847, CHESAPEAKE (wooden side-wheeler, 172 foot, 412 tons, built in 1838, at Maumee, Ohio) was fully laden and had 97 aboard when she rammed the schooner JOHN F PORTER on a dark night off Conneaut, Ohio. As she started to sink, she was run to shore in an effort to save her, but she sank a mile short of the beach. Lake Erie was fairly calm and the crew and passengers tried to get to shore in boats and makeshift rafts. Most made it and many were also picked up by the steamer HARRISON. Estimates of the number of dead vary from 7 to 13. The wooden side-wheel tug and upriver packet TRAFFIC (75 foot, 50 tons, built in 1853, at St. Clair, Michigan) sank near Sebewaing, Michigan on 8 June 1868. She was recovered and repaired, but only lasted a little longer than a year since she burned in Saginaw in October 1869.

1933: WILHELMINE, dated from 1888 and was one of the world's earliest tankers, ran aground off Morgan Point, west of Port Colborne, while enroute from Chicago to Liverpool with 2,700,000 lbs of lard. The crew were removed and the ship abandoned. The hull was refloated June 3 but was not repaired and may have been dismantled at Ashtabula.

1954: The tug EDWARD C. WHALEN sank in Lake Superior near Corbeil Point. It was salvaged in 1955 and rebuilt a decade later as b) JOHN McLEAN. It survives in the Purvis Marine fleet as c) ADANAC.

1977: CYDONIA first came through the Seaway in 1962 and returned as b) VERMONT I in 1969. It was under tow due to rudder damage as e) JOY when a fire broke out in the engineroom near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The vessel was rocked by three explosions and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

[yachtsmanwilly]

ships are moving and none are sinking... ws

[Avenger]

That would be a switch.

[yachtsmanwilly]

Better late than never!! ws

Today in Great Lakes History - June 9

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) hosted Admiral George Dewey on her inaugural trip from Cleveland, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, on 09 June 1900. Admiral Dewey had just returned from his conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish American War and was a national hero. TASHMOO entered regular service for the White Star Line two days later.

The Lubeck, Germany-built, 305-foot Greek freighter CASTALIA of 1953 struck the north tower pier of the Mackinac Bridge at 7 p.m. on 09 June 1968, in dense fog. The bridge was not damaged and the ship took on water, but was able to proceed to Chicago without assistance.

LIGHTSHIP 103 was delivered to the 12th District Headquarters at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1921, to begin her Great Lakes career.

June 9, 1983, ALGOWEST loaded a record 1,047,758 bushels of wheat at Thunder Bay, Ontario.

ROGER BLOUGH began sea trials in 1972.

June 9, 1911, The ANN ARBOR NO 1 was raised by Smith Wrecking Company of Muskegon after being considered a menace to navigation by the Coast Guard (she had been sunk by the south breakwater at Frankfort, Michigan, after burning on March 8th). She was taken to Muskegon, and repaired sufficiently to become a sand scow for the Love Construction Company. The cost of raising her was $8,000. On 9 June 1884, ANNAPEE (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 71 foot, 118 gross tons, built in 1867, at Ahnapee (Wolf River), Wisconsin) was bound from Torch Lake, Michigan, for Milwaukee with a load of railroad ties and cordwood when she stranded in fog on North Point in Lake Michigan, 2 1/2 miles from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Later a strong wind blew her into the rocks and she broke up. No lives were lost and part of her cargo was saved.

On 9 June 1882, the LIZZIE A. LAW (wooden schooner, 196 foot, 747 gross tons, built in 1875, at Port Huron, Michigan) collided with the R.B. HAYES (wooden schooner, 147 foot, 668 gross tons, built in 1877, at Gibraltar, Michigan) near the foot of Lake Huron. Although the LAW suffered severe damage, she completed her trip to Buffalo and was repaired there. The LAW lasted until 1908, when she was lost in a storm.

1909 ASSINIBOIA and CRESCENT CITY were washed through the Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie when the upbound PERRY WALKER struck the lower gate. All three ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.

1963 The newly built SILVER ISLE of Mohawk Navigation and the PRINS ALEXANDER of the Oranje Line, collided in fog and rain on the St. Lawrence near Kingston. Both ships required repairs. The former was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey, in 2010 as ALGOISLE while the latter struck a reef and sank in the Red Sea as f) POLIAIGOS on December 28, 1980.

1979 The French freighter MELUSINE first came to the Great Lakes in 1962 and returned as b) LENA in 1978. It sank the French fishing vessel ANTIOCHE III in the English Channel with the loss of 4 lives on this day in 1979. LENA was scrapped at Ferrol, Spain, in 1982, after suffering engine damage on a voyage from Bilbao, Spain, to Detroit.

1998 COMMON VENTURE began Great Lakes trading in 1980. It broke loose of its moorings in a cyclone as f) PEARL OF DAMMAN and grounded at Kandla, India, on this date in 1998. The ship was loaded with sulphur and sustained considerable damage. Following a sale for scrap, the 27 year old carrier arrived at Alang, India, September 12, 1998, for dismantling.

1998 TOKAI MARU was a first time Seaway caller in 1977 and a return visitor as b) EASTERN HERO in 1993. This ship was also blown aground off Kandla, India, by the same cyclone. It was now d) SURPRISE and became a total loss. This ship arrived at Alang October 8, 1998, and was broken up.





On 12 June 1898, SAKIE SHEPHERD (wooden propeller freighter, 100 foot, 189 gross tons, built in 1883, at Huron, Ohio) burned while at the dock in Courtright, Ontario. The fire was discovered at 1:00 a.m. and the crew just had time to escape. The schooner YOUNG AMERICA also caught fire and had damage done to her stern. The SHEPHERD was towed to Detroit where she was rebuilt and lasted until 1903, when she sank in Lake Huron.

On 12 June 1900, the UNIQUE (wooden propeller, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold at public auction at St. Clair, Michigan to satisfy a mortgage. W. J. Laidlaw of Ogdensburg, New York purchased her for $20,000 for the Rapid Transit Co. to run between Ogdensburg and Kingston, Ontario. In 1904, her upper cabins were removed and she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York City harbor.

"STUBBY", the bow and stern sections of the STEWART J. CORT welded together, passed Port Colborne, Ontario on June 12, 1970, bound for Erie, Pennsylvania under her own power. STUBBY's bow and stern sections were later separated at Erie Marine, Inc., a Div. of Litton, and joined to the 816 foot hull mid-body.

The NANTICOKE (Hull#218) departed Collingwood, Ontario in 1980, beginning her maiden voyage for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

In 1959, the BENSON FORD of 1924 ran aground in the Amherstburg Channel on her upbound trip with coal for the Rouge Plant. After five days of lightering and with tug assistance, she was freed. Damage amounted to 41 bottom plates, which took 30 days to repair.

On 12 June 1832, the wooden schooner GUERRIER was sailing from Oswego, New York for Detroit when she capsized in a squall off Bar Point on Lake Erie. Captain Pember and the crew and most of the passengers made it to the Canadian shore, but one family was trapped in the cabin. The husband was able to keep his head above water in the upside down cabin, but through the night, one by one, his four children and then his wife slipped from his grasp and perished. The following day, Capt. Stanard took his steamer NIAGARA to the wreck and rescued the man.

On 12 June 1900, the steel tow barge BRYN MAWR (Hull#41) was launched at South Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co., for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.

