Today in Great Lakes History

[yachtsmanwilly]

S.S. Badger delayed by high winds in Manitowoc

11 p.m. Update - The S.S. Badger arrived in Ludington around 10 p.m. This weekend is the Boatnerd Badger Gathering with a overnight stay aboard the Badger on tonight and a crossing of Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin on Saturday.

Original Story - 6/1 - 4 p.m. - Manitowoc, WI - Due to strong winds on Lake Michigan the S. S. Badger has been delayed in leaving for her return to Ludington. A tug has been called to help pull the car ferry off the Manitowoc dock.

The Badge is expected to arrive in Ludington at approximately 9:00 this evening.

Overnight passengers will be boarded as soon as the arriving passengers are off the vessel. Evening activities will continue on a delayed schedule.


On 03 June 1882, the schooner C. BELL was launched at the yard of Mason, Corning & Company in East Saginaw, Michigan. Her dimensions were 185 feet x 30 feet x 11 feet, and she cost $20,000.
JOHN B. AIRD was christened in 1983, at Thunder Bay for Algoma Central Marine, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

After successfully completing her sea trials on June 3, 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered service for Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Co., a little under six months from the time she was purchased from the U.S.M.C.

PATERSON (Hull#113) of the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., entered service for N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd., on June 3, 1954, by carrying 440,000 bushels of wheat from Port Arthur, Ontario. She was scrapped at Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1985.

On 3 June 1870, T.F. PARK (wooden side-wheeler, 170 foot, 450 tons, built in 1851, at Chatham, Ontario) caught fire and burned to the waterline at the dock near the Detroit & Milwaukee Grain Elevator at Detroit, Michigan. The hull was later removed after being struck by several vessels.

On 3 June 1875, the iron carferry HURON (238 foot, 1,052 gross tons) was launched at Point Edward, Ontario for the Grand Trunk Railway. Miss Jessie S. Hughes of Toronto christened the vessel with a bottle of wine. The hull's iron plates were manufactured in Scotland and shipped to Point Edward where they were assembled. Work began on 12 August 1874. Her engine and boiler were built at Dundas, Ont. This vessel ran between Windsor and Detroit for over a century. Her hull is still in existence, submerged in the old Great Lakes Engineering Works slip in River Rouge, Michigan.

1911: The passenger steamer NORTH WEST was gutted by a fire while fitting out at Buffalo. The hull remained idle until it was cut in two in 1918 for a tow to saltwater, but the bow section sank in Lake Ontario. The stern was rebuilt on the St. Lawrence as MAPLECOURT and returned to the lakes, again in two sections, in 1922.

1923: WILLIAM B. SCHILLER and HORACE S. WILKINSON collided in Whitefish Bay. The former was anchored when hit on the port side at #5 hatch. The SCHILLER’s captain pulled up the hook and raced for shore so as to sink in shallow water. It went down in about 40 feet and was salvaged on July 2.

1940: JOHN J. RAMMACHER and WILLIAM A. REISS (ii) collided just after midnight beneath the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia-Port Huron and both ships were damaged.

1999: HOPE I lost power in the Seaway while downbound with wheat and stranded above Morrisburg. The hull was holed and the ship was released with the aid of tugs on June 5. The ship first came inland as a) NOSIRA MADELEINE in 1983 and returned as c) HOPE I for the first time in 1993, and then as d) HOPE in 2004. It was last reported as f) H. PIONEER in 2011.

In 1955, J. L. MAUTHE established a new Great Lakes cargo record for a coal cargo delivered to an upper lakes port. She loaded 18392 tons of coal at the Toledo C&O dock.
1943, BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, Captain Harry Ashby, delivered a record cargo of 19343.5 net tons of iron ore at Cleveland. The ore was loaded at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

In 1947, the Canada Steamship Lines steamer EMPEROR, loaded with ore and bound for Ashtabula, hit the rocks off Isle Royale at 4:10 a.m. The vessel sank within minutes but the crew was able to launch 2 lifeboats. Captain Eldon Walkinshaw, First Mate D. Moray, and 10 other crew members drowned when one of the lifeboats overturned. Twenty-one other survivors were rescued by the U.S.C.G. cutter KIMBALL.

On 04 June 1872, while carrying wooden barrel staves from Bay City, Michigan to Buffalo, New York, the bark AMERICAN GIANT encountered rough weather off Port Stanley, Ontario, on Lake Erie. Heavy seas carried off her deck cargo of 25,000 staves and the vessel became waterlogged. As the crew considered abandoning, the steamer MENDOTA saw their plight and took the GIANT in tow for Buffalo where they arrived the following day. For days afterward, other vessels reported the litter of barrel staves floating in the middle of Lake Erie.

