Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/18 - Toledo, Ohio - – Two of three ships delayed at the Port of Toledo by a labor dispute left the dock Wednesday after the U.S. Coast Guard approved a plan to use tugboats to pull the ships into open water, rather than relying on harbor pilots whose refusal to cross a longshoremen picket line had led to the bottleneck.

(Editor’s Note: A third vessel, Reggeborg, departed after this article was posted.)

Montreal-based Fednav, which owns the freighters Federal Champlain and Federal Kumano, initially sought a waiver from the Coast Guard that would have allowed the company to maneuver its ships away from the docks without the assistance of a pilot. That request was denied.

But Coast Guard spokesman Lorne Thomas said a second request to use tugboats to pull the ships about 500 feet away from the dock and then deliver pilots to the vessels so they could continue their voyages to their next ports was given the OK.

“That was safe and a legal approach, so we did not object to that plan,” Mr. Thomas told The Blade.

The Champlain had been delayed for about 10 days, and the Kumano for a shorter time, when the pilots — required by regulation to guide overseas vessels through unfamiliar harbors and channels — refused to cross a picket line set up by International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1982. The union has been engaged in a long-running dispute with Midwest Terminals of Toledo International, the stevedore company operating the dock under contract with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

Keeping the ships tied up there had been seen by the union as a key bargaining chip in its battle with Midwest. Union officials have said the delay could cost the shipping companies and the terminal tens of thousands of dollars a day.

Local 1982 and Midwest have been embroiled in a long-standing and complex conflict laced with allegations of racial discrimination and unfair labor practices. Having received decertification petitions from a majority of Local 1982’s members, the company no longer officially recognizes the union, while the union has challenged those petitions as the product of Midwest’s allegedly unfair practices.

William Yockey, trustee of Local 1982, expressed frustration with the Coast Guard on Wednesday, suggesting it had broken rules that require it to stay out of labor disputes.

"We're very disappointed that the 9th Coast Guard District intervened in a labor dispute to let these ships go off the dock without a pilot,” he said.

Though the tug operators who moved the freighters also are represented by a union, Mr. Yockey said there were no provisions in their contract that allow them to refuse to cross another union’s picket. Once the Federal Champlain and Federal Kumano were out in the harbor, Mr. Yockey said the pilots were “duty bound” to take the ship.

The freighter Reggeborg, another ship affected by the pilots’ refusal to pass the picket line, remained at the port authority dock Wednesday, though Mr. Thomas said the Reggeborg’s owner was working on a plan similar to that of Fednav to get its ship free.

Alex Johnson, president of Midwest Terminals, said his company was unaware of arrangements Fednav had made for its ships to depart other than receiving notice that dock workers were needed to assist them in doing so.

Marc Gagnon, director of government affairs for Fednav said the company had advised its owner, Royal Wagenborg of The Netherlands, of the means it had used to move its ships. An inquiry to Royal Wagenborg yielded no response by Tuesday evening.

The Fednav spokesman said his company was still calculating its costs associated with the incident, which included hiring a tug to come from Cleveland to assist with the departure maneuver as well as the value of the two ships’ lost time.

But it was, he said, “an extremely expensive delay for something that is not our case,” and until the specter of similar delay is lifted, Fednav will have to think carefully before booking any cargoes to or from the Midwest-managed dock.

“I think it’s fair to say every ship owner will hesitate” to serve that part of the Toledo port, Mr. Gagnon said.

While the Kumano headed downriver toward Maumee Bay and its next call in Sarnia, Ont., the Champlain sailed up the Maumee River to the ADM grain elevator on Miami Street, where it was to take on a soybean cargo destined for Italy, Mr. Gagnon said.

Toledo Blade


5/18 - Some gorgeous images of sunrises, colorful sunsets and big-water scenes have been flowing out from the U.S. Coast Guard crews plying the Great Lakes this spring. As the boats that traverse lakes Michigan, Huron, Superior and Erie have been switching over from ice-breaking duties to working on the big navigational buoys in the last month, those aboard have been getting some great photographs and sharing them on social media.

These little nautical gems give us a glimpse into places many of us landlubbers will never get to see. We're sharing a few of them here, with thanks to the Coast Guard members who framed such great shots.

For Petty Officer First Class Tom Westfall, the sunrise-to-sunset views aboard the 225-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alder is never something he takes for granted. He grew up amid the mountains of West Virginia, and later marveled at the expanse of Middle East desert when deployed overseas. But it's the Great Lakes he considers his home now - and it's a sight that never gets old.

"The Great Lakes have the best sunsets," said Westfall, who manages the Alder's Facebook page and takes many of the pictures featured there. "Just about every sunset or sunrise is about as good as it gets on the lakes."

Westfall, 35, has been in the Coast Guard for 14 years. He served for three years on the Hollyhock, another Coast Guard cutter, and expects to serve four on the Alder.

The Alder, nicknamed "King of the Waters," is based in Duluth, Minn. It spends much of its time working in Lake Superior.

Westfall also likes using his pictures to keep the crews' families in touch when their loved ones are far away. He manages a Facebook page just for the Alder's 50 families, and is always happy to see when parents and siblings like the photos and follow along on their adventures. "I like to share the views that no one else has."

View the images at this link: www.mlive.com/expo/erry-2018/05/45b622358d4336/coast_guard_crews_capture_amaz.html


On 18 May 1872, the 3-mast wooden schooner MARQUETTE was holed in northern Lake Huron by a floating log. The crew manned the hand-operated bilge pumps but could not keep up with the incoming water. The steamer ANNIE YOUNG took the MARQUETTE in tow even though she was sinking and headed for Cheboygan, Michigan. During the tow, the schooner stopped sinking and arrived in port no lower in the water than she had been earlier. An investigation revealed that a large fish got caught in the hole and plugged it.
The WILLIAM C. ATWATER departed Sandusky, Ohio May 18, 1925, on her maiden voyage loaded with coal bound for Duluth, Minnesota. She was the first freighter on the Great Lakes equipped with a gyro compass. She was renamed b.) E. J. KULAS in 1936, c.) BEN MOREELL in 1953, d.) THOMAS E MILLSOP in 1955, e.) E. J. NEWBERRY in 1976, and f.) CEDARGLEN in 1982. She was scrapped at Port Maitland, Ontario in 1994.

Bethlehem Steel's steamer JOHNSTOWN cleared Erie May 18, 1985, for Quebec City under tow bound for Spain for scrapping. This vessel was the first post-war built U.S. laker to be scrapped.

On May 18, 1903, the MAUNALOA hit and sank the 69-foot wooden tug EDWARD GILLEN at Superior, Wisconsin.

May 18, 1992 -- The BADGER made her maiden voyage for the newly formed Lake Michigan Carferry Service.

On 18 May 1853, CITIZEN (wooden schooner, 54 tons, built in 1847, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was driven aground 6 miles north of Chicago. The U. S. Navy steamer MICHIGAN tried in vain to pull her off, breaking a 14" hawser in the process. She was reportedly the first vessel built at Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

On 18 May 1882, AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller, passenger packet & tug, 105 foot, 161 gross tons, built in 1880, at Sandusky, Ohio) was racing off Kelley's Island on Lake Erie when her boiler exploded. Six lives were lost. She was later raised and repaired and lasted until 1908.

18 May 1894: A big storm swept the Lakes on 18 May 1894. The next day, the Port Huron Times gave the following account of the shipwrecks in that storm: "The big storm on Lake Michigan has cost the lives of many men. Only 2 men were saved from the schooner M J CUMMINGS, 6 lost. The C C BARNES is ashore at Milwaukee but the crew was saved. The schooner MYRTLE was wrecked just outside the government pier within a half mile of Michigan Blvd. in Chicago with 6 lost. The schooner LINCOLN DALL went to pieces at Glencoe, 8 miles north of Chicago. She was 196 tons. The schooner JACK THOMPSON, 199 tons, wrecked off 25th Street. The schooner EVENING STAR, 203 tons, wrecked off 27th Street but her crew was saved. The schooner MERCURY of Grand Haven, 278 tons, wrecked off 27th Street and her crew rescued. The schooner J LOOMIS McLAREN, 272 tons, wrecked off 27th Street. The schooner RAINBOW of Milwaukee, 243 tons, wrecked off 100th Street; the crew was rescued. The schooner C J MIXER, 279 tons, wrecked off 100th Street; crew rescued. The schooner WM SHUPE waterlogged and ashore at Lexington, Michigan on Lake Huron. Four were drowned in an attempted rescue. The scow ST CATHARINES is ashore at Rock Falls near Sand Beach. The crew reached shore safely but the boat will fare badly."

1919 – CITY OF MEAFORD, a wooden-hulled passenger freighter was destroyed by fire at the dock in Collingwood.

1922 – GLENFINNAN, downbound with grain, and MIDLAND KING collided in fog southeast of Passage Isle, Lake Superior, and both masters received two-month suspensions.

1928 – The whaleback steamer JOHN ERICSSON was heavily damaged in a collision with the A.F. HARVEY of the Pittsburgh SS Co. in fog on Lake Huron. The latter was lost as b) CEDARVILLE in another collision on May 7, 1965.

1971 – TRANSPACIFIC was entering the harbor at the island of St. Pierre in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to get technical help for a malfunctioning radar when the ship stranded on the rocks. The West German freighter, a regular Seaway trader since 1959, was abandoned. The hull has gradually broken apart by the elements over the years.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 21 May 1883, SAILOR BOY (2-mast wooden scow-schooner, 75 foot, 76 net tons, built in 1866, at Algonac, Michigan) was carrying wood from Pierport, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She anchored outside Milwaukee harbor waiting for a gale to abate but she broke her anchor chains and was driven aground. Her crew of three made it to shore on a line with help from bystanders on the beach.
AMERICAN REPUBLIC's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1981, from Sturgeon Bay light to Escanaba, Michigan, to load ore pellets for Cleveland, Ohio. She now sails as GREAT REPUBLIC.

Interlake Steamship Co.'s HENRY G. DALTON's maiden voyage was on May 21, 1916. She was scrapped at Vado, Italy, in 1973.

UNITED STATES GYPSUM in tow of the German tug FAIRPLAY X was lost in heavy weather on May 21, 1973, near Sydney, Nova Scotia.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS, stranded near Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie on May 21, 1974, suffering an estimated $150,000 in damage.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on by Alexander Tromley & Company. She was built by the owner.