The wooden propeller freighter MILWAUKEE (264 foot, 1,770 gross tons) was launched at Quayle & Sons yard in Cleveland, Ohio on 12 June 1879, for the Western Transportation Company of Buffalo, New York. She had supporting arches above decks. In 1902, she was renamed YONKERS and rebuilt as a barge in 1911. She lasted until 1917-1918 when she stranded, then burned.

1897 – I.W. NICHOLAS (ii) stranded at Point Aux Pins in fog and was released two days later. The ship needed drydocking for repairs.

1904 – The sidewheel passenger ship CANADA sank on her side off Sorel after a collision with the CAPE BRETON. Five of the 110 on board perished. The ship was refloated and rebuilt at Sorel in 1905 as ST. IRENEE which later became part of the C.S.L. Fleet.

1919 – GERMAN was cut in two to leave the Great Lakes in 1918 and renamed b) YANKEE. It sank after a collision with the Italian steamer ARGENTIA off Fire Island, NY, while enroute from Norfolk, VA to Boston MA with coal. The hull has been found and is in two pieces on the ocean floor.

1977 – The VERA CRUZ first came to the Great Lakes in 1964 as a 10-year old Liberian flag freighter. It foundered in the Arabian Sea as c) BUKOM ISLAND on June 12, 1974, during a cyclone. The ship was enroute from Umm Said, Qatar, to Singapore with a cargo of bagged fertilizer and seven lives were lost.

1978 – YELLOWSTONE had been built as the C-4 troop carrier MARINE PERCH in 1944. After being laid up in the Reserve Fleet, it was rebuilt as a bulk carrier and renamed at Tampa in 1965. The ship was downbound in the Seaway with grain from Duluth to North Africa in May 1978 and sank after a collision in fog with the IBN BATOUTA on June 12, 1978. YELLOWSTONE was taken in tow but went down June 13 about 14 miles south of Gibraltar. Five lives were lost.

1993 – The deep-sea tug VORTICE was abandoned after fire broke out near the Canary Islands, while on a voyage from Bari, Italy, to Veracruz, Mexico. The vessel was laid up, unrepaired, and then towed to Canada for McKeil Marine. It received partial repairs but was sold and left the lakes for additional work. It returned inland as e) NORFOLK in 2005 and now serves Lafarge North America Inc. as f) SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) entered regular service for the White Star Line at Detroit, Michigan, on 11 June 1900.

On 11 June 1903, HORACE H. BADGER (wooden 3-mast schooner, 129 foot, 263 gross tons, built in 1867, at Conneaut, Ohio as a 2-mast schooner, formerly KATE GILLETT) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie. She was driven onto the breakwater at Cleveland, Ohio and broke up in the storm waves. The crew of seven was rescued by the Life Saving Service. This vessel had been wrecked twice before; once at Cross Village, Michigan, in 1895, and again near Alpena, Michigan in 1896.

ATLANTIC SUPERIOR (Hull#222) was float-launched at Thunder Bay, Ontario, by Port Arthur Ship Building Co. Ltd., in 1982, for Federal Commerce & Navigation Ltd., Montreal, Quebec (Canada Steamship Lines Ltd., mgr.), built for the Caribbean trade. MESABI MINER was christened at Duluth, Minnesota in 1977; she became the fourth thousand-foot bulk carrier on the Great Lakes and Interlake Steamship Co.'s second. CARL D. BRADLEY (Hull#718) cleared Lorain, Ohio, in her gray and white livery in 1917, on her maiden voyage light bound for Calcite, Michigan, to load limestone. She was the first Great Lakes commercial ship equipped with both Morse code telegraphy as well as ship-to-shore radio in 1922, which was standard on only 20 vessels by 1924. Renamed b.) JOHN G. MUNSON in 1927, c.) IRVIN L. CLYMER in 1951, she was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota, in 1994-5.

June 11, 1981 - The BADGER steamed out of Ludington en route to Milwaukee under an MDOT subsidy that was approved earlier in March.

The propeller E. B. HALE was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, at the yard of Quayle & Sons on 11 June 1874. Her length was 217 foot keel, 227 foot overall. She was owned by Capt. Bradley, Mr. Thomas Quayle and Mr. Loomis, and she cost $100,000. The wooden rabbit J. S. RUBY was launched at Fair Haven, Michigan, on 11 June 1881. Her dimensions were 106 feet 6 inches x 21 feet x 7 feet. She was towed to Port Huron for the installation of her boiler and engine that were built by the Phoenix Iron Works. She lasted until burned to a total loss off Stag Island in the St. Clair River on November 9, 1891.

1872 – Fire broke out aboard the passenger steamer KINGSTON about 18 miles upstream after the ship had left Brockville for Toronto. The ship was beached and the superstructure was destroyed but there were only two casualties. The hull was rebuilt at Montreal and later sailed as BAVARIAN, ALGERIAN and CORNWALL before being scuttled in Lake Ontario about 1929.

1936 – AYCLIFFE HALL sank in fog shrouded off Long Point, Lake Erie after a collision with the EDWARD J. BERWIND. All 19 on board were rescued. After salvage efforts failed, the rigging was blown clear by explosives. The EDWARD J. BERWIND was repaired and last sailed as LAC STE. ANNE in 1982.

1942 – HAVTOR, a Norwegian freighter, first came to the Great Lakes in 1932 and returned as late as 1939. It was sunk by a German submarine enroute from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and 6 of the crew were lost.

1950 – The Italian freighter MARIA PAOLINA G. had been built in Canada as FORT ISLAND in 1944. It was downbound from the Saguenay River when it struck the Canada Steamship Lines passenger steamer ST. LAWRENCE, which had turned to dock at Tadoussac. Injuries were reported by 25 people and 30 cabins were damaged aboard the CSL ship.

1978 – The hull of the former passenger steamer RAPIDS QUEEN arrived at Toronto under tow from Kingston to be sunk as a breakwall off for the Queen City Yacht Club. It is still there.

1993 – PITRIA SKY first visited the Great Lakes in 1978. It departed Singapore for Shantou in southeast China, as h) HAI HONG 3 on June 11, 1993, but went back out to sea on arrival to ride out a pending typhoon. The ship was never seen again and it disappeared with all hands.

On 10 June 1891, the tug AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller tug, 46 gross tons, built in 1865, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the tug ALVA B (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 83 gross tons, built in 1890, at Buffalo, New York), which was not in motion, about 2.5 miles west of the Cleveland breakwater. The ALVA B hooked up a line and started towing the AMERICAN EAGLE in, but she sank a half-mile from the harbor entrance.

On 10 June 1891, CHARLES W. WETMORE (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,399 gross tons) left the shipyard at West Superior, Wisconsin, on her maiden voyage, bound for Liverpool, England with a cargo of grain. During her trip to the Atlantic Ocean, she shot the St. Lawrence River rapids. In Liverpool, she loaded machinery for Puget Sound. She only lasted until September 1892, when she stranded one mile north of Coos Bay, Oregon in fog. Bad weather stopped salvage attempts and the vessel was abandoned.

Bethlehem's LEWIS WILSON FOY loaded her first cargo June 10, 1978, at Burlington Northern #5, Superior, Wisconsin, with 57,952 tons of Hibbing taconite pellets for Burns Harbor, Indiana. Renamed b.) OGLEBAY NORTON in 1991.

In 1892, the keel for the ANN ARBOR NO 1 (Hull#55) was laid at Toledo, Ohio by Craig Shipbuilding Co.

The ANN ARBOR NO 4 was sold to the Michigan State Ferries in 1937, and renamed b.) CITY OF CHEBOYGAN.