At 2:00 a.m., 04 June 1891, in heavy fog, the NORTHERN QUEEN (steel propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2,476 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio) struck the schooner FAYETTE BROWN (wooden schooner, 178 foot, 553 gross tons, built in 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio) about ten miles off Dummy Light on Lake Erie. The BROWN, which was loaded with stone blocks, quickly sank in over 60 feet of water. One of the schooner's crewmen climbed aboard the QUEEN while the others barely had time to scramble up the schooner's masts. Accounts of the accident differ. The schooner's skipper claimed that the NORTHERN QUEEN continued on her journey while the schooner's crew clung to the masts while the skipper of the NORTHERN QUEEN claimed that he tried to find survivors, but lost the wreck in the fog and reluctantly continued on his journey, figuring that there were no survivors. Nevertheless, about an hour after the disaster, the steamer ROBERT MILLS (wooden propeller freighter, 256 foot, 1,790 gross tons, built in 1888, at Buffalo, New York) came along, heard the cries of the unfortunate seamen clinging to the masts and rescued them. No lives were lost.

On 04 June 1881, the OGEMAW (wooden propeller freighter, 167 foot, 624 gross tons) was launched at Simon Langell's yard in St. Clair, Michigan for Mr. Wood & Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

CLIFFS VICTORY sailed on her maiden voyage in ballast from South Chicago, Illinois, in 1951.

On June 4, 1968, the keel for OTTERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#667) was laid at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corporation of Canada. Renamed b.) ROYALTON in 1983, c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL in 1985, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988 and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on January 7, 2005.

EDGAR B. SPEER (Hull#908) was christened on June 4th 1980, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., Hartford, Connecticut, managed by the Great Lakes Fleet of the United States Steel Corp., Duluth, Minnesota.

In 1988, IRVING S. OLDS departed Duluth under tow of tug SALVAGE MONARCH, headed for overseas scrapping. She was scrapped by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co., in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, scrapping began on November 24, 1988.

June 4, 1940 - Oiler George Riemersma, 50, died of a heart attack while at work on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.

June 4, 1942 - John A. Clancey, 58, general manager of the Grand Trunk Western Railway and president of the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Carferry Co. died suddenly of a heart attack while at his desk in Detroit.

The Port Huron Times reported "The new trim and tidy tug, the P L JOHNSON, built for Capt. Sol Rummage, passed up last night with her first tow. She is of medium size and wears the national colors on her smokestack for which some of the boys call her a floating barber shop."

On 4 June 1859, GENERAL HOUSTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 83 foot, 123 tons, built in 1844, at French Creek, New York) was bound from Port Huron for Buffalo with a load of lumber. During a terrific gale, she missed the mouth of the Grand River near Fairport, Ohio and went on the pier where she broke up. Fortunately no lives were lost. The lighthouse keeper on the pier where she broke up later refused to light the lantern while the wreck was in place for fear of drawing other vessels into it. The U. S. Government quickly contracted to remove the hulk from the channel, but a month later, a storm did the job for free, obliterating the wreck so completely that it was reported to have just "disappeared." June 4th is the anniversary of the famous race between the TASHMOO and the CITY OF ERIE, an exciting race that included many thousands of dollars in wagers, great advance publicity, and the use of many other boats to watch the action along the way. The drama was such that carrier pigeons were released at various times to take the latest updates to waiting newspaper reporters. The CITY OF ERIE won the race in a very close match, and the story has been retold in several books about the Great Lakes.

1961: C.A. BENNETT went aground in the Wiley-Dondero Channel of the Seaway while trying to avoid the REDFERN and was released with her own power.


6/4 - The National Weather Service has issued a gale warning for the St. Marys River from Point Iroquois to E. Potagannissing Bay from 6 a.m. Monday to midnight Tuesday.


6/3 - Cleveland, Ohio – A crew from Coast Guard Station Cleveland Harbor rescued 3 people from the water after their vessel became disabled and drifted into the Edgewater breakwall Saturday.

Watchstanders in the Coast Guard Sector Buffalo command center received a mayday call at approximately 11:59 a.m. from a sailing vessel with 3 people aboard, against the rocks of the Edgewater breakwall. The command center watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and diverted a small boat crew from Station Cleveland Harbor to assist.

The boat crew arrived on scene at approximately 12:05 p.m. to find one person in the water and two still aboard the vessel, all wearing life jackets. The boat crew safely retrieved the person from the water and devised a plan to rescue the remaining two people from the vessel. Due to the sea conditions and safety concerns, the Coast Guard crew had the two people enter the water where they were safely recovered. All three people, two men and one woman, were then safely transferred to shoreside EMS where they were evaluated for mild hypothermia.

The Coast Guard urges boaters to have their vessels checked to make sure everything is in proper working order. Additionally, make sure there are enough life jackets on board for every passenger.

USCG

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/5 - Superior, Wis. – A new study on ballast water discharge has found Great Lakes ships are moving non-native species from the lower lakes to western Lake Superior. Study authors say the research provides clear evidence of the transport of organisms through ships' ballast water tanks while the shipping industry contends more research is needed to better understand the potential impacts of their movement.

The study was conducted by the Great Waters Research Collaborative, which is a project of University of Wisconsin-Superior's Lake Superior Research Institute. Principal investigator Allegra Cangelosi said they sampled 15 ballast water discharges from eight U.S. and Canadian lake vessels last year. Of those, 13 contained non-native species, the DNA of bloody red shrimp or both. Several species of zooplankton were detected that were previously unreported at the time of testing.

"It’s the concern that we don’t really know what happens after they’ve been discharged," said Cangelosi. "In some cases, the condition might be right that the organism could establish and possibly push out other things that are naturally already in the environment."