On 21 May 1864, the NILE (wooden passenger/package freight vessel, 190 foot, 650 tons, built in 1852, at Ohio City, Ohio) was sitting at her dock in Detroit, Michigan, with passengers, household goods, and horses and wagons aboard when her boiler exploded, destroying the ship and killing eight of the crew. Large pieces of her boiler flew as far as 300 feet while other pieces damaged houses across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. A large timber was thrown through the brick wall of a nearby shoe store, striking the cobbler in the back of the head and killing him. At least 13 other crew members and passengers were injured. The wreck was moved to the foot of Clark Street in Detroit in July 1864, where it remained until it was finally dynamited in August 1882.

May 21, 1923 - ANN ARBOR NO 4 was refloated after sinking at Frankfort, Michigan, the previous February.

After spending three weeks in quarantine at Buffalo, New York, because of the discovery of smallpox on board, the steamer JOHN OADES has been released and has started on her way to Duluth.

1919: FERDINAND SCHLESSINGER, enroute from Erie, Pa., to Port Arthur, Ont., with 3,514 tons of coal, began leaking in a storm and sank 15 miles off Passage Island, Lake Superior. The crew was picked up by the ASSINIBOIA

1932: The C.P.R. passenger ship MANITOBA goes aground in Georgian Bay off Cape Croker in heavy fog and has to be lightered before being released the next day.

1942: TROISDOC is the latest member of the Paterson fleet to be a victim of enemy action in World War Two. It was torpedoed by U-558 about 40 miles west of Jamaica and the crew escaped in the lifeboats. The vessel was enroute from Mobile, AL to Georgetown, British Guiana, with 55,700 bags of cement, vegetables, 1600 cases of beer and cigarettes.

1963: The Taiwanese freighter VAN YUNG had visited the Great Lakes in 1960 and 1961. It was laid up at Keelung, Taiwan, on this day due to fire damage and was sold for scrap in October 1963.

1965: Leaks developed in the boiler room of the Norwegian freighter LIONNE and the ship, enroute from Caen, France, to Montreal, sank in the Atlantic. Two members of the crew were lost. The vessel had made 5 trips through the Seaway from 1961 to 1963.

1973: The retired American Steamship Company self-unloader UNITED STATES GYPSUM, under tow for scrapping at Vado, Italy, broke loose in the Atlantic off Sydney, NS and sank.

1979: The second PRINS WILLEM V, a Dutch freighter of 1956 vintage, was damaged extensively by a fire amidships while idle at Port Elizabeth, South Africa as f) ARAXOS. It has been for sale and was scrapped at Durban, South Africa, in 1981.

2007: A fire broke out in the engine room of the Canadian-owned salty UMIAVUT while enroute from Kolundborg, Denmark, to La Corogne, Spain, with 8600 tons of flour. The ship was towed into Brest, France, and repaired. It visited the Great Lakes as b) LINDENGRACHT in 2000 and was back as c) UMIAVUT in 2011.

On 20 May 1872, the ironclad passenger/package freight steamer MERCHANT struck a rock and sank at the mouth of the Detroit River. No one was injured. The wrecking tugs MAGNET and HERCULES took off the cargo of railroad iron and general merchandise, then attached two pontoons, but the vessel would not budge. On 26 May, the steamers MACKINAW and SWEEPSTAKES joined the scene and d two more pontoons. With all the steam pumps working, the MERCHANT still would not budge. Two days later, two more pontoons were added and the MERCHANT finally floated free and was towed to Detroit for repairs. She had two holes in her hull, one of which was a gash 23 feet long.
On May 20, 1909, while lying at the Lackawanna Coal Dock at Buffalo, New York, the LeGRAND S. DEGRAFF was struck by the SONORA, which caused $4,000 in damage to the DEGRAFF. Later renamed b.) GEORGE G. CRAWFORD in 1911. She was scrapped at Duluth, Minnesota in 1976.

The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT sank on Lake Huron two miles above Port Huron, Michigan in a collision with the steamer AUGUST ZIESING on May 20, 1960, with no loss of life.

On May 20, 1967, during docking maneuvers in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River, the W.W. HOLLOWAY's KaMeWa propeller shaft sheared off and the propeller reportedly sank to the bottom.

The RENOWN (Hull#396) was launched May 20, 1912, at Lorain, Ohio by American Ship Building Co. for the Standard Oil Co. Renamed b.) BEAUMONT PARKS in 1930 and c.) MERCURY in 1957.

WILLIAM A. McGONAGLE (Hull#154) was launched May 20, 1916, at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Renamed b.) HENRY STEINBRENNER in 1986.

On 20 May 1862, BAY CITY (wooden propeller tug, 199 foot, 480 tons, built in 1852, at Trenton, Michigan) sprang a leak in a storm and sank near Port Burwell, Ontario. She then washed in to shallow water. Her crew was rescued by the tug WINSLOW. Her engine and boiler were removed in June and July of that year.

On 20 May 1875, the passenger package freight vessel GLADYS was launched at D. Lestor's yard in Marine City, Michigan for the Toledo & Saginaw Transportation Company. Her dimensions were 135 feet overall x 26 feet x 10 feet. She had twelve staterooms and along with ample cargo space. The pilot house was forward, 8 feet square and 11 feet high. The engines, from the old ESTABROOK and, previous to that, from DAN RHODES, were two high-pressure double engines acting on one shaft with an 8 foot propeller. She also had a pony engine to feed water to the boilers and wash the decks. She was sold Canadian in 1877, and renamed NORTHERN BELLE and lasted until November 1898, when she burned on Georgian Bay.

1923 – The steel bulk carrier EDWARD U. DEMMER sank in the deep waters of Lake Huron after a collision with the SATURN at 0740 hours, in heavy fog, while about 40 miles southeast of Thunder Bay Island. All on board were saved.

1924 – STATE OF OHIO, an iron sidewheel passenger steamer, burned at Cleveland on this date in 1924. It was rebuilt as a barge but stranded on the main breakwall at Lorain on December 17, 1929, and became a total loss.

1928 – CLEARWATER stranded near Trinity Bay, in the St. Lawrence while inbound with a cargo of pulpwood and was blown on the beach. The brand-new vessel was abandoned to the insurers but the hull was salvaged in July, repaired and returned to service later in the year as TRENORA. It last sailed as KEYSHEY in 1963.

1942 – TORONDOC of the Paterson fleet went south for the bauxite trade during World War Two. German broadcasts reported that it was torpedoed and sunk by U-69 on this date. All of the 23-member crew were lost when the ship went down in the vicinity of the French island of Martinique.

1945 – CALGARY had operated on the Great Lakes from 1912 to 1916 but left for the sea and was converted to a tanker in 1921. The ship was renamed b) BACOI and served on coastal runs for Standard Oil and even returned to the Great Lakes in 1938. It suffered an explosion and fire while in the Cape Cod Canal on this date in 1945 and had to be beached. It was scrapped at Jersey City in 1948.

1946 – The Georgian Bay area passenger ship MANITOULIN stranded at Clapperton Island but was released the next day by the tug NORTHERN.

1960 – The STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT settled on the bottom of Lake Huron, with her decks above water, after a collision in fog with the upbound AUGUST ZIESING. The former was refloated, sold to Redwood Enterprises and came into Canadian service as ELMDALE. The latter resumed trading for U.S. Steel after bow repairs.

1960 – PAUL H. TOWNSEND was hit from behind by the British freighter TYNEMOUTH on foggy Lake Huron while trying to avoid the wrecked STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT and the anchored AUGUST ZIESING. The PAUL H. TOWNSEND had stern plates damaged while the salty sustained bow damage. TYNEMOUTH had become a regular Seaway trader in 1959 and made 18 trips inland through 1967. It ran aground off Fuga Island, the Philippines as b) EASTERN RIVER on April 24, 1971, and became a total loss.

1981 – The West German freighter VIRGILIA made 30 trips to the Great Lakes between 1959 and 1967. It was renamed b) MARIA in 1974 and suffered an engineroom fire in the Red Sea and had to be abandoned while enroute from Mersin, Turkey, to Bombay, India, on this date in 1981. The hull was towed to shallow water and beached about 5 miles south of Suez. It was later sold, via auction, and apparently scrapped as c) FARIDA II at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, in 1989.

On 19 May 1894, LORETTA (wooden propeller freighter, 140 foot, 395 gross tons, built in 1892, at Sebewaing, Michigan as a schooner) was driven ashore near the mouth of the Au Sable River at Oscoda, Michigan in a terrible gale. She was heavily damaged but the crew was rescued. She was salvaged and put back in service but only lasted for two more years when she burned.
SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY (Hull#164) was launched May 19, 1906 at Wyandotte, Michigan by Detroit Ship Building Co. for the National Steamship Co. She was scrapped at Castellon, Spain in 1969.

On May 19, 1973, the whaleback tanker METEOR was moved from the Pipeline Tankers dock to a permanent berth on Barkers Island at Superior, Wisconsin to serve as a museum ship.

B.F. JONES and EDWARD S. KENDRICK, towed by the Polish tug KORAL, arrived for scrapping at Castellon, Spain, near Barcelona on the Mediterranean Sea, on May 19, 1973, a trip of over 4,000 miles. The LAKE WINNIPEG in tow of the tug IRVING CEDAR arrived in Portugal on May 19, 1985. She was the largest Canadian laker and the first Seaway-sized ship, as of that date, to be scrapped.

On 19 May 1835, PARROTT (wooden 2-mast schooner, 43 foot, 20 tons, built in 1834, at Ashtabula, Ohio) sailed for Detroit, Michigan carrying iron, glass, whiskey, and hogs on deck. She never made it. The following day, west of Ashtabula, many of the hogs swam ashore and later a lot of gear from the boat drifted to the beach. No storm was mentioned and all six onboard lost their lives. She had been enrolled to a new owner the day before she set sail.

On 19 May 1876, the Port Huron Times reported that Capt. Alexander McDougall, formerly master of the steamer JAPAN, had built a large steam fish boat named SASKIWIT at Buffalo during the winter and was then sailing from there to Marquette, Michigan.

5/19 - Superior, Wis. – The first leg of the scrap tow for the long-idle American Victory began Friday morning when the tugs Kentucky and Arkansas moved her from the old NP ore dock over to Fraser Shipyards in Superior, reportedly to have its unloading boom removed. Once that work is done, it is expected she will be towed down the lakes and eventually overseas for scrapping.