On 10 June 1877, while lying at her dock at Detroit, the wooden side-wheeler R N RICE burned. The damage was estimated at $30,000. After this fire, she was rebuilt as a barge.

The propeller MONTGOMERY burned in the early morning hours of 10 June 1878. The fire started while she was laying at the dock in Point Edward, Ontario. The carferry INTERNATIONAL towed her out into the St. Clair River and cast her off to drift. Fortunately there were no injuries. She finally was beached opposite Batchelor's Mill on the Canadian side by the tugs CRUSADER and J H MARTIN. At 10:00 a.m., she was still burning. The MONTGOMERY was a steam barge of 1,104 tons, built in 1856, and owned by Capt. John Pridgeon. She was fully loaded with 29,000 bushels of corn, 320 barrels of flour, 540 barrels of corn meal, 200 bags of timothy seed and 111 bales of broom corn, besides other freight. The local papers claimed that the spectacle presented by the burning vessel as she drifted down the river was "grand and beautiful". The light was so brilliant that the entire city of Port Huron was illuminated and many people came out to watch. The following day, the wreck was towed to the American side of the river just below Avery's Mill. Whatever was left of her cargo was taken off and sold. Her engines and boiler were so badly warped and twisted from the intense heat that they were worthless except as scrap.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer dredge MARKHAM (Hull#904) was launched in 1959, at Avondale, Louisiana, by Avondale Marine Ways Inc.

1940 – PAIPOONGE was cut in two and left the Great Lakes for saltwater service in 1919. It was registered in Latvia as d) KAUPO when it was sunk as a blockship at Dieppe, France, on this date in 1940. The hull was reported as refloated and scrapped in 1946-1947.

1942 – CONTINENT came to the Great Lakes in 1939-1940. The Newfoundland owned freighter was on a bareboat charter to the U.S. Army when it sank, following a collision with the American tanker BYRON D. BENSON, while enroute from New York to Bermuda.

1967 – The former Norwegian Seaway salty FRO was abandoned in sinking condition as c) WINSOME after a fire broke out in the cargo holds and spread throughout the ship on June 10, 1967. The vessel was enroute to Bangkok, Thailand, when it sank in the South China Sea.

1968 – JOHN T. HUTCHINSON suffered damage above the waterline when it was in a collision with the SUSANNE REITH at the head of Lake St. Clair. The latter, a West German salty, was on her first trip to the Great Lakes. This ship was eventually scrapped after arriving at Alang, India, as m) ALFA I on October 18, 2000.

1977 – RUTHIE MICHAELS came inland in 1970 and last reported in as d) EUROBULKER on June 10, 1977. The ship was enroute from Djibouti, to Bandar Shahpoir, Iran when it disappeared with the entire crew of 29. The ship is believed to have sunk off the coast of Oman perhaps as late as June 12.

1998 – The Greek flag bulk carrier OLYNTHIA first traveled the Seaway in 1978. It ran aground off Veraval, India, as d) OCEAN CRUISER in a tropical cyclone while bound for the United Arab Emirates. While released, it appears that the 26-year-old ship never sailed again and was broken up at Bharnvar, India, due to the damage.


6/11 - Cleveland, Ohio – Federal water pollution charges against two Grand River Navigation engineers have been dismissed. Attorneys secured a pre-trial dismissal of criminal charges against Jeffrey W. Patrick. Charges were also dismissed for Patrick’s co-defendant, William J. Harrigan.

In May 2016, Patrick and Harrigan were charged with allegedly violating the U.S. Clean Water Act during their time working on the James L. Kuber and tug UTV Victory while operating on Lake Huron. The government alleged that Patrick and Harrigan conspired to pollute Lake Huron with oil from the UTV Victory’s engine room operations.

“Justice was served when the government dropped all charges against our client,” said John R. Mitchell of the firm Thompson Hine LLP, Patrick’s lawyer. “The government’s evidence did not support the charges.”

In May 2016, Patrick and Harrigan, who were employed by Grand River Navigation as engineers, were charged with allegedly violating the U.S. Clean Water Act during their time working on the James L. Kuber and tug UTV Victory while operating on Lake Huron. The government alleged that Patrick and Harrigan conspired to pollute Lake Huron with oil from the UTV Victory’s engine room operations.

All charges were officially dropped on June 6, 2017, one week before trial was to commence. Securing a pre-trial dismissal in a federal criminal case is rare, and in the past 12 months only nine out of 107 criminal maritime cases were dismissed pre-trial.

“We knew from the onset that these two gentlemen were innocent and would be exonerated from all perceived wrongdoing,” said Ed Levy, President and CEO of Rand Logistics, Inc., the parent company of Grand River Navigation, which owns and operates the James L. Kuber and UTV Victory. “We will continue to always make safety and the protection of the environment priorities.”

Thompson Hine LLP


6/11 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – The Alexander Henry is one step away from charting a course for home. Council will decide on Monday whether to approve up to the $125,000 required to return the former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker to Thunder Bay, where it would be utilized as a tourist attraction.

The ship, which was built by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company in 1959 and broke the ice in the Great Lakes until its decommissioning in 1984, was featured by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston but was displaced when that property was sold last year.

The Lakehead Transportation Museum Society since last fall has been spearheading the push to return the icebreaker, an effort that has been budgeted at $250,000. Total costs to tow the ship across the Great Lakes and prepare its mooring site range from $290,000 to $320,000.

Charlie Brown, the group’s president, said the green light from Thunder Bay city council will start the engine on the relocation.

“Once we have the funds released, we can start setting up the contracts for the actual tow and put that whole thing into effect,” Brown said. “Then we can do site preparation and get it ready for actually opening it up to the public.”

Along with the contribution from the city, Kingston has pitched in $50,000, a private sponsor has pledged another $50,000, the museum society is targeting fundraising of $50,000 and a funding application to the province through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is pursuing $150,000.

The resolution before council recommends any financing exceeding the anticipated capital costs be reimbursed to the city. If council approves the funding, Brown said the tow from Picton, Ont. to Thunder Bay would likely happen in mid-July, taking about seven days.

The business plan submitted by the transportation museum society anticipated 7,000 visitors aboard the ship in the first year and a net profit of nearly $15,000.

Brown said utilization plans include Haunted Ship Nights during the Halloween season, along with special events and private functions. “We will certainly set up different types of tours on the ship. We’ve got a whole bunch of different events lined up,” Brown said.

“Long-term goals, it was used as a bed and breakfast down in Kingston a number of years ago and once we get it up here and do our investigative work on the ship itself then we’ll be looking at possibly opening it up as a bed and breakfast again down the line.”

City administration is recommending the ship be moored at the Kaministiquia River Heritage Park, though the museum society desired the former Pool Six site. According to the report from city administration, the Thunder Bay Port Authority would have required the city to provide protection against liability to consider allowing the ship to be docked at Pool Six.

Brown said there are advantages and disadvantages to both locations, with the Kam River park already home to the James Whalen tugboat and VIA Rail car.

“The Kam River site is a beautiful site,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, it does have a little bit of a poor reputation which we would have to improve. There are artifacts down there that have been left deteriorating. We’re looking at the long-term goal, which is to take them over and restore them. There’s a lot of potential in the site and it can immediately be used right away.”

TBNewswatch

[yachtsmanwilly]

Water will start flowing from Lake Ontario at an even greater rate later this week, in an effort to curb the high water and flooding problem that has plagued the Lake Ontario shoreline.