She added that four discharges were examined "voyage-wide" as ships collected water for their ballast tanks in the lower lakes to their discharge in western Lake Superior. Cangelosi noted the study did not analyze whether specimens were alive or dead at the time water was taken up or discharged from ballast tanks.

The report recommends identifying best management practices and researching ballast water treatment systems for ships.

The study prompted quick reaction on Thursday from shipping and environmental groups. Tom Rayburn, director of environmental and regulatory affairs with the Lake Carriers Association, said their members would like to see more testing before any new ballast water policies are implemented. He said further study would include whether organisms were dead or alive at the time of discharge and their ability to survive in the lake.

"If we can establish more than absence and presence so we can take it to that next level of live, dead, survivability and establishment that can give us better models and also help us specifically target and eliminate those pathways through different strategies, management or treatment at that point," said Rayburn.

The association noted they’d like to see a larger sample size to determine impacts from lake vessels. Cangelosi said the study sampled 5 to 53 percent of the water volume contained in ships’ ballast tanks that were discharged.

"That’s not much water. The thing is. in some ways. that strengthens the case that these ships are moving organisms because even though it was a relatively small portion of the relevant discharge that we analyzed, we still encountered several project-relevant non-indigenous species," she said. "We conclude that you don’t need more evidence that they’re moving organisms. It’s clear that they are. What might be important is to know what that all means that they’re moving organisms. What’s the risk? That’s a bit harder scientifically to figure out."

She said the difficulty in determining risks to the lake ecosystem stems from a multitude of factors that are affecting characteristics within the Great Lakes, such as climate change. Environmental groups like the Alliance for the Great Lakes contends the study is further evidence of the need for immediate action to protect lakes from invasive species.

"Today’s report confirms a common sense assumption: lakers contribute to the spread of aquatic invasive species around the Great Lakes," said alliance President and CEO Joel Brammeier in a statement Thursday. "As such, all ships operating on the Great Lakes — oceangoing and lakers — must be accountable and stop introducing and spreading the biological pollution that is invasive species."

The Lake Carriers Association’s Rayburn said the group has been working with regulators and researchers to prevent the spread of invasive species and develop ballast water treatment systems for ships. He noted the group commissioned a study by firms Hull and Associates and Choice Ballast Solutions in Ohio, which showed it may cost $639 million to modify the Great Lakes fleet with treatment systems. Rayburn said shoreside treatment options at Great Lakes ports may cost up to $11 billion.

Wisconsin Public Radio


6/5 - Halifax, N.S. – This makeshift family really pulls together. “We’re a team but it’s also like a family here,” tug master Andrea MacDonald said of the non-traditional, all-woman crew who work the bridge, engine room and deck of the Atlantic Willow as it chugs and tugs around Halifax Harbor and beyond.

“It’s going well,” MacDonald, 50, said of her newly assembled tugboat crew of engineer Kelsie MacLean, 23, and deckhand Jocelyn Smith, 29.

“We live together. This is home. It’s more comfortable, if you need to get up in the middle of the night, to have all women on board. We were really excited to have the three of us on board. We were all a little curious, even I was thinking, 'Wow, this is going to be different.’ Three women, OK, this has never been done before.

“We are getting along very well, the jobs are all getting done, everything is working fine.”

Even a makeshift family that works one of the four harbor tugs operated by Atlantic Towing requires a modicum of structure.

“I’m like the boat mom,” said MacDonald.

Read more and view a video at this link: thechronicleherald.ca/business/1567431-video-halifax-tugboat-with-all-female-crew-like-a-family


6/5 - St. Clair, Mich. – The Lake Huron Lore Marine Historical Society is sponsoring its annual Great Lakes Maritime Market at the Riverview Plaza Mall in St. Clair on Saturday, June 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The mall is just across the street from the boardwalk in downtown St. Clair.

If you have an interest in the ships that ply the Great Lakes, present or past, you will want to attend this event. There will be more that 30 vendors offering various items relating specifically to the ships and shipping industry of this region. Among the items that will be available for sale are historical artifacts, books, photographs, artwork, shipwrecks, memorabilia, advertising and more. It is a great way to learn more about the fascinating history of the Great Lakes shipping for the beginner or the advanced historian.

For more information, contact Lake Huron Lore at 586-725-6276 or [e-mail]


In 1955, J. L. MAUTHE established a new Great Lakes cargo record for a coal cargo delivered to an upper lakes port. She loaded 18392 tons of coal at the Toledo C&O dock.
1943, BENJAMIN F. FAIRLESS, Captain Harry Ashby, delivered a record cargo of 19343.5 net tons of iron ore at Cleveland. The ore was loaded at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

In 1947, the Canada Steamship Lines steamer EMPEROR, loaded with ore and bound for Ashtabula, hit the rocks off Isle Royale at 4:10 a.m. The vessel sank within minutes but the crew was able to launch 2 lifeboats. Captain Eldon Walkinshaw, First Mate D. Moray, and 10 other crew members drowned when one of the lifeboats overturned. Twenty-one other survivors were rescued by the U.S.C.G. cutter KIMBALL.