5/20 - Chicago, Ill. – Chicago Coast Guard units hosted a week-long training seminar for Coast Guard stations, prevention departments and intelligence divisions from around the Great Lakes region to discuss the topic of illegal passenger vessel operations.

Boarding officers, intelligence officers, marine inspectors and marine investigators from as far away as Michigan, Wisconsin and New York received training on topics that included public outreach and education, how to recognize potential illegal charter vessels, boarding procedures, and Coast Guard regulations.

Speakers from Illinois Department of Natural Resources also shared best practices from last summer when the Coast Guard, in coordination with IDNR, terminated the voyages of 22 vessels for conducting illegal charter operations on Lake Michigan and the Illinois River near Starved Rock.

“Operators of vessels who are unlicensed and transporting paying passengers put those passengers and other boaters as risk,” said Cmdr. Zeita Merchant, commanding officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago. “Our goal is to educate vessel operators and the public about the concerns, consequences and dangers of this issue. We’re also here to help those vessel operators who are unaware they are operating illegally and who want to come into compliance.”

Coast Guard and IDNR will be patrolling the Chicago area waterways this summer, keeping the waterways safe by enforcing federal and state boating regulations.

USCG

5/20 - Ludington, Mich. – A Michigan lighthouse is getting an update that will allow visitors to better experience the historic structure. The Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association is in the process of restoring 14 portholes that adorn the 57-foot Ludington North Breakwater Light on Lake Michigan.

The original, circular windows, installed when the lighthouse was first lit in 1924, had begun to leak and been painted over several times, making them inoperable.

Furthermore, the glass or Plexiglass in some cases, had become so weather damaged that guests who visited the light in the summer months couldn't see out of them, depriving visitors of a majestic view of Lake Michigan and Pere Marquette Harbor. Prior to the restoration, only one of the 14 portholes would open

"The portholes are an integral part of the lighthouse," said SPLKA Executive Director Peter Manting. "This work will make it a lot more comfortable and allow guests to see out of them. Now they can take their camera and take photos of what's passing by the porthole. Plus, we can open them up and get a breeze in the lighthouse."

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/porthole_restoration_project_b.html

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/22 - Port Robinson, Ont. – On quiet days, Rick Giammattolla has time to get out his fishing pole while sitting in a "nice comfortable chair" along the canal bank. It can be a laid-back job for the retired banker who spends the summer months at the helm of Bridge-it, the aluminum pontoon boat that carries passengers across the Welland Canal in Port Robinson.

"I do have a fishing pole. I do fish here when there are no passengers," says Giammattolla, who retired from a career in the banking industry a few years ago. But as the summer nears, Giammattolla suspects that his fishing pole will remain tucked away more often than not.

Despite a rainy start to the season on Saturday, about 20 passengers climbed aboard Bridge-it for the first ferry rides of the season. And Sunday, cyclists arrived by the dozens to enjoy the free ride across the waterway.

On a typical day, Giammattolla says as many as 75 passengers will cross the canal aboard Bridge-it, and as many as 150 per day on weekends. About 80 per cent of them are cyclists.

The ferry service — that began 1977 to replace the Port Robinson lift bridge that was reduced to a pile of twisted metal in a collision with the Steelton cargo ship three years earlier — has become an integral part of cycling along Niagara's trails over the decades, drawing cyclists from throughout the region.

"We've had days where there have been well over 300, the day the Freewheelers had a Bridge-it promotional day, and all of their riders and friends were encouraged to come down and go for a ride. We had 336 (passengers) that day," Giammattolla says, referring to the St. Catharines-based Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club.

The ferry's fame has even reached beyond Niagara's borders too, attracting a growing number of people from other parts of the province. Giammattolla recalled crossing the canal with a cyclist from Ottawa last summer, who told him he travelled to Niagara specifically to experience the ferry ride.

Meanwhile, shops on the far side of the canal have started posting advertisements beside Bridge-it's dock hoping to lure customers over for an ice-cream cone or a cold beer, leveraging the fame of the only active ferry service on the canal.

But in addition to the increasing number of cyclists using the ferry, Giammattolla suspects there might soon be an increase in local users, too — as a result of a huge residential development, a little more than a kilometre away.

Services and roads have been added to the Empire Legacy subdivision, and the first of more than 1,000 townhouses and single-detached homes planned for the site have been built.

In years to come, when people start moving in to those homes, "you're going to need a bigger boat," Giammattolla says, snagging a famous line from Jaws.

It's Giammattolla's second season at the helm of Bridge-it — offering rides daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. until the end of August, and then from 9 a.m. until dusk throughout September and October.

But even when the canal is frozen over during the winter months, Giammattolla doesn't stray far from his love for boating. "I've always been in love with the water and boating," he says. "I spend the winter on a boat in the Bahamas, and I spend the summer here."

Rides on Bridge-it are free, with funding shared by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. and other nearby entities. Last year the ferry and its two docks were upgraded to allow people with disabilities to take advantage of the service.

The St. Catharines Standard


On 22 May 1901, FRANK H. PEAVEY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 430 foot, 5,002 gross tons) was launched at the American Ship Building Company (Hull #309) in Lorain, Ohio, for the Peavey Syndicate. She lasted until 1934, when she struck the south pier while entering Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped the following year.
A.H. FERBERT (Hull#289) was launched this day in 1942, at River Rouge, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. May 22nd was the tenth National Maritime Day and on that day 21 other ships were launched nationwide to celebrate the occasion. The "super" IRVING S. OLDS was launched the same day at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. This marked the last of the "Super Carrier" build program. The others were the BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, LEON FRASER and ENDERS M. VOORHEES.

SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY sailed under her own power down the Seaway on May 22, 1969, for the last time and arrived at Quebec City.

BAYFAIR was launched as the a.) COALHAVEN (Hull#134) at Haverton-Hill-on-Tees, U.K. by Furness Shipbuilding Co. in 1928.

While bound for Escanaba, Michigan to load ore, the JOSEPH BLOCK grounded at Porte des Morts Passage, on Green Bay, May 22, 1968, and was released the same day by the Roen tug ARROW. The BLOCK's hull damage extended to 100 bottom plates. Surrendered to the under-writers and sold in June that year to Lake Shipping Inc. Built as the a.) ARTHUR H. HAWGOOD in 1907, She was renamed c.) GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER in 1969, she was scrapped at Ramey’s Bend in 1979.

The 143-foot wooden brig JOSEPH was launched at Bay City, Michigan, on 21 May 1867. She was built for Alexander Tromley & Company.

CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE was launched at David Lester's yard in Marine City, Michigan, on 22 May 1875. Her master carpenter was John J. Hill. She was a wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel built for the Detroit-New Baltimore route. Her dimensions were 96 foot keel, 101 feet overall x 20 feet x 6 foot 6 inches, 130 tons. Her boiler was made by J. & T. McGregor of Detroit. Her engine was built by Morton Hamblin & Company of St. Clair, Michigan. She was rebuilt as a tug in 1910, and lasted until abandoned in 1916.

1914: W.H. GILBERT sank in Lake Huron, about 15 miles off Thunder Bay Island following a collision with CALDERA. There was no loss of life. The hull was located in 1982 and rests at a depth of about 200 feet. CALDERA later became b) A.T. KINNEY and c) HILLSDALE.

1942: FRANK B. BAIRD was sunk by gunfire from U-158 on the Atlantic while bound for Sydney, NS with a cargo of bauxite. All of the crew were saved and later picked up by the Norwegian freighter TALISMAN and landed at Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Guinea

1978: AGIOS NICOLAOS, a Seaway caller in 1968, was about 60 miles north of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, enroute to Kuwait, when an explosion and subsequent fire erupted in the engine room. The ship was gutted, towed into Kuwait and abandoned. The vessel was later broken up. As a) BORGHOLM, it began trading to the Great Lakes in 1953 and made 21 voyages through the Seaway from 1959 to 1967.

1979: IRISH PINE made 19 trips through the Seaway from 1960 through 1964 for Irish Shipping. It arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on this date in 1979 as c) ARAMON. The ship had been traveling from Piraeus, Greece, to Port Sudan, Sudan, when the cargo of bitumen solidified in the holds. The vessel was sold for scrap and dispatched to Kaohsiung to be dismantled by the Taiwan Ship Scrap Co. Ltd., with the cargo still on board. Work began on July 18, 1979

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/23 - Port Huron, Mich. – The president of a shipping company said the fisherman who captured a freighter heading toward the Port Huron boardwalk wasn't the only one rather excited Monday night. "The crew on board were excited," said Brian Ritchie, president of Rigel Shipping.

Port Huron resident Chad Rickert posted the video on Facebook, showing him quickly moving his fishing gear before fleeing from the railing as the lights of the freighter moved closer. The video had more than 41,000 views as of shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday. Rickert could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ritchie said the captain of the Jana Desgagnes provided the ship managing company with a full report. He said a pilot was aboard the vessel when an incorrect command was given out to go to port when it should have been starboard.

Ritchie said the captain was on the bridge and quickly corrected the error. "We can't deny it was what we call a near miss," Ritchie said. "It was a close call and we don't like those."

He said the pilot who made the error had been on the vessel before. "What's puzzling about the whole thing is, as far as we're concerned, the pilot is a very competent pilot," Ritchie said.

He said the vessel is carrying clean refined oil and heading to Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, Ont.

Dan Gallagher, president of Lakes Pilots Associaion, said they did not have a pilot aboard the vessel. He said it is possible it was a Canadian pilot.

Port Huron Times Herald


5/23 - Erie, Pa. – Erie’s second tall ship will soon be in port following what amounts to a 1,800-mile shakedown voyage to Erie from the vessel’s New York City home. Within the next week, expect to see the fishing schooner Lettie G. Howard, owned by the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City, berthed next to the U.S. Brig Niagara behind the Erie Maritime Museum.

The twin-masted schooner, built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts, will offer public days sails and school-day sails when the Niagara is away on its Great Lakes summer sail-training schedule this year and next.

A collaboration with the South Street Seaport Museum will allow the Flagship Niagara League to operate the Lettie G. Howard with Niagara crew.

Flagship Niagara League Executive Director and Fleet Captain Billy Sabatini expects the Lettie G. Howard to arrive in Erie by Memorial Day. Public day sails are scheduled to start June 15 and will go daily through summer. School-day sails will start in September.