The International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board of Control decided Monday to increase outflow from the lake to 10,400 cubic meters per second - up from the already very high 10,200 cubic meters per second.

"These are outflows that have never been experienced in the system before," said Arun Heer, the American secretary to the board, late Monday afternoon. Heer said the increased outflow - basically, the water flowing through the dams in Massena - will be tested for three days, and the board will be looking to hear from people on any effects it has.

In particular, shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway has been a concern; officials have said too strong an outflow might make the currents in the lake and river unsafe. Heer said the Seaway has "been informed of this outflow, that it's coming. They're putting mitigation measures in place. They'll be open but with impacts and adjustments to maintain safety."

Heer said the board "reached consensus" on the increase, as it tries to "provide all possible relief."

This spring's high waters have been a major headache for home and cottage owners, boaters, marinas - really, anyone on or near the Lake Ontario or St. Lawrence River shore. Many of those people blame a change in how outflows from Lake Ontario are managed, the so-called "Plan 2014," although the plan's defenders have pointed out that the high water has more to do with climate and rainfall, and that rivers not connected to the St. Lawrence have also experienced high water.

Heer said Lake Ontario continues to gradually decline; it's down two centimeters since June 8, and is 6 centimeters lower than the lake's peak of 75.88 back on May 29.


Detroit, Mich. – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District’s Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office announces Great Lakes water levels are expected to be both higher than average and higher than last year through the summer and into the early fall this year.

“Above average precipitation on the Great Lakes and very wet conditions in the months of April and May pushed levels higher than originally forecasted,” According to Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of Watershed Hydrology at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District.

Due to wetter conditions the six month water level forecast has changed resulting in higher forecasted water level peaks this summer. The forecasted summer water levels on lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair and Erie will be at their highest levels since 1996-1998.

Based on initial data Lake Ontario has already set a new record high monthly mean water level in May. At 248.69 feet, May's level was the highest monthly mean for any month in the 1918-2016 period of record. The previous record high of 248.56 feet occurred in June 1952.

Near record high levels on Lake Ontario are expected to persist in June, before water levels should begin their seasonal decline.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, in coordination with our partners in Environment and Climate Change Canada releases the official 6 month forecast for the Great Lakes. That forecast, called the Monthly Bulletin of Water Levels for the Great Lakes is done at the beginning of each month, with the latest edition covering the period from June to November.

To find more information about current Great Lakes current water level conditions check out: www.lre.usace.army.mil/Missions/Great-Lakes-Information/Great-Lakes-Water-Levels/Current-Conditions/


- Duluth, Minn. – Long-standing plans to clean up the headwaters of Lake Superior have been thrown into doubt by Trump administration budget priorities. Now, Minnesotans are wondering how to fill a multimillion-dollar hole.

Federal officials have been working for years to address a century's worth of industrial pollution in more than 40 areas around the Great Lakes.

The St. Louis River estuary, which flows past Duluth, Minn., into Lake Superior, is the second largest of those projects. But the money has been zeroed out in the president's 2018 budget plan.

One hundred years ago U.S. Steel built a massive mill along the banks of the St. Louis River, about 10 miles southwest of downtown Duluth. It even built an entire neighborhood to house the workers – dubbed Morgan Park, after J.P. Morgan.

For decades the plant provided great jobs. But along with logging mills and other industry that once lined the river, it also left behind a legacy of pollution.

Read more, and view photos and a video at this link: news.wbfo.org/post/lake-superior-cleanup-threatened-trump-budget-cut


- Toronto, Ont. – It’s going to take a few more weeks before the high water levels in Lake Ontario go down, says the City of Toronto, and it’s thanks to these conditions that there are safety concerns and closures at outdoor attractions.

Popular summer destinations, including Toronto Island, have been flooded, and the city says its 11 swimming beaches are not expected to be fully operational until Canada Day.

Permits to Toronto Island Park, and city-run recreation programs normally held there, have been cancelled up to July 31. The park is currently closed to visitors, the city says.

The Star


- Buffalo, N.Y. – The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a woman who went missing after presumably falling overboard from a 52-foot boat on Lake Erie, Sunday.

Captain Joseph DuFresne, commander of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, announced the suspension at 5:45 p.m. local time after the Coast Guard and partnering agencies conducted a search for almost 30 hours covering the equivalent of more than 1,400 square miles.

“With great sadness, we report that active search operations for the missing woman have been suspended," DuFresne said. "I am proud of the dauntless effort by the Coast Guard teams and our local and Canadian response partners. However, despite these heroic efforts we were unable to locate the woman. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family as they deal with this tragedy.”

Search efforts commenced Sunday at about 1:40 p.m. after the Coast Guard received a call about a woman who had fallen overboard from a 52-foot boat on Lake Erie near Presque Isle. Crews from Coast Guard Station Erie and Air Station Detroit began the search and were later joined by a crew aboard a C-130 aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force, along with multiple local agencies.

The search continued late Sunday and into Monday with crews from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit aboard a Dolphin helicopter, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

At first light Monday, crews from Air Station Detroit and Coast Guard Station Erie resumed the search.

Other local agencies involved in the search included the Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Fish and Game, and the Lake Shore, Lake City, West Lake and Northeast Fire Departments.

USCG


On 13 June 2003, after completing her conversion from American to Canadian registry, Lower Lakes Towing's newly-acquired MICHIPICOTEN, a.) ELTON HOYT 2ND, departed the Government dock at Sarnia, Ontario. First she went to the Shell Oil dock in Corunna, Ontario to fuel, then she departed for Marquette, Michigan to load ore for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On 13 June 1902, METROPOLIS (wooden side-wheel steamer, 168 foot, 425 tons, built in 1868, at Detroit, Michigan) caught fire and burned to a total loss at her dock in Toledo, Ohio. She was only used occasionally for excursions and spent most of her time tied up to the dock.

On June 13, 1983, JOHN B. AIRD began its maiden voyage for Algoma Central Railway, a load of coal from Thunder Bay to Nanticoke, Ontario.

IRVING S. OLDS carried a record 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943, from Lake Superior and transported a total of 736,800 short tons of various bulk cargoes the next year.

On the morning of June 13, 1905, running downbound on Lake Superior, the heavily-laden SYLVANIA encountered heavy fog as she approached the Soo. Confused whistle signals resulted in the SYLVANIA glancing off the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., steamer SIR HENRY BESSEMER, which sustained a 175-foot port side gash from the SYLVANIA's anchor. The BESSEMER required $40,000 in repairs and the SYLVANIA's damage totaled $10,000, which included a new anchor and shell plating which was completed at the Craig Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, Ohio.

June 13, 1930 - Shortly after leaving Menominee, Michigan, fireman Walter O'Leary of the ANN ARBOR NO 7 became ill. The carferry proceeded at full speed to the nearest doctor at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where surgery was performed to remove gallstones.

June 13, 1974 - The CITY OF GREEN BAY, formerly WABASH was sold to Marine Salvage Company to be scrapped. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1974. On 13 June 1903, CHARLES H. DAVIS (wooden propeller bulk freighter, 145 foot, 391 gross tons, built in 1881, at Saginaw, Michigan) was carrying limestone on Lake Erie off Cleveland when she developed a leak which quickly got worse and admitted water faster than her pumps capacity. She sank near the Cleveland breakwater. She was an unusual vessel, reportedly built of pine and pointed at both ends with her planking set diagonally.