On 04 June 1872, while carrying wooden barrel staves from Bay City, Michigan to Buffalo, New York, the bark AMERICAN GIANT encountered rough weather off Port Stanley, Ontario, on Lake Erie. Heavy seas carried off her deck cargo of 25,000 staves and the vessel became waterlogged. As the crew considered abandoning, the steamer MENDOTA saw their plight and took the GIANT in tow for Buffalo where they arrived the following day. For days afterward, other vessels reported the litter of barrel staves floating in the middle of Lake Erie.

At 2:00 a.m., 04 June 1891, in heavy fog, the NORTHERN QUEEN (steel propeller freighter, 299 foot, 2,476 gross tons, built in 1889, at Cleveland, Ohio) struck the schooner FAYETTE BROWN (wooden schooner, 178 foot, 553 gross tons, built in 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio) about ten miles off Dummy Light on Lake Erie. The BROWN, which was loaded with stone blocks, quickly sank in over 60 feet of water. One of the schooner's crewmen climbed aboard the QUEEN while the others barely had time to scramble up the schooner's masts. Accounts of the accident differ. The schooner's skipper claimed that the NORTHERN QUEEN continued on her journey while the schooner's crew clung to the masts while the skipper of the NORTHERN QUEEN claimed that he tried to find survivors, but lost the wreck in the fog and reluctantly continued on his journey, figuring that there were no survivors. Nevertheless, about an hour after the disaster, the steamer ROBERT MILLS (wooden propeller freighter, 256 foot, 1,790 gross tons, built in 1888, at Buffalo, New York) came along, heard the cries of the unfortunate seamen clinging to the masts and rescued them. No lives were lost.

On 04 June 1881, the OGEMAW (wooden propeller freighter, 167 foot, 624 gross tons) was launched at Simon Langell's yard in St. Clair, Michigan for Mr. Wood & Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

CLIFFS VICTORY sailed on her maiden voyage in ballast from South Chicago, Illinois, in 1951.

On June 4, 1968, the keel for OTTERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#667) was laid at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., for the Hall Corporation of Canada. Renamed b.) ROYALTON in 1983, c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL in 1985, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988 and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She arrived at Alang, India, for scrapping on January 7, 2005.

EDGAR B. SPEER (Hull#908) was christened on June 4th 1980, at Lorain, Ohio, for the Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., Hartford, Connecticut, managed by the Great Lakes Fleet of the United States Steel Corp., Duluth, Minnesota.

In 1988, IRVING S. OLDS departed Duluth under tow of tug SALVAGE MONARCH, headed for overseas scrapping. She was scrapped by Sing Cheng Yung Iron & Steel Co., in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, scrapping began on November 24, 1988.

June 4, 1940 - Oiler George Riemersma, 50, died of a heart attack while at work on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.

June 4, 1942 - John A. Clancey, 58, general manager of the Grand Trunk Western Railway and president of the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Carferry Co. died suddenly of a heart attack while at his desk in Detroit.

The Port Huron Times reported "The new trim and tidy tug, the P L JOHNSON, built for Capt. Sol Rummage, passed up last night with her first tow. She is of medium size and wears the national colors on her smokestack for which some of the boys call her a floating barber shop."

On 4 June 1859, GENERAL HOUSTON (2-mast wooden schooner, 83 foot, 123 tons, built in 1844, at French Creek, New York) was bound from Port Huron for Buffalo with a load of lumber. During a terrific gale, she missed the mouth of the Grand River near Fairport, Ohio and went on the pier where she broke up. Fortunately no lives were lost. The lighthouse keeper on the pier where she broke up later refused to light the lantern while the wreck was in place for fear of drawing other vessels into it. The U. S. Government quickly contracted to remove the hulk from the channel, but a month later, a storm did the job for free, obliterating the wreck so completely that it was reported to have just "disappeared." June 4th is the anniversary of the famous race between the TASHMOO and the CITY OF ERIE, an exciting race that included many thousands of dollars in wagers, great advance publicity, and the use of many other boats to watch the action along the way. The drama was such that carrier pigeons were released at various times to take the latest updates to waiting newspaper reporters. The CITY OF ERIE won the race in a very close match, and the story has been retold in several books about the Great Lakes.

1961: C.A. BENNETT went aground in the Wiley-Dondero Channel of the Seaway while trying to avoid the REDFERN and was released with her own power.

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/6 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Residents of a St. Catharines neighborhood want answers about what's in the air they're breathing after raising concerns with authorities about clinker dust settling on their properties.

The dust, used in the manufacture of Portland cement, is being unloaded from ships, piled up and trucked out by a company operating on the Welland Canal north of Lakeshore Road. Residents have complained dust from the Port Weller Marine Terminal is covering their homes, cars and gardens.

"We don't know what's in the air we're breathing down here," said David DeRocco, president of the Port Weller Residents Association, adding it's been a growing concern in the area because clinker dust is toxic. "And they're shipping it through the city. We don't know how many people they're affecting."

The city said it was approached by residents in late 2017 with concerns about clinker dust appearing on their properties. It raised those concerns with Quebec Stevedoring Co. Ltd., St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. which leases out the land to the company, and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

The city said Quebec Stevedoring Co. Ltd. prepared a dust mitigation plan approved by the environment ministry and has worked on implementing dust suppression measures on the pile and the roads on the site. Trucks are now loaded within a building and barrier walls have been constructed.