The Lettie can carry a maximum of 37 passengers, including children under 12 as long as they weigh more than 33 pounds. Starting on June 15, two public day sails will be scheduled daily Monday through Thursday. There will be three public day sails on Fridays, five on Saturdays and four on Sundays. A daily sunset sail is scheduled, and the vessel also will offer private sails.

GoErie.com


Manitowoc, Wis.
Bradshaw McKee arrived around 1430 Tuesday to unload cement. Fishing boat Kaho remained docked at Burger Boat for repairs.


5/23 - Port McNicoll, Ont. – Eric Conroy says Owen Sound's inner harbor would have been a “perfect” home for the refurbished S.S. Keewatin, the Edwardian-era steamship-turned-museum that originally operated out of the local port. “I would have loved to see it happen,” the president and CEO of Friends of the Keewatin said Tuesday.

“The site right outside of the heritage railway station; the work's all done, the dock is there, the gardens are there. We wouldn't have had to spend a penny. We could have just pulled up, tied up and gone to work.

“And the people in Owen Sound – there's a great, built-in organization in terms of volunteers there. Bringing it back to its home base – if I had to leave Port McNicoll – that would be the place I'd want to take it.”

But Conroy, who spent this past winter trying to secure a new location for the 111-year-old passenger vessel, said he's also relieved that a deal has been struck that, if awarded final approval, will allow the ship to remain in Port McNicoll.

The agreement would mean the Friends' group could continue operating the ship as a museum in the same spot where it spent more than a million dollars last year to build a dock and park to support the vessel as a tourist attraction.

“And now I won't have to move the ship. Even though it's a short ride up to Owen Sound, every time you take that thing on the open water, there's a risk involved,” Conroy said. “The other huge thing is the volunteers here. It is what it is because of the people here that made it what it is. The fact that it's going to stay here, I think is fabulous for them.”

The S.S. Keewatin was built in Scotland in 1907 in the same Edwardian tradition as the RMS Titanic. The luxury liner was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and she and her sister ship, the S.S. Assiniboia, joined three other vessels at their home port in Owen Sound to transport passengers, freight and mail between here and Fort William, now part of Thunder Bay. The ships provided an important link between CPR railway lines in southern Ontario and the top of the Great Lakes.

The CPR fleet, including the Keewatin, moved to Port McNicoll after the CPR grain elevator in Owen Sound burned down in December 1911.

The Keewatin was decommissioned in 1965. It was then destined to be scrapped, but was saved in 1967 by an American marina owner who purchased her, towed her to Saugatuck, Mich., and established the ship as a maritime museum. Skyline International bought the ship in 2011, made her seaworthy and towed her back to Port McNicoll in 2012.

The company intended to incorporate the Keewatin into its plan to develop an 11-kilometre piece of shoreline in Port McNicoll into a community with hundreds of homes, a yacht club, marina, retail shops and entertainment facilities. However, Skyline ended up doing little with the property and sold it last spring to a partnership that includes CIM International.

The reported $42-million sale did not include the Keewatin, which forced Skyline and the Friends' group – established in 2012 to save, restore and operate the ship as a museum – to begin searching for a new home for the historic vessel.

Conroy told The Sun Times in January that Skyline's first choice for the new location was Midland due to its proximity to Port McNicoll. If that plan didn't work out, the company intended to explore other options, such as moving the ship to Owen Sound, he said.

Friends of Keewatin, on behalf of Skyline Investments, presented Midland council with a proposal in late February that would have seen the town receive the vessel and its contents at no cost in exchange for Skyline receiving a federal tax receipt from Midland for the fair market value of the ship, appraised at $48 million.

Skyline also offered to fund relocation and renovation costs and ensure the ship didn't operate at a loss for a decade. Midland council didn't accept the offer before a March 19 deadline set by Skyline, saying it needed more time to complete its due diligence.

Conroy said while exploring options for the Keewatin's new home, he made a few trips to Owen Sound to give talks on the ship. He was a guest lecturer for the Bluewater Association for Lifelong Learning in December and guest speaker May 1 at the annual general meeting for the Community Waterfront Heritage Centre, which operates a marine and rail museum in the former Canadian National train station on Owen Sound's inner harbour.

Conroy said he never heard back from anyone in Owen Sound who was interested in working with the Friends' group to relocate the ship to the Scenic City. He said since his most recent visit to Owen Sound, CIM International has presented Skyline with an offer to acquire the vessel and keep it in Port McNicoll.

“They were the ones that said they didn't want the Keewatin and that's what set the whole thing off in the first place,” Conroy said.

“But, you see, they weren't from here. They didn't even know what Georgian Bay was. They're from China, mainland China. But over the last six months, I guess they've done research and now realize (the Keewatin) is something they shouldn't let go of and so they came back to us last week with a substantial offer to stay.”

He said he expects Skyline will accept the proposal. “The offer is to provide the property, financial support and involvement,” he said. “This is more along the lines of doing what Skyline was going to do – tying it into the marketing of the homes. So they'll be a marketing partner, plus.”

The offer must still be signed by Skyline, he said, and ratified by Tay Township since the vessel would remain docked at a township park.

Owen Sound Sun Times


5/23 - The maritime industry is the lifeblood of United States trade, delivering goods throughout North America and around the world. National Maritime Day, Tuesday, May 22, 2018, recognizes the benefits the maritime industry provides in the U.S. and celebrates those who work on the water. Members of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway shipping industry are among those celebrating National Maritime Day.

“National Maritime Day is an opportunity for all to take a moment to appreciate those who work in the marine industry, who protect our waters and deliver resources across the globe,” said Chamber President Bruce Burrows. “The Chamber of Marine Commerce is proud to work with these organizations and individuals every day.”

Great Lakes-Seaway ships deliver 164 million metric tons of materials every year for North American businesses. This cargo supports 130,000 jobs in the United States and the successful operations of the country’s mining, steel, manufacturing, agricultural, energy and construction sectors. But the benefits go far beyond economic security and job creation.

Marine transport alleviates congested roadways, lowers the risk of accidents and reduces the country’s carbon and air emissions. Shipping is the safest mode of transportation, for both the public and individuals working in the industry. Shipping is about seven times more fuel-efficient than trucks and trains, and has the smallest carbon footprint. (Source: Environmental and Social Impacts of Marine Transport in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway region, Research and Traffic Group.)

In North America, marine transportation on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway provides $3.6 billion in annual transportation cost savings, compared to the all-land transportation alternative. This enhances the global competitiveness of North American products and industries and keeps the cost of consumer goods down.

The Chamber of Marine Commerce


UNIQUE (wooden propeller passenger steamer, 163 foot, 381 gross tons, built in 1894, at Marine City, Michigan) was sold to Philadelphia parties for service on the Delaware River. She left Ogdensburg, New York, on 23 May 1901, for Philadelphia. Her name was changed to DIAMOND STATE. In 1904, she was rebuilt as a yacht and lasted until 1915, when she burned in New York harbor.
The WILLIAM J. DE LANCEY was re-christened on May 23,1990, as b.) PAUL R. TREGURTHA. She is the largest ship on the Great Lakes and was the last Great Lakes ship built at American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio.

American Steamship's H. LEE WHITE completed sea trials on May 23, 1974.

FRED R. WHITE Jr. completed her two-day sea trials in 1979.

The Tomlinson Fleet Corp.'s steel freighter SONOMA (Hull#610) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan, by West Bay City Ship Building Co. on 23 May 1903. She was 416 feet long, 4,539 gross tons. Through her career she had various names: DAVID S TROXEL in 1924, SONOMA in 1927 and finally FRED L. HEWITT in 1950. She was converted to an automobile carrier in 1928, converted back to a bulk carrier in 1942 and then converted to a barge for grain storage in 1955. She was finally scrapped in 1962, at Steel Co. of Canada Ltd. at Hamilton, Ontario.

On 23 May 1889, the wooden steam barge OSCAR T. FLINT (218 foot, 824 gross tons) was launched at the Simon Langell & Sons yard in St. Clair, Michigan. She lasted until 25 November 1909, when she burned and sank off Thunder Bay Island in Lake Huron.

1910: The first FRANK H. GOODYEAR, with a load of ore for Cleveland, was almost cut in two and sank off Pointe aux Barques following a collision in dense fog with the JOSEPH WOOD. Only five sailors survived while another 16 were lost.

1954: EASTDALE, operating on charter to Reoch Transports, ran aground at Collingwood and was refloated May 29. The ship had also visited the Great Lakes as SPRINGDALE and was lost in the Gulf of Bothnia on June 18, 1959, when the cargo of timber shifted in heavy weather.

1959: The Liberian freighter ANDORA, outbound with a cargo of barley, stranded on a shoal below the Snell Lock and proved to be a difficult salvage. The ship initially broke free, spun around and grounded again and was not released until June 18. The cargo was unloaded but ANDORA was deemed not worth repairing and arrived at Savona, Italy, for dismantling on August 15, 1959.

1974: The Canadian tanker CARDINAL, best known as the former IMPERIAL WINDSOR, was badly damaged following a collision with the HENRY STEINBRENNER (iii), in Lake Erie off Point Pelee. The former was never repaired and subsequently scrapped, while the latter went to Lorain for about $100,000 worth of repairs.

1974: A fire broke out in the engine room of the ONTARIO during a voyage from Santos, Brazil, to Montreal and assistance was requested. The Canadian owned vessel had been upbound through the Seaway for the first time on November 8, 1973. The blaze was put out and the ship arrived at Montreal June 6, 1974. It was sold the following month to Tunisian buyers and scrapped as c) REMADA following another fire at Barcelona, Spain, on January 2, 1987.

1988: The first ALGOCAPE, which had run aground in the Lake St. Louis section of the St. Lawrence on May 21, was refloated on this day and cleared to proceed to Baie Comeau, QC, to unload.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/24 - Steaks sizzling on an open-air grill against the rolling backdrop of Lake Superior. Delicate strawberry shortcakes stacked three biscuits high. A recipe from home carefully recreated below deck, just to make your week a little brighter.

Freighters that crisscross the Great Lakes carry more than 100 million tons of cargo each year. Keeping their hardworking crews happy has a lot to do with the talented chief stewards and cooks who keep a seemingly endless stream of meals, snacks and baked goods flowing from the galleys.