1905 – The wooden steamer YAKIMA had stranded in Lake St. Clair on June 10, 1905, but caught fire and burned on this date while waiting to be salvaged. The remains were later towed into Lake Huron and scuttled.

1906 – The newly-built J. PIERPONT MORGAN carried a record 13, 294 tons of iron ore out of Escanaba for Chicago.

1944 – CANADIAN OTTER was built at Welland in 1920 but, in 1944, was sailing as f) FUKOKU MARU as a Japanese army cargo ship. It was sunk by aircraft from U.S.S. ESSEX while in a convoy from Philippines to Japan in the overnight hours of June 13-14, 1944.

1959 – A fire in the crew quarters of the FEDERAL PIONEER, docked at Section 51 in Montreal, was quickly controlled with only minor damage and sailing was delayed by three hours. The ship was a frequent Seaway trader for Federal Commerce and Navigation, now known as FedNav, and arrived at Hsinkiang, China, for scrapping on January 21, 1971.

1978 – Seven men were lost aboard the ANCO DUKE while cleaning tanks out in the Pacific. They were likely overcome by fumes. The ship later came to the Great Lakes as c) LAKE ANETTE in 1980, as d) SATU MAR in 1984 and as e) TOVE COB in 1987. It was scrapped in Bangladesh in 1993.

1978 – The bulk carrier ARCTIC hit the Cherry Street Bridge at Toledo on its first trip and had to return to Port Weller Dry Docks for repairs.

1980 – TROYAN first came through the Seaway in 1972. The ship began leaking in heavy weather as c) SUNRISE and foundered June 13, 1980, in the outer anchorage at Bombay, India, while enroute from Japan to Damman, Saudi Arabia, with bagged cement.

2004 – The SINGAPORE STAR first came to the Great Lakes in 1982. It caught fire in the accommodation area while on the Black Sea as c) BARBADOS OKTAY on June 13, 2004. The ship was carrying scrap steel from Novorossiysk, Russia, to Eregli, Turkey. The blaze was put out with tug assistance but the ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, to be broken up on July 19, 2004.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On this day in 1985, Captain Edward Rogowski passed away. Captain Rogowski started sailing as a deckhand on the 514 foot JOHN SHERWIN in 1936. He retired in 1982 as the first captain of the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, the 1,013 foot PAUL R TREGURTHA.

On this day in 1957, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter HARVEY H. BROWN, Captain Percy E. Mc Ginness, delivered the first cargo of coal to the new taconite loading port of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota.

ROGER BLOUGH departed the shipyard in ballast on her maiden voyage for U.S. Steel Corp. the night of June 14, 1972, for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load 41,608 gross tons of taconite ore pellets. She was nearly a year late because of a fire in her engine room.

On June 14, 1988, the CONSUMERS POWER of 1927, with her former fleet mate JOHN T. HUTCHINSON, departed Lauzon, Quebec, in tow of the Panamanian tug/supply ship OMEGA 809, bound for a scrap yard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The steamer PRINCESS was sold to Little and Fitzgerald on 14 June 1873. She was built in 1858, at Algonac, Michigan by Z. Pangborn.

The wooden scow TINKER was launched at Leighton & Dunford's yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 14 June 1876.

1954 – W.F. WHITE crushed the tug OHIO against a pier in Buffalo and the latter was a total loss. The tug was refloated and scrapped at Cleveland in 1955.

1977 – ALMAR came to the Great Lakes under Greek registry in 1964. It caught fire in the engine room as c) IJESHA LION at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and sustained major damage. The hull was abandoned by the owners, towed out to sea and scuttled in 1978


6/14 - Detroit, Mich. – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Engineers Day at the Soo Locks to celebrate the completion of major gate anchorage repairs at the Poe Lock.

The ceremony will begin at the Soo Locks park, in front of the gate leading to the MacArthur Lock pedestrian entrance, on Friday, June 30, at 8:15 a.m., just before gates open for the annual Soo Locks Engineers Day event.

The $6.7 million project involved removal of the existing original embedded anchorages on the Poe Lock and installing new embedded anchorages. The project required fabricating new steel anchorage frames, drilling concrete cores and installing anchor rods to accommodate the new anchorage frames, as well as installing new anchorage frames, new concrete placement, disassembling and re-assembling gate linkage assemblies, and placing a 1,050 foot long concrete access road. A total of eight anchorage frames were completed ensuring that the Poe Lock was operational prior to the start of the 2017 shipping season.

The contractor, Morrish-Wallace Construction Inc. (dba Ryba Marine Construction Company) of Cheboygan, Michigan, self-performed over 75 percent of the project and more than 95 percent of the subcontractor man-hours on the project were performed by Michigan residents.

Both Poe Lock gates one and three were operational on February 17 ahead of the March 25 scheduled opening date.

USACOE



6/14 - Bay City, Mich. – Little more than a year after charges were first filed against them, two men alleged to have dumped oily waste from a towing vessel into Lake Huron have had their cases dismissed. The dismissal comes just days before they were to go before a federal jury.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Monday, June 5, granted the prosecution's request to dismiss charges against Jeffrey W. Patrick and William J. Harrigan. Both men faced one count of oil and hazardous substance liability, with Harrigan also facing a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The only reason given in court records for the prosecutors' request is "that the ends of justice would best be served by this dismissal." Patrick and Harrigan's trial was to begin Tuesday, June 13, at the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City.

A grand jury indicted Patrick in May 2016; Harrigan was indicted the following month. The alleged offenses occurred in the summer of 2014, when Patrick served as chief engineer and Harrigan as first assistant engineer aboard the 498-ton towing vessel Victory.

Read more, and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2017/06/feds_dismiss_cases_against_eng.html#incart_river_home



6/14 - Thunder Bay, Ont. – The Alexander Henry will be coming home. Thunder Bay city council on Monday night voted to spend up to $125,000 towards the costs of towing the decommissioned Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker from southern Ontario back to where it was built nearly 60 years ago.

The decision marked a victory for the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society, which has been working since last fall to bring the ship to the city with plans to continue its legacy as a tourist attraction.

The Alexander Henry was constructed by the former Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company and commissioned as a Canadian Coast Guard vessel in 1959. The ship, which broke ice on the Great Lakes, was a familiar sight in the local harbour until its decommissioning in 1984. It had a second career as a featured attraction at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston but came on the market when that property was sold, leaving the future of the ship in question.

Kingston city council previously pledged $50,000 to relocate the ship to Thunder Bay, saving it from being scrapped.

The cost of towing the ship to Thunder Bay from where it is currently docked in Picton, Ont. is pegged at $250,000. In addition to the commitment from both Thunder Bay and Kingston, the transportation museum society has received a pledge of $50,000 from a private donor, the group is working towards a $50,000 fundraising target and they have applied to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation for another $150,000.

Further site preparation costs range from $40,000 to $70,000.

“If everything goes without any unseen delays we hope to have the ship here in Thunder Bay sometime in late July. It could be earlier, we have to have discussions with our tow operator,” transportation museum society president Charlie Brown said.

Administration is recommending the ship be displayed at the Kam River Heritage Park, rather than the transportation museum society’s desired location at Pool Six. Coun. Larry Hebert said damage from mischief done to the former VIA Rail train and James Whalen tugboat in the area makes him reluctant to want the Alexander Henry at the site.

Coun. Shelby Ch’ng was the lone opposing vote, questioning the group’s business plan that counts on drawing 7,000 visitors in the first year and a net profit of nearly $15,000. “This is not just adding up,” Ch’ng said. “We’re voting on bringing the Henry here but it doesn’t say which docks it is. If it’s at Kamview you’re not getting the visitors.”