Residents say it's not working. "This dust is blowing into the canal. It's blowing into the lake. It's blowing on people's houses. It's getting into Malcolmson Park," DeRocco said. "People's homes are being covered in dust and we can't get answers."

The city said the company has told it it's willing to work with residents and has offered property and vehicle-washing services to residents if there are further issues.

St. Catharines Standard


On 06 June 1891, BAY CITY (wooden propeller freighter, 152 foot, 372 gross tons, built in 1867, at Marine City, Michigan) burned to a total loss while being repaired at the foot of Rivard Street in Detroit, Michigan. She was loaded with 300,000 feet of white pine lumber at the time. Her watchman reported the fire during the night and firemen thought they had it out, but it re-ignited and the vessel burned to a total loss. This ship had previously burned 20 years before on 10 April 1871, when she was on her first trip of the season after being rebuilt over the winter. Then she caught fire and burned nearly to the waterline but was rebuilt again and lasted until this last fire in 1891.
On 06 June 1917, ISABELLA J. BOYCE (wooden propeller sandsucker, 138 foot, 368 gross tons, built in 1889, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin as a freighter) grounded on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie and then was destroyed by fire. No lives were lost.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

1958, the largest freighter ever built on the Great Lakes slid down the ways at River Rouge, Michigan. The new freighter was christened by Mrs. Edmund Fitzgerald and named EDMUND FITZGERALD. The 729-foot FITZGERALD was owned by Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company and operated by Columbia Transportation under a 25-year bare boat charter.
In 1977, tugs refused to tow the new MESABI MINER out of the harbor due to high winds. Captain William McSweeney brought the MESABI MINER out under her own power to begin her maiden trip. On 07 June 1890, EMILY P. WEED (steel propeller freighter, 300 foot, 2,362 gross tons) was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #69) at W. Bay City, Michigan for the Hollister Transportation Co. She lasted until 02 September 1905, when she stranded on Sand Island Reef, Apostle Islands on Lake Superior and broke in two.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/8 - The tugs Evans McKeil and Cheyenne were downbound in the Detroit River Thursday afternoon headed for Port Colborne, Ont., with the retired Algoma Central Corp. laker Algoway in tow. Joining the Cheyenne as her river pilot was Alain Gindroz, who had been the Algoway’s captain in the 1990s. By 10 p.m. Thursday the tow had entered Lake Erie.

In the coming weeks, Algoway’s former fleetmate, Algorail, will also be towed out of Goderich, Ont., for scrapping.


6/8 - Detroit, Mich. – Sometimes presidential impulsiveness can be a good thing. Like when three Michigan congressmen climb into a limousine with President Donald Trump and he asks them for their wish list.

By the time the ride from Selfridge Air National Guard Base to a Washington Township sports complex was over, Reps. Paul Mitchell, Jack Bergman and John Moolenaar had secured a nearly $1 billion promise to expand the critical Soo Locks, an infrastructure project state officials had been begging Washington to fund for more than three decades.

Trump hastily added the Soo Locks pledge to his April 28 speech at the Macomb County rally. “Your lock isn’t working too well, it’s not working too well,” the president told the crowd. “It hasn’t been fixed in 50 years, in all fairness. I told your congressmen, ‘Write that name down for me. It’s the Army Corps of Engineers. We’re gonna be calling them. It could be tonight, depending on the time we get back.”

The call didn’t come that night — nothing moves that fast in Washington — but in the weeks since Trump’s speech, the representatives say they’ve seen a surge of activity within the federal bureaucracy that they believe will soon produce the go-ahead for adding capacity to the locks.

“We are closer to getting the Soo Locks to the next step in the process than we’ve been at any point in time,” says Mitchell, R-Dryden. “The Army Corp has been responsive to our requests.”

That next step is a revised economic impact study expected in the coming month. A previous study determined the expansion was not economically justified. But Rep. Bergman, R-Watersmeet, says that original report, now 30-years-old, was based on bad metrics and is sorely outdated.

Rep. Moolenaar, R-Midland, notes language was included in the water resources bill that passed the House Wednesday to authorize the Army Corps to expedite the Soo Locks project if the new economic report is favorable, as he expects it will be. That would allow funding to be included in the bill when it goes to conference committee later this summer. The lock expansion was first authorized by Congress in 1986, but the funds were never appropriated.

Bergman, whose northern Michigan district includes the locks, says he senses a greater sense of urgency since the president’s speech, and is “cautiously optimistic” the corps will move on starting the work next year. It will take seven years to complete.

“The president is watching this project,” Bergman says. “The White House is engaged at all levels.”

He recounts how the subject came up with Trump. “I was sitting next to him in back of the limo and he asked ‘what are the issues in Michigan, what do I need to know?’” Bergman says. “I said Soo Locks. He said, ‘What are the Soo locks?’ I explained to him the impact on the economy and national security should the locks close and he jumped right on it. He read his notes right into the speech.”

Moolenaar says that speech, “galvanized and energized interest in the locks in a way we haven’t seen before.”

The Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, connect Lake Superior to the other four Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The locks are vital to the steel industry —99 percent of the iron ore used in steel making comes from Michigan and Minnesota mines above the locks.

Most of it is transported on giant freighters. Sixty percent of those ships are restricted by size to the Poe Lock, which at 1,200-foot long, 110-foot wide and 32-foot deep is the largest of the four Soo Locks and the only one capable of handling the large lake freighters which make up 60 percent of shipping vessels. Nearly 7,000 ships carrying $500 billion of goods pass through annually.

Should the Poe Lock become disabled it would back up ships and slow the national economy. Estimates are that a six-month emergency shut down for repairs would impact 11 million jobs nationwide. It would also impact national security, because iron ore is so essential to steel production.

“It takes steel to go to war,” says James H.I. Weakley, president of the Lake Carrier’s Association, who is currently on Capitol Hill lobbying for the project. “Without the Soo Locks, there is no steel. There is no rail capacity to move that much ore.”

A report from the Department of Homeland Security last year said “it is hard to conceive” of a piece of infrastructure anywhere in the United States that is more consequential than the Soo Locks. “It would be devastating if it shut down,” Mitchell says.

Weakley says the value of Trump’s Macomb speech in moving things off the dime is inestimable.

“Regardless of who a president is, when the president speaks, it has an impact,” he says. “The people in the corps are really starting to understand the national significance of the project. The stars seem to be aligning.”

The Detroit News / Nolan Finley


6/8 - Grand Haven, Mich. – This past week, we welcomed two vessels to port that fly the maple leaf off their stern. Early in the morning on the last day of May, Lower Lakes Towing Ltd.’s self-unloading motor vessel Cuyahoga could be heard out in Lake Michigan blowing its foghorn as it approached the Grand Haven piers. The Cuyahoga arrived at first light and headed for Meekoff’s D&M dock on Harbor Island.

The vessel had a split cargo aboard, as it was loaded first in Thessalon, Ontario, and then Meldrum Bay, Ontario, so there were two different kinds of stone aboard. The Cuyahoga was unloaded before noon and backed out to Lake Michigan.

June 1 saw the arrival of two freighters. First was Interlake Steamship Co.’s self-unloading motor vessel Kaye E. Barker. It arrived with a cargo of coal for the Board of Light & Power plant on Harbor Island at about 9 a.m. Following two hours or so behind the Barker was Lower Lakes Towing’s self-unloading motor vessel Mississagi. Mississagi eased past the Barker and traveled upriver to the Verplank dock in Ferrysburg.

The Barker departed at about 4 p.m. and the Mississagi was outbound an hour later. Both ships headed up Lake Michigan. While the Barker was ahead of the Mississagi originally, the Mississagi ended up passing the Barker below Ludington.

The Cuyahoga and Mississagi were our first and second Canadian visitors of the season. Both vessels were built as part of the Maritimer class in the early 1940s.

The Cuyahoga was built by the American Shipbuilding Co. as the Mesabi and entered service as the J. Burton Ayers later that year. The Ayers began sailing for the Great Lakes Steamship Co., and then spent time with Wilson Marine Transit, then Kinsman Marine, and later the Columbia Transportation Division of the Oglebay Norton Co.

The Ayers spent several seasons laid up in the 1990s and, despite being rumored for scrap, was purchased by Lower Lakes in 1995 and renamed Cuyahoga. It has been sailing for them ever since.

The Mississagi was built at Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse as the Hill Annex, and began trading on the lakes as the George A. Sloan. The Sloan was converted to a self-unloader during the 1965-66 winter. The vessel sailed first for U.S. Steel and then later for Great Lakes Fleet.

In 2001, the Sloan was part of a three-ship sale to Lower Lakes with fleetmates Calcite II and Myron C. Taylor. The Calcite II was renamed Maumee and the Myron C. Taylor became the Calumet. The Sloan was renamed Mississagi and reflagged Canadian. Both the Maumee and Calumet have since been scrapped, and the name Calumet now carries on with another vessel in the fleet.

The Cuyahoga is named for the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. it is 620 feet long, 60 feet wide and 35 feet deep. Mississagi’s namesake is the Mississagi Strait located in Lake Huron. It has the same dimensions as the Cuyahoga, but is 6 inches longer.

The port of Grand Haven received 12 cargoes last month. We have received 19 cargoes so far this season. This number is the same that we had a year ago. Our five-year average is 17 cargoes for May, so we are ahead of that.

There’s a few ships to look out for in the near future. The Wilfred Sykes is expected both at D&M and Verplank’s in the next week or so. Also look for the Cuyahoga at Verplank’s. Additionally, the St. Marys Cement terminal is looking to get a boat sometime this weekend.