"They can eat 24 hours a day if they want to," said Aaron Griffin, chief steward aboard the 826-foot Lee A. Tregurtha, which is run by the Interlake Steamship Company. "You've got to keep them happy. That's the main part of my job is to keep the crew happy."

Think of a ship's galley and eating area as your favorite corner diner, where all the customers are regulars and they're all on a first-name basis. The cooks know just how everyone likes their burgers, which vegetables they'll eye for seconds, and even the late-night snacks a few are trying hard to avoid.

But this floating restaurant is rolling along on lakes Huron, Michigan, Superior and the rest. Groceries have to be ordered ahead from marine supply companies, sometimes delivered by a ship-to-ship crane. And grilling topside might mean having to pull on long underwear first.

For the culinary creators who work on Interlake's fleet of nine Great Lakes ships, this juggling act is typically done on a schedule of 60 to 90 days on ship, and 30 days off.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/great_lakes_chefs_keep_freight.html



5/24 - The tug Reliable, built during the Great Depression in Syracuse and an enduring symbol of the brawny toil of state canal workers, was unceremoniously hauled down the Hudson River by barge last week en route to an ignoble burial at sea.

Maritime historians, who love old tugs with an affection some reserve for retrievers, are shocked at the shabby treatment of Reliable and other cast-off canal vessels scheduled to be sunk for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's artificial reef project off Long Island.

"A lot of us were appalled watching the Reliable hauled down the river. It is being done so quickly and without time to weigh other options," said Craig Williams, a retired State Museum senior historian and a board member of the Canal Society of New York State.

Williams documented the final journey of Reliable with photographs and video and said the sight "made me sick to my stomach." He commiserated along the shoreline with a retired canal worker who was moved to tears watching the old tug taken away.

"It's terribly emotional for those of us who love these old vessels," Williams said.

Williams spearheaded an effort to save the 1921 Day Peckinpaugh, a 259-foot bulk cargo carrier and the last survivor of more than 100 similar motorships that carried pig iron, wheat, sugar, rye and cement across the Great Lakes and along the Barge Canal to New York City. The ship was purchased in 2005 by the State Museum and a coalition of not-for-profit organizations as a floating museum to highlight the history of the Erie Canal. It is docked in Cohoes but it, too, is in danger of being added to the list of vessels slated to be sunk for the artificial reefs due to maintenance costs, according to Williams.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.timesunion.com/local/article/Canal-fans-not-ready-to-give-up-the-ships-12935559.php#photo-7990374



On 24 May 1872, the wooden schooner SAM ROBINSON was carrying corn from Chicago, Illinois, to Kingston, Ontario, in dense fog on Lake Michigan. At 7:30 a.m. the propeller MANISTEE collided with the schooner and almost cut her in two amidships. When the MANISTEE backed away, the schooner went over on its starboard side and its masts smashed the MANISTEE's pilothouse and cabins. Luckily the ROBINSON's crew launched their lifeboat before the schooner sank and they were picked up by the MANISTEE and taken to Milwaukee.
In 1980, the 1,000-foot BURNS HARBOR was christened for the Wilmington Trust Co., (Bethlehem Steel Co., Mgr.) Wilmington, Delaware.

CANADIAN OLYMPIC (Hull#60) was launched in 1976, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.

CHICAGO TRADER arrived at Ashtabula, Ohio on May 24, 1977, for scrapping (scrapping did not begin until May 1, 1978, by Triad Salvage Inc.).

CLIFFS VICTORY set a record (by 2 minutes) for the fastest time from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, to Duluth, Minnesota, in 1953. She logged a time of 17 hours and 50 minutes. The CHARLES M. WHITE had been declared the fastest earlier that year by the Cleveland papers.

ALEXANDER B. MOORE was launched at Bangor, Michigan, on 24 May 1873. She was built by Theophilus Boston at a cost of $85,000. She was 247 foot overall, 223 foot keel and could carry 70,000 bushels of grain. Although designed as a 4-mast schooner, she was built as a 3-master. The fourth mast was added two years later.

On 24 May 1875, the schooner NINA was bound from Michael's Bay to Goderich, Ontario, when she sprang a leak and went down in mid-lake. Her crew escaped in the yawl, but was adrift on Lake Huron for two days and two nights with only one loaf of bread to divide among themselves.

1953: The TERNEFJELL of 1948 first came to the Great Lakes that year for the Fjell Line and made 17 inland voyages through 1953. It sank on this date off Start Point in the English Channel following a collision with the DOTTERELL.

1980: LAKE WINNIPEG struck the breakwall at Duluth departing with a cargo of grain, and stranded the next day in the St. Marys River near Detour Village, after a steering gear problem.

1982: CORONADO visited the Great Lakes in 1972 and returned as c) HOLSTENBURG in 1974. It went aground on this date in 1982 as e) ARISTEA T. in the eastern Mediterranean enroute from Port Sudan, Sudan, to Lisbon, Portugal. The ship was refloated on June 6 but deemed a total loss and, on November 2, 1982, was scuttled off Pylos, Greece.

1983: LAKE NIPIGON went aground off Port Colborne following a power failure and was released the next day with bow and bottom damage. The ship was repaired at Montreal.

2005: SEAPRINCESS II first came through the Seaway in 1988 and returned as c) SEARANGER II in 1994. It ran aground as e) STARLUCK off Necochea, Argentina, and about 7,000 tons of wheat had to be removed before the ship floated free. Later in the year, the vessel was sold for scrap and it arrived at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for dismantling on November 21, 2005.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/25 - Cleveland, Ohio – The Soo Locks’ critical role in the national defense of the United States has prompted the House of Representatives to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accelerate their project to build a second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The Committee on Armed Service’s report on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (HR5515), which passed the House by an overwhelming majority of 351-66, “urges the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and all involved executive branch agencies to expedite necessary reviews, analysis, and approvals in order to speed the required upgrades at the Soo Locks.”

The committee report notes the Soo Locks are the only waterway connection from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes and expresses “concern that of the two current operational locks, only the Poe Lock is large enough to accommodate the 1,000 foot carriers necessary to transport a majority of the iron ore used in domestic steel production … [That] lock is at the end of its 50-year useful lifespan….”

Steel is the backbone of national defense and the committee report emphasizes that “a failure at the Soo Locks would have drastic impacts on national security, in that the United States iron mining-integrated steel production-manufacturing supply chain is dependent on the Soo Locks, and there is no redundancy. Indeed, such a failure would cripple steel production that is used for national defense priorities.”

In 2017, the Poe Lock handled virtually all of the 39 million tons of iron ore passing through the Soo Locks destined for American steelmakers.

The Soo Lock language was sponsored by Cong. Paul Mitchell (R-MI).

“Rep. Mitchell has been a tireless advocate for a second Poe-sized lock and Great Lakes shipping in general,” said Jim Weakley, president of Lake Carriers’ Association, the trade association representing U.S.-flag vessels operators on the Great Lakes. “Michigan would be the state hardest hit by a lengthy failure of the Poe Lock. A Department of Homeland Security study determined a 6-month closure of the Poe Lock would push Michigan’s unemployment rate to nearly 23 percent. Nationwide, 11 million Americans would lose their jobs. We must build a second Poe-sized lock as soon as possible.”

“I’m proud that my first action on the House Armed Services Committee was reaffirming the national security importance of the Soo Locks,” said Mitchell. “Nearly all domestic iron ore – which is required for certain steel production, a substantial part of our economy and essential for national defense – travels through the Soo Locks. Steel production critical to our nation’s military and millions of American jobs are dependent on the Soo Locks, and there is no redundancy or alternatives to the locks. That’s why I am glad the whole House of Representatives is urging the US Army Corps of Engineers, and all involved executive branch agencies, to expedite necessary reviews, analysis, and approvals in order to speed the required upgrades at the Soo Locks.”

Congress authorized construction of a second Poe-sized lock in 1986, but the project stalled due to an inaccurate Corps estimate of its benefits. The Corps has acknowledged that the initial benefits estimate was based on the false premise that the railroads could move the cargo stranded by a failure of the lock and is recalculating it. An Economic Reevaluation Report is expected soon and the updated benefits estimate should enable the project to be funded.

President Trump recently pledged his support for a second Poe-sized lock. Speaking to a rally in Washington Township, Michigan, on April 28 Trump stated “The Soo Locks are going to hell. You know that, right? And we’re going to get them fixed up.”

Construction of new locks at the Sault Ste. Marie has often been tied to national defense. The now obsolete Davis and Sabin locks were built during World War 1. The MacArthur Lock was constructed at a furious pace to meet demand for iron ore during World War Two and 10,000 troops were stationed at the “Soo” to guard the Locks. Work began on the Poe Lock in 1961, the height of the Cold War.

The importance of iron ore to national defense was further underscored when just 10 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Congress appropriated $8 million of the construction of a near polar-class icebreaker for the Great Lakes. That vessel, the Mackinaw, was launched in 1944 and served the Lakes with distinction until 2006.

Lake Carriers’ Association


On 25 May 1889, JAMES GARRETT (3-mast wooden schooner, 138 foot, 266 gross tons, built in 1868, at Sheboygan, Wisconsin) was driven ashore at Whitefish Bay near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan in a gale. She was pounded to pieces by the end of the month. No lives were lost.
On May 25, 1898, PRESQUE ISLE (Hull#30) was launched at the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The vessel is much better known as the cement carrier E.M. FORD, recently scrapped.

May 25, 1941: The former Pere Marquette carferry PERE MARQUETTE 17 was re-christened CITY OF PETOSKEY.

The wooden schooner J C DAUN was in her first year of service when she encountered a squall in Lake Erie on 25 May 1847, and she capsized five miles off Conneaut, Ohio. Four of the 11 on board were able to make it to her upturned keel, but one of them died of exposure during the night. In the morning, the schooner UNCLE SAM rescued the three remaining survivors. Later the steamer SARATOGA found the DAUN floating upside down, fully rigged with the bodies of some of the crew still lashed to the rigging. The DAUN was righted a few days later and towed in by the schooner D SMART.

On 25 May 1854, DETROIT (wooden side-wheeler, 157 foot, 354 tons, built in 1846, at Newport, Michigan) was sailing from Detroit to Chicago with two lumber scows in tow. On Lake Huron, she collided with the bark NUCLEUS in heavy fog and sank. The exact location (15 miles off Pointe aux Barques) was not known until the wreck was discovered in 200 feet of water on 5 June 1994, by Dave Trotter and his determined divers.