TBNewsWatch

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/15 - Toronto, Ont. – As part of an emergency measure that began Wednesday, more water from Lake Ontario will flow into the St. Lawrence River than ever before, as officials put into effect a flood-reducing strategy expected to delay shipping schedules and keep captains and others affected by high water levels on anxious watch.

At a meeting Monday, the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board agreed to increase the flow rate over the Moses-Saunders Power Dam near Cornwall, Ont. – from 10,200 to 10,400 cubic metres a second. That's the equivalent of four Olympic-sized swimming pools draining into the river every second.

Though Lake Ontario levels seem to be receding, the emergency measure will be in effect for at least a 72-hour trial period. Officials will determine whether the river, and the ships that navigate it, can handle the swelling current as they attempt to drain Lake Ontario – which has seen record depths in recent weeks. The change in flow rate over the dam means new measures for cargo ships: reduced speeds; one-way sailing; and the use of a tugboat around the Iroquois Lock, at Brockville, Ont., where the current is expected to be the most problematic.

Wallace James, a ship captain with Algoma Central, said the higher water and stronger currents have made it a challenge to navigate the St. Lawrence Seaway. Mr. James, a captain for 16 years, called conditions "terrible." He said strong currents around locks near Montreal made it difficult to steer his 225-metre vessel into a channel on his way upriver to Lake Ontario this week.

"It almost turned us around," Mr. James said aboard the Algoma Strongfield, which was docked in Hamilton Tuesday to unload 29,000 tonnes of iron ore.

"This is an exceptional scenario," said Andrew Bogora, spokesman with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Mr. Bogora said his group will continue to talk with captains as they navigate the river under the high-flow conditions, to gauge any difficulties vessels may encounter while travelling between Montreal and Lake Ontario. Mr. Bogora said captains are under strict guidelines to monitor the wake their vessels produce, so as to minimize any possible or further damage caused to property and shorelines affected by water levels.

Jacob Bruxer, a senior water resources engineer with Environment Canada, said Lake Ontario levels have actually decreased by about six centimetres since the start of June. Mr. Bruxer, who has been providing technical expertise to the board, said the lake peaked at 75.88 metres above sea level on May 29.

Mr. Bruxer said the increase in flow rate over the Moses-Saunders dam will shave about 0.6 centimetres from Lake Ontario's depth each week. While that may not sound like much, he said every little bit counts. Mr. Bruxer said the increased flow, combined with Lake Erie's decreasing water level – he said it is "drying out" – and the warming the region will experience as summer approaches, will further help the high-water situation. He said it will likely be weeks before water levels return to normal.

Mr. Bruxer said the decision to increase the flow rate into the St. Lawrence River is in part because downstream Quebec, in areas that have seen widespread flooding, also appears to be drying out.

"We are well aware of and very concerned by the impacts both upstream and downstream," he said. "We are kind of doing all we can and just hoping for dry weather."

And while water levels in Lake Ontario have been responsible for flooded beaches, flooded downtown Toronto condos, and the closure of the Toronto Islands, rising shorelines on the U.S. side of the lake are also causing concern.

"Counties on the south shores of Lake Ontario have declared states of emergency," said Arun Heer, the U.S. secretary for the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board. "Erosion, flooding, things of that nature to homes and business and marinas are all being affected."

Globe & Mail


6/15 - Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 621,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 39.8 million tons of steel, about 2.6 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.4 percent so far this year, up from 72.6 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 73.7 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended June 10, down from 75 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Some analysts say 90 percent would be considered healthy for the industry.

NW Indiana Times


6/15 - Mariners are advised that a tug is available for assistance with the approach at Iroquois Lock while outflows from Lake Ontario are greater than 10,200 cubic metres per second.

• Downbound vessels requiring assistance at Iroquois Lock must make the request at Cross Over Island

• Upbound vessels requiring assistance at Iroquois Lock must first make the request at Snell Lock and then confirm the request at Richards Point


6/15 - Toledo, Ohio – The National Museum of the Great Lakes has announced that the actual Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, awarded to Col. James M. Schoonmaker for heroism at the Third Battle of Winchester in September 1864, will be on display as part of the coming temporary exhibit “Col. James M. Schoonmaker: A Life Lived with Honor. “

The Colonel's Medal of Honor is held by the Virginia Military Institute’s museum and is being loaned to the National Museum for the exhibit.

“Many people do not know of Col. Schoonmaker’s incredible record of heroism in the Civil War and this exhibit will address that deficiency,” said Chris Gillcrist, executive director of the museum.

Schoonmaker entered the Union army as a private and within 20 months reached the rank of colonel. As a Lieutenant, Schoonmaker planned and led a daring suicide mission to burn a critical railroad bridge behind enemy lines and for that action, was recommended by the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton for the rank of colonel in the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry.

In 1864, Schoonmaker led a cavalry brigade in the largest cavalry charge in American history at the Third Battle of Winchester. Schoonmaker’s improbable capture of Star Fort on the heights above Winchester enabled General Sheridan to rout the Confederates and finally pacify the Shenandoah Valley after three years. For his actions on that day, Colonel Schoonmaker was awarded the Medal of Honor.

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Col. Schoonmaker’s 175th birthday, June 30 at 6 p.m. Those interested in attending the opening reception can contact the museum at 419-214-5000.

National Museum of the Great Lakes



On this day in 1967, the new $6 million Allouez taconite pellet handling facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was dedicated. The first cargo of 18,145 tons of pellets was loaded into the holds of the Hanna Mining Company freighter JOSEPH H. THOMPSON.

At midnight, on Saturday, 15 June 1901, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 199 gross tons, built in 1882, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan. Her upper works were destroyed, but she was repaired and put back in service. She lasted until 1922, when her boiler exploded, killing four people and destroying the vessel.

On June 15, 1943, the D.M. CLEMSON collided with and sank the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY in the Straits of Mackinac. Both of these 600-footers recovered for long careers. The D.M. CLEMSON was sold for scrap in 1980. The GEORGE M. HUMPHREY was recovered over a year later, renamed the b.) CAPTAIN JOHN ROEN, later converted to a self-unloader, and finished her career as d.) CONSUMERS POWER at the end of the 1985, season before being scrapped in 1988.

In 1989, the ROGER M. KYES was rechristened b.) ADAM E. CORNELIUS by American Steamship Co.

The wooden 180-foot schooner JOHN A. FRANCOMB was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, on 15 June 1889. She was built by F. W. Wheeler & Co. (Hull #61). She lasted until she was abandoned at Bay City in 1934.

GRECIAN (steel propeller freighter, 296 foot, 2,348 gross tons, built in 1891, at Cleveland, Ohio by Globe Iron Works (Hull#40) struck a rock near Detour, Michigan, on 7 June 1906, but made dock at Detour before settling on bottom. After her cargo was removed, she was raised, and towed by her fleet mate SIR HENRY BESSEMER, bound for Detroit Shipbuilding Co. in Wyandotte, Michigan, for repairs, relying on air pressure in her sealed holds to keep her afloat. However, on 15 June 1906, her holds began to fill with water and she sank in Lake Huron off Thunder Bay. Her crew was rescued by SIR HENRY BESSEMER.

1933 – BRENTWOOD ran aground in the St. Marys River and was released on June 19 with about $60,000 in damage. The CSL vessel soon tied up at Midland and was scrapped there in 1937.