Sam Hankinson / Grand Haven Tribune


June 8 1951, CLIFFS VICTORY entered Cleveland with a load of iron ore from Marquette. The VICTORY completed the one-way trip in 37 hours - 20 hours faster than the best previous time.
On 08 June 1854, J. YOUNG SCAMMON (2-mast wooden brig, built in 1845, at Chicago, Illinois) was sheltering from a storm at S. Manitou Island on Lake Michigan when she dragged her anchors, stranded and broke in three pieces. She was driven in so close to the shore that the crew was able to use a broken spar to climb to the beach. No lives lost.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) entered regular service for the White Star Line at Detroit, Michigan, on 11 June 1900.
On 11 June 1903, HORACE H. BADGER (wooden 3-mast schooner, 129 foot, 263 gross tons, built in 1867, at Conneaut, Ohio as a 2-mast schooner, formerly KATE GILLETT) was carrying coal in a storm on Lake Erie. She was driven onto the breakwater at Cleveland, Ohio and broke up in the storm waves. The crew of seven was rescued by the Life Saving Service. This vessel had been wrecked twice before; once at Cross Village, Michigan, in 1895, and again near Alpena, Michigan in 1896.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On 10 June 1891, the tug AMERICAN EAGLE (wooden propeller tug, 46 gross tons, built in 1865, at Buffalo, New York) collided with the tug ALVA B (wooden propeller tug, 73 foot, 83 gross tons, built in 1890, at Buffalo, New York), which was not in motion, about 2.5 miles west of the Cleveland breakwater. The ALVA B hooked up a line and started towing the AMERICAN EAGLE in, but she sank a half-mile from the harbor entrance.
On 10 June 1891, CHARLES W. WETMORE (steel propeller whaleback freighter, 265 foot, 1,399 gross tons) left the shipyard at West Superior, Wisconsin, on her maiden voyage, bound for Liverpool, England with a cargo of grain. During her trip to the Atlantic Ocean, she shot the St. Lawrence River rapids. In Liverpool, she loaded machinery for Puget Sound. She only lasted until September 1892, when she stranded one mile north of Coos Bay, Oregon in fog. Bad weather stopped salvage attempts and the vessel was abandoned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TASHMOO (steel side-wheel excursion steamer, 308 foot, 1,344 gross tons, built in 1900, at Wyandotte, Michigan) hosted Admiral George Dewey on her inaugural trip from Cleveland, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, on 09 June 1900. Admiral Dewey had just returned from his conquest of the Philippines during the Spanish American War and was a national hero. TASHMOO entered regular service for the White Star Line two days later.
The Lubeck, Germany-built, 305-foot Greek freighter CASTALIA of 1953 struck the north tower pier of the Mackinac Bridge at 7 p.m. on 09 June 1968, in dense fog. The bridge was not damaged and the ship took on water, but was able to proceed to Chicago without assistance.

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

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

ROGER BLOUGH began sea trials in 1972.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/12 - Muskegon, Mich. – The Pearl Mist of Pearl Seas Cruises made its first stop of the season on Monday. She is scheduled to moor in Muskegon 9 more times during the 2018 season, and has plans to visit through 2020. This will be the third season in a row for Pearl Mist visits to Muskegon.

The ship docked at Heritage Landing, a park and outdoor event venue owned by Muskegon County at the east side of Muskegon Lake. About $350,000 in grants was invested in the dock at Heritage Landing to make it ready for the 2016 cruise ship season.

View images and a video at this link: www.mlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/06/f838d4da255473/first_cruise_ship_of_2018_seas.html


6/12 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – Ship lovers got a treat in recent days when three of the Great Lakes' massive thousand-footers where gathered at the Soo Locks in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

David Kaye got some great pictures of the heavyweight trio in the Soo Harbor last Friday, and agreed to share them with MLive readers. He had a lofty vantage point, too. Kaye shot the photos from the 210-foot Tower of History, which has viewing platforms overlooking the locks.

The tower has exhibits featuring early history of the area's missionaries, Native Americans and later the local settlers. It's also a great place to watch the bustling maritime action at the Soo Locks. Kaye's photos are being shared by ship watchers around the Great Lakes.

A primer outlining the backstory of the photos was shared by DRE Designs, which also posts a lot of great ship details. "(You can see) the Mesabi Miner leaving the Poe Lock and receiving supplies from the Ojibway supply boat, the Paul R. Tregurtha heading into the Poe Lock and the Edgar B. Speer floating along in the harbor patiently waiting her turn to follow into the lock after the (Tregurtha) locks through."

"You can also see the State of Michigan moored at the Coast Guard station, the Museum Ship Valley Camp looking fabulous and, if you look closely, you can see our 2 G-tugs moored as well just to the left of the marina... and that's Sault Ste Marie Ontario on the other side of the river.

View the photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/06/photos_show_3_thousand-foot_fr.html


6/12 - One-third of the metal seawall that stands between Lake Michigan and the homes along the Ogden Dunes shoreline is now exposed due to erosion, according to Rodger Howell, chairman of the town's Beach Nourishment & Preservation committee.

Where there is still beach, much of it is too small to even put up a volleyball net, he said.

While much of the town's problems are the result of the nearby Port of Indiana and ArcelorMittal bulkhead blocking the natural flow of sand back west to the community's beach, Howell said, the high water levels are making the problem worse.

The water level in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, which rise and fall as one, is at a high not seen since the late 1990s, said Lauren Fry, lead forecaster at the Detroit office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. When the lakes rise to levels higher than average, it poses a threat to property along the shoreline, she said.

The water in Lake Michigan rises and falls on a predictable annual cycle that begins low during winter and builds through July and August as a result of winter thaws and rains before dropping again, according to forecasts provided by the Army Corps.