1906: HOWARD L. SHAW was in an unusual accident and passed between the cable of the CORALIA and her barge MAIA, raking the top of the pilothouse, deck, stack and spars before the ship went aground. The hull of HOWARD L. SHAW survives today as a breakwall at Toronto.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/29 - L’Anse, Mich. – An international effort is underway to transport 10 huge natural gas electrical generating engines to L’Anse. The 440-foot international heavy lift cargo ship Palabora left Italy May 1 with the engines and is expected to land at the dredged CertainTeed dock by the end of May.

The vessel was in Lake Huron off Harbor Beach Monday evening and was expected through the Soo Locks on Tuesday.

The Wartsila Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) are destined for two power plants under construction by Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp (UMERC). Three of the 325-ton engines will be delivered to the A.J. Mihn Generating Station on Sarya Road in Pelkie. The other seven will be trucked from L’Anse to a new UMERC power plant in Negaunee.

L’Anse Sentinel


5/26 - Lansing, Mich. – Governor Rick Snyder has approved six-month ban on ships dropping anchor in the Straits of Mackinac. It’s a response to a mishap in April that caused a mineral oil spill and damage to Enbridge Line 5.

There are advisories on maritime maps that say ships shouldn’t drop anchor in the straits, where there’s a risk posed by the Enbridge fuel line and other infrastructure. But it’s not a regulation.

In April, a ship dragged an anchor across the bottom of the straits and ruptured a utility line and dented Line 5.

“Maritime maps have been marked for some time with the Straits of Mackinac as an advisory to not drop your anchor,” says Snyder Communications Director Ari Adler, “but there’s been no rule or regulation technically prohibiting it, and so this rule now prohibits that.”

Adler says the state is trying to get a federal rule adopted by the Coast Guard. “That is taking a little longer than Governor Snyder would like, and, so, in the meantime, he has issued an emergency rule that will help put that prohibition in place,” he says.

Adler says the rule can be renewed for another six months, if necessary. Environmental groups say the temporary rule is an improvement. But they also say there are exceptions within the temporary rule for undefined shipping emergencies and ships operating under tribal rules that pose a risk to the Great Lakes.

They say that’s a reason why the best move would be to shut down Line 5. A feasibility study is underway on alternatives to Line 5.

Michigan Public Radio


5/26 - Toledo, Ohio – A busy Toledo railroad bridge was shut down for about six hours Friday after a freighter snagged one of its power-supply wires, according to the Norfolk Southern railroad.

Jonathan Glass, a railroad spokesman, said the bridge lost power about 1:30 p.m. because of the accident. He identified the vessel involved as the freighter Iryda, which had left a nearby grain elevator shortly before the accident.

Glass said the Coast Guard had been notified. Coast Guard staff in Toledo said they had no information about the accident. Trains began running again about 7:30 p.m. after repairs were made, Glass said. Before then, numerous freight trains were stopped at various Toledo-area locations while the bridge was disabled.

The bridge, used by scores of trains each day, is part of Norfolk Southern’s main line between Cleveland and Chicago.

Toledo Ohio


5/26 - Muskegon, Mich. – After his ship landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy, sailor Paul Grambsch carefully lowered a tattered American flag to the deck. He rolled up the soiled fabric and tucked it into a sea bag that would be found more than 50 years later, upon his death.

That flag saved by the Midwesterner is just one of many artifacts preserved on the World War II ship where it was first hoisted. Next weekend, people will journey to the west coast of Michigan to visit the USS LST 393, which delivered soldiers and tanks to the battle that led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Adolf Hitler. The historic USS LST 393 Veterans Museum moored at the Mart Dock in downtown Muskegon on May 13, 2018. The USS LST was one of the vessels present at the landing in 1944 for the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach.

The historic USS LST 393 Veterans Museum moored at the Mart Dock in downtown Muskegon on May 13, 2018. The USS LST was one of the vessels present at the landing in 1944 for the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach. (Photo: Andraya Croft, Special to the Free Press)

The ship, now a museum anchored in Muskegon, is hosting a D-Day commemoration from June 1-2 that includes tours, a dance and military re-enactments.

The nonprofit museum is what happens when a little town gets a big idea. The USS LST 393 was restored and transformed by veterans, their families and supporters. In 2017, visitors arrived from 40 states and 13 countries.

“People walk around this ship with their mouths open," said John Stephenson, 66, who lives in Sarasota, Fla. and summers in Muskegon. "They see where people slept. And the engine room is so small. You can imagine going to war. This carries you back in time to D-Day.”

Read more and view photos at this link: www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/05/24/uss-lst-393-d-day-muskegon/521873002


On 26 May 1888, BLANCHE (2-mast wooden schooner, 95 foot, 92 gross tons, built in 1874, at Mill Point, Ontario) was carrying coal with a crew of five on Lake Ontario. She was lost in a squall somewhere between Oswego, New York and Brighton, Ontario.
In 1979, the FRED R. WHITE JR. departed the shipyard on her maiden voyage to load iron ore pellets at Escanaba, Michigan for Cleveland, Ohio.

The J.A.W. IGLEHART began its maiden Great Lakes voyage in 1965, for the Huron Portland Cement Co. The straight deck bulk freighter FRANKCLIFFE HALL began its maiden voyage in 1963. Deepened and converted to a self-unloader in 1980. She was renamed b.) HALIFAX in 1988.

SCOTT MISENER (Hull#14) was launched in 1954, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Colonial Steamships Ltd. She was scrapped at Alang, India in 1990.

In 1923, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 was towed to the shipyard in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by the ANN ARBOR NO 5 with the assistance of the tug ARCTIC. The NO 4 was completely overhauled and had all new cabins built on her main deck.

QUEEN OF THE LAKES was launched at the Kirby & Ward yard in Wyandotte, Michigan on 26 May 1872. She was the first iron-hulled vessel built in Michigan.

On 26 May 1873, the iron propeller revenue cutter GEO S. BOUTWELL (Hull#15) was launched at D. Bell Steam Engine Works in Buffalo, New York. Her dimensions were 140 feet x 22 feet x 17.5 feet, 151 gross tons. She served out of Savannah, Georgia (1874-1899) and Newbern, North Carolina (1899-1907).

The tug GORMAN, which was sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised today. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

1926 The self-unloader ALPENA delivered the first cargo of coal, 4,000 tons, to the new Detroit Edison steam generating power plant at Marysville, MI.

1982 ROLAND DESGAGNES ran aground off Pointe au Pic, Q.C . The ship floated free with the high tide only to sink on May 27 at 4 am due to hull damage. All on board were saved and the cargo of salt dissolved. The hull rests upright on the bottom in about 300 feet of water.

1984 The Norwegian freighter WILFRED first visited the Seaway in 1966. It went aground on this day in 1984 as b) PSILI at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The vessel was refloated and returned to service. It last sailed as c) GLORY BAY and arrived at Dalian, China, for scrapping on September 18, 1986.


CANADIAN PIONEER (Hull #67) was launched May 27, 1981, at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. She was renamed b.) PIONEER in 1987.
NANTICOKE was christened in 1980, for Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.

CHARLES DICK (Hull #71) was launched in 1922, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for National Sand & Material Co. Ltd.

The PETER REISS left Duluth, Minnesota May 27, 1910, on her maiden voyage with iron ore for Ashtabula, Ohio. She was converted to a self-unloader in 1949, and scrapped at Ramey's Bend in 1973.

HENRY STEINBRENNER was towed from Toledo's Lakefront Dock in 1994, for the scrap yard at Port Maitland, Ontario.

The tug SMITH burned near Bay City, Michigan, on 27 May 1872. Her loss was valued at $7,000 but there was no insurance on her.

The ferry SARNIA made her first trip as a carferry between Port Huron and Sarnia on 27 May 1879. She had burned in January 1879, then was converted to a carferry and served in that capacity during the summer. In September, 1879, she was converted to a barge.

The tug GORMAN, sunk by the steamer CITY OF BUFFALO was raised. She is not much injured. The local steamboat inspectors have taken up the case of the collision. The crew of the tug claim that their boat was run over by the CITY OF BUFFALO and the appearance of the wreck carries out their declaration, for the tug shows that the steamer struck her straight aft.

27 May 1898 - The tug WINSLOW arrived in Bay City, Michigan, from Georgian Bay with a raft of logs for Eddy Bros. & Co. The tug NIAGARA arrived from the same bay with a raft for Pitts & Co. The sawmills along the Saginaw river are now nearly all in operation.

1933 GEORGE M. COX hit Rock of Ages Reef in Lake Superior on its first trip after previous service as PURITAN. The vessel had 121 passengers and freight on board when it struck the reef in the early morning in fog. The ship hung at a precarious angle until all were rescued and then, during an October storm, the vessel slid back into deep water.


On 28 March 1997, the USS Great Lakes Fleet's PHILIP R. CLARKE set a record for a salt cargo on a U.S.-flag laker when she loaded 25,325 tons at Fairport, Ohio for delivery to Toledo, Ohio. The previous record was 25,320 tons carried by American Steamship's AMERICAN REPUBLIC in 1987.
On 28 March 1848, COLUMBUS (wooden sidewheeler, 391 tons, built in 1835, at Huron, Ohio) struck a pier at Dunkirk, New York during a storm and sank. The sidewheeler FASHION struck the wreck in November of the same year and was seriously damaged.

1935: THOMAS LYNCH and the Norwegian freighter BA collided on a foggy Lake Superior and the former received a hole above the waterline. The saltwater vessel dated from 1921 and was torpedoed and lost in the North Atlantic on July 8, 1941, as c) INGA I.

1942: JACK was torpedoed by U-155 and sunk on the Caribbean while about 100 miles southwest of Port Salut, Haiti. There were 37 lives lost among the 63 reported on board. The ship had been built at Lorain, Ohio, as a) LAKE FRESCO in 1919 and returned inland for package freight service as b) JACK in 1925.

1942: TINDEFJELL came to the Great Lakes for the Fjell Line beginning in 1937. It was taken over by the Germans in April 1941, while at a Norwegian port, and renamed SPERRBRECHER 174 in December. It is reported to have hit a mine and sunk off Dunkirk, France, on this date in 1942.