1943 – WILLIAM BREWSTER was on her maiden voyage when she collided with the W.D. CALVERLEY JR. and sank on her side in the St. Clair River off Algonac. The ship was not refloated until November and, after repairs, finally left the lakes in June 1944. It operated on saltwater routes until scrapping at Calcutta, India, as e) RAY MAYABUNDAR in 1967.

1962 – NYON, a Seaway visitor in 1961 and 1962, sank in the English Channel, 5 miles south of Beachy Head, after a collision in heavy fog with the Indian freighter JALAZAD. The latter came to the Great Lakes in 1969 and was eventually scuttled off Tema, Ghana, as b) JYOTI VINOD in September 1983.

1965 – BREIM, a Great Lakes visitor from Norway, got stuck in the mud below the Snell Lock at Massena, NY was released the next day after some cargo was lightered. The ship arrived at Visakhapatnam, India, for scrapping as c) CHRISTINA C. on October 24, 1983.

1988 – ALGOWEST and COUDRES D'ILE collided in fog on the St. Lawrence and the small coastal freighter sank with the loss of one life. The former now sails for Algoma as PETER R. CRESSWELL.

2001 – Fire broke out in the engine room of the Cypriot freighter FELIX 60 miles off Las Palmas, Canary Islands and the 21-member crew was removed. The ship first came to the Great Lakes as a) BEGONIA in 1978 and returned as b) TIMUR SWALLOW in 1983 and c) JENNIFER JANE in 1985. The burning vessel was anchored and the fire extinguished June 16. A total loss, the ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, under tow as f) ELI on December 1, 2001, and was broken up.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/16 - Toledo, Ohio – Cliffs Natural Resources has selected the Port of Toledo and East Toledo's Ironville site as a home for its new Hot Briquette Iron processing facility, Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur announced Thursday.

She said the facility will receive iron ore mined in Minnesota and Michigan and convert it to briquettes used in steel making. The project will break ground next year and be operational in 2020, said Kaptur

According to Kaptur, the Cleveland-based firm's new facility will bring a $700 million investment to Toledo, along with more than 130 permanent jobs and 1,200 construction jobs.

The company considers the brownfield site at the Port of Toledo a premier location for development due to its relative proximity to several future customers, as well as its logistics advantages, including affordable gas availability and access by multiple rail carriers, said a statement from Cliffs Natural Resources.

Its CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, said the project has strong earnings potential for the company. He and thanked stakeholders including Gov. John Kasich, JobsOhio and local partners in the Toledo area for efforts to advance the project, including an offer of approximately $30 million in grants and other financial incentives.

"We will continue to work closely with the State of Ohio through the environmental permitting process, and are excited to bring a significant number of high-paying jobs to Ohio," said a statement from Goncalves.

The project is contingent on final approvals of state and local incentives.

Cleveland.com



6/16 - Chicago, Ill. – A new shipping route potentially could eliminate a million semi-trailer trucks a year from Northwest Indiana highways.

Supply Chain Solutions announced at the Rail Supply Chain Summit 2017 in the Union League Club in downtown Chicago it was launching a new cross-lake shipping route after being awarded the first marine highway designation on Lake Michigan.

The Maritime Administration will encourage freight to pass between the Port of Milwaukee and the Port of Muskegon in Michigan, which the Rail Supply Chain Summit Founder Mary Elisabeth Pitz said has the potential to greatly reduce the amount of truck traffic on the Borman Expressway passing through Northwest Indiana while en route from Michigan to Wisconsin, or vice versa.

“It's the first marine highway designation for Lake Michigan,” Supply Chain Solutions CEO Leslie “Les” G. Brand III said.

The route would launch at the end of summer and restore intermodal service to the Port of Milwaukee, a competitor with the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor.

The company is pitching the maritime route across Lake Michigan as a more efficient alternative than sending semi-trailer trucks through Chicago's congestion. It would give midwestern manufacturers an alternative to trucking goods on the Borman, part of Interstate 80/94, one of the busiest stretches of highway in the country.

“The congestion doesn't just come with orange cones,” Brand said. “It's year-round and especially bad in the winter. This gets past the pinch point of Chicago.”

Lake vessels that can travel up to 17 knots per hour would carry cargo directly across the width of Lake Michigan, instead of south and all the way around the southern shore.

“According to our modeling, there will be significant cost-savings,” he said.

Supply Chain Solutions estimates that ships consume only 30 percent of the fuel of trucks, and the cross-lake route would reduce emissions, wear and tear on roads, and accidents.

NW Indiana Times



6/16 - Beauharnois, Que. - The federal government has decided to allow a rotting bulk carrier that has been anchored off Beauharnois for years to stay there for at least another year.

Despite a pledge by Transport Minister Marc Garneau last fall to begin dismantling the 150 metre Kathryn Spirit this year, the federal government has delayed awarding the contract for the job. The Journal de Montreal says the work won't begin until next year at the earliest.

The Mayor of Beauharnois along with a number of environmentalists say there is a real danger of an ecological disaster if the ship breaks up before oil and toxic chemicals are removed. The ship has been beached at Beauharnois since 2011.

CJAD



6/16 - Lorain, Ohio – A Lorain-built freighter faced tragedy before it ever left its dock when a blaze erupted more than 45 years ago. But since then, the vessel Roger Blough has carried thousands of tons of iron ore pellets by sea over the Great Lakes.

The Roger Blough celebrated its 45th “birthday” June 15. The day is an anniversary — but not of the tragic fire during its construction. Rather, June 15, 1972 was the day the Roger Blough made the start of a 45-year career.

“It’s a beautiful boat, one of a kind,” said Ed Bansek, a Lorain resident and on-shore boat spotter who has taken photos of freighters for 28 years.

Lorain residents may best remember the Roger Blough for the fire that broke out June 24, 1971. The fire claimed the lives of four workers: Clyde Burdue, 60, of Vermilion; John Alexander, 28, of Lorain; Leonard Moore, 34, of Elyria; and George Adams, 44, of Lorain.

The fire slowed down — but did not stop — plans to launch the vessel, which at the time was the largest freighter ever built entirely on the Great Lakes. “It is an awesome boat,” Bansek said. “It would be really cool and a great source of pride for us Lorainites to know she is still contributing to our economy.”

The historical information was compiled by Bansek; author George Wharton, who published a vessel description at the online resource boatnerd.com; the Lorain Historical Society; and Morning Journal archives.

The vessel currently is owned by Great Lakes Fleet Inc. of Duluth, Minn. A company spokesman declined to comment about the freighter.

In September 1968, American Ship Building Co. laid the keel for the bow of a new “super ore carrier” for United States Steel Corp. Work on the stern keel started a little more than a year later, and they were joined in 1970. The vessel was named for Roger M. Blough, U.S. Steel’s chairman of the board from 1955 to 1969.

The vessel was built to carry 45,000 gross tons of iron ore pellets, nearly triple the capacity of a lake freighter in the 600-foot class. It is 105 feet wide and 858 feet long – 17 feet longer than the height of U.S. Steel’s 841-foot-tall headquarters in Pittsburgh.

“Much is expected of this ship in performance, endurability and in leadership on the inland seas,” the retired chairman Roger Blough said at a ship christening luncheon in Elyria in June 1971. On June 5, 1971, Blough’s wife, Helen, took six swings at the bow with a bottle of champagne, then got help from AmShip Division President Gordon Stafford to crack the glass. More than 1,000 people attended that ceremony in Lorain.

“One look at this ship makes me believe that it’s a real masterpiece in the art of shipbuilding,” Blough said.

It was a proud time for AmShip and for the city as the mammoth freighter would bear the label “Made in Lorain,” said a Journal editorial about the christening.

The festive feelings ended June 24, 1971, when a fire broke out inside the ship. Smoke rose over Lorain and news about the fire spread across town. Then a boy, Bansek said he did not get to the riverfront to see the fire as it happened.

“I remember being 12 years old and seeing the smoke all the way across town,” he said. “That’s how big the fire was.”

Capt. Bill Craig was present when the fire happened.

In a letter to Bansek, Craig praised the fast response and “courageous action in trying to fight a fire on board a vessel,” when they generally were not trained for shipboard firefighting. Craig said he gave credit to George Steinbrenner. Before he became the owner of the New York Yankees, Steinbrenner was board chairman and chief executive of AmShip in Lorain.

“The firemen and company officials wanted to pour foam on the fire in hopes of saving the engine and engine room machinery,” Craig said. “George rejected the idea and refused to allow any foam to be discharged as long as there was hope that the four men were alive.”

Steinbrenner explained why the company did not use a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher system. He said that method would have cut off oxygen to the flames — and to workers, creating a risk of killing a number of people.

The fire raged 19 hours and temperatures inside the hull reached 2,500 degrees, according to a news report of the time. A day later, the fire was extinguished. As the ship cooled, firefighters and city workers pumped more than a million gallons of water out of the Roger Blough.

Then the search began for four missing workers. In the blaze, 20 people were hurt and damage was estimated at $10 million. By September 1972, the National Fire Protection Association said the $10 million fire was the largest property loss fire in the United States in 1971, according to a news report from the time.

After the tragedy at the dock, AmShip continued building the Roger Blough.

The Roger Blough has a unique unloading system designed to unload the taconite pellets into a hopper system on shore in Gary, Ind., and Conneaut, Bansek said. That is where Bansek toured the ship in August 2015.

“The shuttle type transverse self-unloading boom is located in the stern of the vessel behind the engine room and can be extended 54 feet to either port or starboard and can unload at a rate of up to 10,000 tons per hour,” Bansek said. The vessel has two engines producing 15,000 horsepower; its top speed is 16 mph.

Lorain’s current residents likely have seen various freighters sailing the Black River, particularly those that come under the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge. Many of them may never see the inside of one. Bansek used his August 2015 visit to take photos of the Roger Blough’s interior, including the pilot house.

There is an observation lounge in the passenger area, although the passengers are corporate or industry customers, not the general public. The aft end of the ship has a cafeteria style galley and separate mess rooms for officers and unlicensed crew, “though nowadays, everyone usually eats together in the crews’ mess,” Bansek said.

The Roger Blough occasionally would revisit Lorain. It hasn’t been back in a long time, but the vessel remains part of a fleet that is a huge part of the regional and national economy, Bansek said.

Proportionally, lake freighters produce fewer emissions per ton of cargo than trains and trucks, according to the Lake Carriers Association, citing a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Bansek said he will watch for whatever comes to port. “I just think, as big as they are, that it’s amazing that they float,” he said about Great Lakes freighters. “Empty, let alone loaded down. A thousand-footer can have 60,000 tons of ore. It’s just incredible.”

The Morning Journal



On 16 June 1891, Alexander McDougall himself took his brand-new whaleback steamer JOSEPH L. COLBY (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,245 gross tons, built in 1890 at West Superior, Wisconsin) down the St. Lawrence River to the sea. The double-hulled COLBY left Prescott, Ontario at 3 p.m., drawing six feet nine inches aft and five feet six inches forward and started on her wild ride through the rapids. The whaleback freighter plowed through the Galops, Iroquois, Long Sault, Coteau, Cedar, Split Rock and Cascade Rapids. She grated the bottom a number of times and had a number of close calls. Captain McDougall stood immobile throughout the trip but great beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. When the vessel finally made it through the Cascades and was safe on Lake St. Louis, the French Canadian pilot left and the crew let out shouts of joy with the whistle blowing. The COLBY was the first screw steamer to attempt running the rapids.

On 16 June 1892, GENERAL BURNSIDE (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 308 gross tons, built in 1862, at Wolfe Island, Ontario) foundered in a powerful northwest gale on Lake Erie near Southeast Shoal Light. Her crew was rescued by the tug GREGORY.

The steamer UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger/package freight steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons) was built by Alexander Anderson at Marine City, Michigan. She was launched stern first at 3:00 p.m. on 16 June 1894. There was quite a crowd assembled to watch the launch. While waiting for the launch, Engineer Merrill of the steamer MARY composed the following verse:

"The new steamer Unique
Made a beautiful suique
On a direction oblique
Into a big crique,
So to spique."

The vessel was painted a bright yellow up to the promenade deck with white cabins and upper works. In 1901, she left the upper lakes and was chartered for the Thousand Islands cruise trade. Later that year, she was sold to Philadelphia buyers for Delaware River service. Her upper cabins were removed in 1904, when she was rebuilt as a yacht. She lasted until 20 November 1915, when she burned to a total loss in New York harbor.

On 16 June 1905, at 2:00 a.m., a fire was discovered around the smokestack of the North Shore Navigation Company's CITY OF COLLINGWOOD (wooden propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 213 foot, 1,387 gross tons, built in 1893, at Owen Sound, Ontario) burned at the Grand Trunk Railway docks at Collingwood, Ontario and was destroyed along with the dock and nearby sheds. Four died, but most of crew jumped overboard. Captain Wright had gone to his home on Pine St. about an hour before and was preparing for bed when he heard four whistles sounded by the steamer BRITTANIC, which was laying alongside. He ran to the dock, went aboard and woke the 1st mate J. D. Montgomery and a wheelsman. They had to jump to the dock to escape the flames. James Meade, Lyman Finch, A. McClellan, and another unidentified crewmember who had just joined the vessel at the Soo were all sleeping in the forecastle and lost their lives.

In 1967, the FEUX FOLLETS (Hull#188) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., for Papachristidis Co. Ltd. She was the last steam-powered lake ship. Renamed in 1972 as b.) CANADIAN LEADER and scrapped in 2012.

Upbound in the Welland Canal on June 16, 1963, loaded with iron ore for Chicago, U.S. Steel's BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS suffered bow damage in collision with Canadian steamer RALPH S. MISENER. In 1918, the WILLIAM P. SNYDER JR was in collision with the steamer GEORGE W. PERKINS in Duluth Harbor resulting in damage of $5,000 to both vessels.

On 16 June 1861, ANDOVER (2-mast wooden schooner, 98 foot, 190 tons, built in 1844, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm and ground on Pointe aux Barques reef on Lake Huron. Though not thought to be seriously damaged, she resisted all efforts by the tug ZOUAVE to release her. She was finally stripped and abandoned.

On 16 June 1887, CHAMPLAIN (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 135 foot, 438 gross tons, built in 1870, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying passengers, merchandise and horses on Lake Michigan when an engine room lamp exploded. The fire spread so quickly that the pumps could not be started. She headed for Fisherman's Island, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, but struck a bar and sank a mile short of the beach. 22 of the 57 persons aboard died, most from drowning. Although initially declared a total loss, the hull was towed into Harbor Springs, Michigan, then taken to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and rebuilt as CITY OF CHARLEVOIX. She was also lengthened to 165 foot. She lasted until 1924, when she burned at her lay-up dock in Manistee, Michigan. At that time, she was named KANSAS.