1982: The tug COMANCHE had an electrical fire while at DeTour, MI, and the blaze destroyed the cabins and pilothouse. The hull was surrendered to the underwriters on June 14 and it later sank while under tow off Ludington on December 12, 1985.

2006: The pilot boat PLACENTIA PILOT was built at Wheatley, ON, in 2000 and left the Great Lakes that December for service at Newfoundland. The ship hit the rocks and had to be beached while trying to put a pilot on the tanker TUVAQ. The ship was listed as a total loss but was salvaged. At last report, it was on a trailer at Port Hawkesbury, NS, pending repairs as b) STRAIT EAGLE.


The 71-foot tug and patrol boat CARTER H. HARRISON was launched at Chicago, Illinois, on 29 May 1901, for the City of Chicago Police Department.
STADACONA (Hull#66) was launched in 1909, at Ecorse, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works for the Stadacona Steamship Co. (James Playfair, mgr.). Renamed b.) W.H. MC GEAN in 1920, and c.) ROBERT S. McNAMARA in 1962.

JAMES R. BARKER (Hull#905) was float launched in 1976, at Lorain, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Interlake Steamship Co.

May 29, 1905: The PERE MARQUETTE 20, while leaving Milwaukee in a heavy fog struck the scow HIRAM R. BOND of the Milwaukee Sand Gravel Company. The scow sank.

In 1909, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 capsized at Manistique, Michigan, as a result of an error in loading a heavy load of iron ore.

On 29 May 1889, BAVARIA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 145 foot, 376 gross tons, built in 1873, at Garden Island, Ontario) was carrying squared timber when she broke from the tow of the steamer D D CALVIN and began to founder near Long Point in Lake Erie. Her crew abandoned her, but all eight were lost. The abandoned vessel washed ashore with little damage and lasted until 1898 when she was destroyed in a storm.

PLEASURE (wooden passenger ferry, 128 foot, 489 gross tons) (Hull#104) was launched at West Bay City, Michigan by F.W. Wheeler & Co. on 29 May 1894. She was a small but powerful ferry, equipped with a 1600 h.p. engine. She operated on the Detroit River year round as a ferry and small icebreaker for the Detroit, Belle Isle and Windsor Ferry Company. She was broken up at Detroit in 1940.

1943: LAKE GEORGE was built for French interests at Ashtabula in 1917 but was launched for and named by the U.S. Shipping Board. It was seized as e) FOLOZU by the Japanese at Shanghai on December 8, 1941, and sunk as f) EISHO MARU after being torpedoed by the U.S.S. TAMBOR in the South China Sea.

1964: A. & J. MERCURY was seized on this date while upbound in the Welland Canal to load coal at Ashtabula for non-payment of stevedore fees at Toronto and Hamilton. While eventually released, it was re-arrested on a complaint by the S.I.U. over non-payment of crew wages. The ship was later put up for auction and resumed service as d) SANTA MONICA. It was scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as e) COSMOS TRADER in 1969. A. & J. FAITH, a fleetmate, was seized by the U.S. Marshal at Cleveland while about to leave for Singapore. It remained idle until being sold and renamed c) SANTA SOFIA in August.

1969: The new self-unloader TADOUSSAC launched itself prematurely at Collingwood. Two workers were killed and several others injured.

1974: BANIJA, a Yugoslavian freighter, was inbound in ballast at Port Weller through fog when it hit the pier and required repairs before continuing to Duluth to load. This vessel arrived at Alang, India, as b) STOLIV for scrapping on May 1, 1987.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/30 - Superior, Wis. – The American Victory, one of the oldest and most historic boats on the Great Lakes, is seeing the end of her days. For the last 10 years while she was laid up in Superior, her future was uncertain. The question was would she be updated and return to open waters or be scrapped? The answer: scrapped.

If boats could talk, the American Victory would have quite the story to tell.

"Here is a vessel that served our country during World War II, that it was bombed by the Japanese. There's still a big dent on her deck from an unexploded bomb," said Denise Wolven, the director of the Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center.

The vessel, built in 1942, served the United States in both oceans and the Great Lakes. She's lived a life fit for the history books. “It was vessels like the American Victory that really got me to be a boat nerd more than I was before,” Wolven said.

But, she won't be around much longer.

"I felt this little connection with the ship and now I'm gonna have to watch it sail away to be scrapped," said Wolven. "So maybe the first that's gonna make me cry is the losing of the American Victory."

On Friday, the American Victory was taken to Fraser Shipyards where the process to recycle her parts began.

Recycling the historic ship, piece by piece, was a tough decision her owners made. Algoma, an Ontario based company that purchased the 76-year-old ship in December, said updating the ship would have been too costly.

"That ship was tough for it to be economical in the US trades," Gregg Ruhl, Algoma's Chief Operating Officer. "For us we did look hard at it's various options and in the short team anyway we were finding it difficult to as a steam ship and her cargo, her length, her capacity to work economically."

Ruhl said updating the 80-year-old vessel would have had an estimated 20 million dollar price tag.

"We're doing a lot to modernize our fleet. Sometimes older tonnage works well, sometimes it doesn't. And in this case we just couldn't make it work," said Ruhl. "By the time you do all that, at least in the Canadian market, you're better off building a new ship."

Even though the boat is being taken apart, it's history will still live on. "Hopefully we will be able to acquire a few pieces for our collection, just kind of walk away with something that we can keep the memory of the American Victory alive here in the Twin Ports," said Wolven.

Algoma expects the vessel to leave the Twin Ports within the next couple months on her final voyage, but they still have to determine where she will end up for her full recycling. Officials say the American Victory could stay in North America or go as far away as Turkey.

View photos at this link: www.kbjr6.com/story/38292071/parts-of-historic-american-victory-to-be-recycled?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KBJR_6


5/30 - Waterford, N.Y. – The tug Reliable, built during the Great Depression in Syracuse and an enduring symbol of the brawny toil of state canal workers, was unceremoniously hauled down the Hudson River by barge last week en route to an ignoble burial at sea.

Maritime historians, who love old tugs with an affection some reserve for retrievers, are shocked at the shabby treatment of Reliable and other cast-off canal vessels scheduled to be sunk for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's artificial reef project off Long Island.

"A lot of us were appalled watching the Reliable hauled down the river. It is being done so quickly and without time to weigh other options," said Craig Williams, a retired State Museum senior historian and a board member of the Canal Society of New York State.

Williams documented the final journey of Reliable with photographs and video and said the sight "made me sick to my stomach." He commiserated along the shoreline with a retired canal worker who was moved to tears watching the old tug taken away.

"It's terribly emotional for those of us who love these old vessels," Williams said.

Williams spearheaded an effort to save the 1921 Day Peckinpaugh, a 259-foot bulk cargo carrier and the last survivor of more than 100 similar motorships that carried pig iron, wheat, sugar, rye and cement across the Great Lakes and along the Barge Canal to New York City. The ship was purchased in 2005 by the State Museum and a coalition of not-for-profit organizations as a floating museum to highlight the history of the Erie Canal. It is docked in Cohoes but it, too, is in danger of being added to the list of vessels slated to be sunk for the artificial reefs due to maintenance costs, according to Williams.

Canal buffs have voiced their displeasure in posts on the Canal Society's Facebook page at the rapid, large-scale scuttling of surplus canal vessels. A total of 29 canal tugs, derrick boats, scows and tender tugs along with recycled Tappan Zee Bridge material are headed for six artificial Long Island reefs Cuomo announced at an April 17 news conference. The reefs are intended to provide new habitat for marine life and to improve sportfishing and scuba diving appeal.

Read more and view an image gallery at this link: www.timesunion.com/local/article/Canal-fans-not-ready-to-give-up-the-ships-12935559.php#photo-7990374


On 30 May 1896, ALGERIA (3-mast wooden schooner-barge, 285 foot, 2,038 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #75) at West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1906, when she foundered near Cleveland, Ohio.
COLUMBIA STAR began her maiden voyage in 1981, from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to load iron ore pellets at Silver Bay, Minnesota, for Lorain, Ohio. She was the last of the 1,000 footers to enter service and, excluding tug-barge units or conversions, was the last new Great Lakes vessel on the American side.

During the economic depression known as the "Panic of '73", shipbuilding came to a standstill. Orders for new vessels were cancelled and worked was stopped on hulls that were on the ways. On 30 May 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that a recovery from the "Panic of '73" resulted in a surge of shipyard work at Marine City. "Shipyards are getting ready to start business again with full force. Mr. Fin Kenyon has begun building a steam barge for Kenyon Bros. [the PORTER CHAMBERLAIN]; Mr. George King is going to build a steam barge for Mr. Henry Buttironi [the GERMANIA]; Messrs. Hill and Wescott are going to build a side wheel passenger boat for Mr. Eber Ward [the NORTHERNER]; Mr. David Lester will build another steam barge [the CITY OF DULUTH]. There is one barge on the stocks built by Mr. Hill for Mr. Morley, that will soon be ready to launch [the N K FAIRBANK].

At about 1a.m. on 30 May 1882, the lumber hooker ROCKET, carrying shingles from Manistee to Charlevoix, capsized about four miles abreast of Frankfort, Michigan on Lake Michigan. The tug HALL found the vessel and towed her inside the harbor. The crew was saved, but the vessel was split open and was a total wreck.

1900: SEGUIN, an iron-hulled steamer, was released with the help of the tug FAVORITE after being stuck near Mackinaw City after going off course due to thick fog.

1918: The first IMPOCO came to the Great Lakes for Imperial Oil in 1910. It was sunk by U-101 as b) WANETA enroute from Halifax, NS, to Queenstown, Ireland, with a cargo of fuel oil. The vessel was torpedoed 42 miles SSE of Kinsale Head on this date and 8 lives were lost.

1942: FRED W. GREEN was attacked by three German submarines in the South Atlantic and sunk by U-506 with the loss of five lives including the master. The vessel had been built for saltwater service at Ecorse, Mich., as CRAYCROFT in 1918 and returned to the Great Lakes in 1927 before departing again for deep sea trading in November 1941.

1969: The Toronto Islands ferry SAM McBRIDE ran aground in fog after missing the dock at Centre Island.

[yachtsmanwilly]

5/31 - Mackinac Island, Mich. – Michigan is setting aside $50 million in state funding to help jump start what could be a $1 billion project to upgrade and modernize the aging Soo Locks, Gov. Snyder and legislative leaders announced Wednesday.

Snyder is urging the federal government to provide most of the money to upgrade the critical trade route in the Upper Peninsula, but the second-term Republican said the state funding could help meet any potential match requirement.

“We’re stepping up,” Snyder said on the porch of the Grand Hotel during the annual Mackinac Policy Conference. “We’re going to lead the charge to get this one, because it’s good for not just all of us, but for our country and North American and the world.”

Republican President Donald Trump appeared to give the project his blessing during an April rally in Macomb County, where he said the Soo Locks are “going to hell” and vowed to “get them fixed up.”

The White House has not confirmed whether Trump ended up calling the Army Corps of Engineers to speed up the process, as he promised, but Wednesday’s announcement reflects a new optimism about the potential project by Michigan leaders.

The $50 million state commitment will come out of a roughly $500 million budget surplus that Snyder and legislative leaders agreed to divvy up last week. The deal included $330 million in extra road funding, along with $82 million for other infrastructure projects, including the Soo investment.

Snyder said his administration is already calling other Great Lakes states in an attempt to secure another $150 million for the Soo Locks project. A broad Trump infrastructure proposal not yet taken up by Congress could require 20 percent of the funding come from non-federal sources, the governor told reporters.

Read more at this link: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/05/30/snyder-50-m-soo-locks-upgrade/657845002


CITY OF SAGINAW 31 cleared Manitowoc in 1973, in tow of the tug HELEN M. MC ALLISTER; this was the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch that ended at Castellon, Spain.
The wooden barge FANNY NEIL was launched at the Muir, Livingstone & Co. yard in Port Huron, Michigan on 31 May 1870. As was usual in those days, her name was not made public until the streamer bearing her name was unfurled at the launch.

May 31, 1924 - PERE MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington, Michigan, on her maiden voyage. Captain Charles E. Robertson was in command.

The wooden tug MOCKING BIRD was launched at 7:00 p.m. on 31 May 1873, (12 days late) at the Port Huron Dry Dock Company yard. Her master builder was Alex "Sandy" Stewart. Her dimensions were 123 foot x 23 feet x 8.4 feet, 142 gross tons. The engine (26.5 inches x 30 inches) was at the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland, Ohio at the time of launch, ready to be installed. Although this launch was 12 days late, it still did not go smoothly since MOCKING BIRD got stuck in the river. However, with some assistance from another tug, she was pulled free and was afloat at the dock by midnight. She lasted until abandoned at Marquette, Michigan in 1918.

On 31 May 1900, the KEWAUNEE (wooden propeller steamer, 106 foot, 143 gross tons) was launched at Kewaunee, Wisconsin for James Smith, Ben Kuhlman & William Keeper. In 1902, she was rebuilt as a lightship and, in 1913, she was converted to a sand dredge. She lasted until 1935, when she was abandoned.

1918: GEORGE G. BARNUM (later the self-unloader HENNEPIN) and the CHESTER A. CONGDON were in a minor collision due to fog off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior. The latter was lost later that year after stranding and then breaking up on Canoe Rock, Isle Royale, Lake Superior.

1926: NISBET GRAMMER sank after a collision with DALWARNIC in fog off Thirty Mile Point, Lake Ontario, while downbound with a cargo of grain. All on board were rescued from the 3-year old member of the Eastern Steamship Co. fleet. It went down in about 500 feet of water.

1974: The first GORDON C. LEITCH was aground for 3 hours, 55 minutes at Buoy 2 on the St. Clair River and freed herself with only minor damage.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/1 - L'Anse, Mich. – The Palabora cargo ship completed its journey to L’Anse Bay all the way from Italy Thursday afternoon, May 31. The ship carried 10 reciprocating internal combustion engines for local power stations.

"Considering we don't have a big dock here, it is kind of neat when the big ships do come in like the one that was docked this winter during the big storms. Twice in one year is kind of neat," said Sarah Thompson, local resident and Baraga Telephone Company employee.

Seven engines will go on to the F. D. Kuester Generating Station in Negaunee. Three are for the A. J. Mihm Generating Station in Baraga. Preparation to accept the ship and its cargo have been underway for quite some time.

"We started looking at this in late 2016, so it has been over a year in planning. There has been multiple surveys of the bottom of the lake and also marine surveyors, many hours of engineering and project management and communication," said Sean Lipinski of Vic’s Crane and Heavy Haul.

Utility companies worked all spring to open roadways for the engines. "Our outside plant guys have been raising all of the lines in order for the transportation of all of the engines coming in," said Thompson.

Each engine weighs 325 tons, is 46 feet long and 20 feet tall. Offloading the engines is expected to take two more days. "The ship is actually offloading itself with its own crane and then we will be using our specialized Goldhofer trailer that has 14 axle lines to take it off the barge," said Lipinski.

Engines will be transported one at a time and at night. TV6, FOX UP and UpperMichigansSource.com will have more information about the final leg of transportation upcoming.

WLUC


On 01 June 1903, ISAAC ELLWOOD (steel propeller freighter, 478 foot, 5,085 gross tons, built in 1900, at W. Bay City, Michigan) broke the record for ore when she carried a cargo of 8,579 tons out of Duluth harbor. This broke the record held by JOHN SMEATON (steel barge, 458 foot, 5,049 gross tons, built in 1899, at Superior, Wisconsin), which was 8,571 tons of ore.
ASA CHILDS (wooden scow schooner, 125 foot, 204 gross tons, built in 1866, at Mentor, Ohio) was carrying lumber in a storm on Lake Michigan when she was driven ashore at Highland Park just north of Chicago, Illinois on 01 June 1879, and was a total loss. The crew escaped in the lifeboat.

On 01 June 1914, the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company bought the EASTLAND (steel propeller passenger steamer, 265 foot, 1,961 gross tons, built in 1903, at Port Huron, Michigan) from the Eastland Navigation Company for $150,000.

In 1943, IRVING S OLDS collided with the 524 foot steamer CHARLES O. JENKINS in heavy fog 28 miles northeast of Cleveland on Lake Erie and was holed eight feet above the water line. The OLDS was able to help the badly damaged JENKINS back to Cleveland by lashing the two vessels together. After a grueling seven hours the JENKINS was beached in the outer harbor to prevent her from sinking. The OLDS was repaired in time to carry a new record of 17,817 gross tons of iron ore on June 13, 1943. In 1952, the steamer J.L. MAUTHE (Hull#298) was launched at Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, for the Interlake Steamship Co.

The WHITEFISH BAY, loaded with 950,000 bushels of spring wheat, was honored as she carried the billionth metric ton of cargo through the Eisenhower Lock in 1983.

On June 1, 1907, the Great Lakes Engineering Works launched the bulk steamer WILPEN (Hull#28) at Ecorse, Michigan, for the Shenango Steamship Co., a subsidiary of Shenango Furnace Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) DAVID P. THOMPSON in 1926, and converted to a self-unloader in 1957, at Superior, Wisconsin. She was renamed c.) JOSEPH S. YOUNG in 1969, and scrapped at La Spezia, Italy in 1979.

H. LEE WHITE departed Sturgeon Bay in ballast on her maiden voyage for the American Steamship Co., on June 1, 1974, to load iron ore at Escanaba, Michigan for Indiana Harbor.

June 1, 1902 - While northbound for Manistique, Michigan, the ANN ARBOR NO 1 went aground in a heavy fog about noon on South Manitou Island, but was able to free herself and to proceed undamaged.

June 1, 1938 - PERE MARQUETTE 21, under the command of Captain Arthur Altschwager, was released from a sand bar in the outer harbor at Manitowoc at 1:06 p.m. today after being aground for six hours. Her sister ship, the PERE MARQUETTE 22, commanded by J.F. Johnson, freed the ferry after taking a line and pulling the big ship back off the bar.

June, 1958, The ANN ARBOR NO 6 was taken out of service for extensive refitting. She was renamed b.) ARTHUR K. ATKINSON.

On 1 June 1887, LUCINDA VAN VALKENBURG (wooden schooner, 129 foot, 302 gross tons, built in 1862, at Tonawanda, New York) collided with the iron steamer LEHIGH in fog and sank near Thunder Bay Island on Lake Huron. The crew was safely taken aboard the LEHIGH and brought to Port Huron.

On 1 June 1892, the steel bulk freighter CHOCTAW was launched at the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company (Hull #17) in Cleveland, Ohio for the Lake Superior Iron Company. Her dimensions were 207 feet x 38 feet x 18 feet and she had a triple expansion steam engine 17 feet, 29 inches, 47 inches x 36 inch stroke. She was built as "monitor" type vessel based on whaleback design with all her cabins aft. She lasted until sunk in a collision in 1915.

1923: The barge BROOKDALE of Canada Steamship Lines was sunk near Montreal after a collision with MAPLEDAWN. The wooden hulled vessel, originally the schooner MORAVIA, was refloated and scrapped.

1943: A collision on foggy Lake Superior between BATTLEFORD and PRINDOC sank the latter off Passage Island. All on board were saved from the downbound, wheat-laden bulk carrier of the Paterson fleet.

1944: The first NEWBRUNDOC had been built at Toronto in 1921 and had previously sailed as CANADIAN ENGINEER and b) DONALD E.McKAY. The ship became f) SAVLATORE in 1934 and, with the outbreak of war, was now the enemy. It was bombed and sunk by British aircraft as part of a German convoy in the Aegean Sea and all hands were lost.

1966: RIO ALTO, a Liberty ship, came to the Great Lakes under Liberian registry in 1963. It developed leaks on the Pacific while enroute from Manati, Puerto Rico, to China as d) AKTOR and sank on this date 860 miles SSW of San Diego, CA in 1966.

1967: RENVOYLE struck the docked SYLVANIA while turning at Port Huron and the latter sank against the dock. The former, a C.S.L. package freighter, received bow damage and was laid up and then sold for scrap. SYLVANIA was refloated, repaired and returned to service.

1979: GEORGES HERBERT, a wooden goelette that occasionally came to the Great Lakes, sank in the Gulf of Mexico while carrying a cargo of corn.

2011: CANADIAN RANGER, under tow on the St. Lawrence, got spun around 180 degrees by a wind gust above the Iroquois Lock and had to be towed through the lock stern first before being realigned below the lock. It reached the scrap yard at Aliaga, Turkey, on July 13, 2011.