The water level remains 14 inches below the record high of May 1986, Fry said, but it appears to be on its way up. The rise took off in 2013 and 2014 with record increases those years, she said, and then slowed for a couple of years.

It took off again last year with a steep increase and has been on track with seasonal norms so far this year, she said. This year's total increase will depend on how much rain falls this month.

The high lake levels have resulted in narrower beaches within the boundaries of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, said Public Information Officer Bruce Rowe. Areas hit particularly hard include the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, and Central and West beaches, he said.

There is also less beach this year at Indiana Dunes State Park, said Assistant Property Manager Mickey Rea. "It's shallow from the (parking) lot to the shoreline," he said. But the state park began with a large beach, so the rising water has not yet caused any real congestion problems among beachgoers, Rea said.

One part of the shoreline that typically does better with higher water levels is the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, according to Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator Lauren Edsall.

"Generally speaking, high water levels allow for safer navigation and operation at ports than low water levels," she said.

"In low-water situations, shipping channels have less draft for ships entering and exiting harbors, which creates additional risk of vessels running aground along the bottom or on a sand bar," Edsall said. "When the water levels are low, vessels might have to 'light load' or carry less cargo, which creates the need for more ships and additional costs."

But even the local port can face some challenges as lake water rises. "There can be some complications for engineering inspections of dock walls and mooring structures that are not as easily accessible or visible when the lake levels are high, she said.

"However, higher lake levels do not generally create major challenges for ports unless there are additional adverse conditions, such as strong winds or wave action," Edsall said. "In those cases, fendering and mooring devices may need to be adjusted to protect vessels and dock walls from damage."

NWI Times


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/14 - The tug Tim Mckeil was in the lower St. Clair River Wednesday evening headed for Superior, Wis., where she will tow out the former American Victory for scrap. When the tow will actually take place is still questionable. Allowing for upbound transit time as well as time to hook up the tow and the likely slow speed of the transit across Lake Superior, the vessels could be in the area of the Soo Locks as early as Tuesday next week. The tow will be bound for Montreal and eventually Turkey where Victo will be scrapped. When this tow is done, the Algorail scrap tow from Goderich will be next.


6/14 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Grain exports, along with demand for construction materials such as stone, cement and asphalt, led to shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway increasing in May after ice conditions in the St. Marys River and Lake Superior slowed deliveries in April.

But despite the increase, figures released by St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. show the total number of transits and total tonnage of cargo moved through the 3,700-kilometre St. Lawrence Seaway was still down compared to last year at the same time.

Total cargo moved through the system by the end of May sat at 7.8 million tonnes, down 3.71 per cent from 2017.

The number of vessels — ocean-going, lakers and tugs/barges — was only slightly down over last year, with 859 ships moving through the system as compared to 867 last year.

Iron ore shipments saw the biggest decrease, down 24.84 per cent, while dry bulk shipments dropped 18.55 per cent. Coal shipments were up 43.42 per cent, while liquid bulk shipments were up 19.44 per cent over the same time as last year.

"Looking ahead, we foresee momentum continuing as ships transport Canadian grain exports and a wide variety of dry bulk cargoes including construction materials," said seaway corporation president and CEO Terence Bowles in a release through the Chamber of Marine Commerce.

He said the authority is optimistic economic growth will translate into an increase in total cargo volume, with the potential to reach 40 million tonnes by the end of the year.

St. Catharines-based shipping company Algoma Central Corp. — it's the largest Canadian ship operator in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region — said its vessels are fully-booked for the year.

"We had two brand new self-unloading vessels, the Algoma Sault and the Algoma Innovator, arrive this spring, as well as two vessels purchased and reflagged from the U.S. side of the border," said Algoma chief operating officer Gregg Ruhl. "All are already hard at work delivering products for our customers in the manufacturing and construction sectors."

Algoma and its partner NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers (NACC) are expecting the arrival of the NACC Argonaut this month, a recently-converted pneumatic cement carrier that will transport cement products on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

The chamber said Ontario ports were also reporting positive business conditions.

"Two thousand eighteen is off to a great start at the Port of Hamilton," said Ian Hamilton, chief executive officer of the Hamilton Port Authority. "Now with three grain terminals running at full capacity, exports of Ontario grain were lined up and ready to go from day one. More than half-a-million metric tonnes of Ontario grain has been exported overseas through the port already this season."

St. Catharines Standard


6/14 - The tug VB Hispania towing the former Algoma Olympic arrived in Aliaga, Turkey at 5:21 EDT June 13th.


6/14 - Hampton Township, Mi. - The last coal plant on the Saginaw Bay is slated to go offline in 2023, Consumers Energy officials announced Wednesday.

The utility on Wednesday, June 13, said coal units one and two in the Karn Generating Complex in Bay County's Hampton Township will be retired in 2023. The decision comes two years after Consumers shut down its Weadock Generating Plant, located next door to the Karn plant.

The decision is part of the utility's pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent and eliminate the use of coal to generate electricity by 2040.

Patti Poppe, president and CEO of Consumers Energy and CMS Energy said her company plans to continue to support the township and Bay County after the units go offline.

"We're grateful for the power the Karn coal units have provided for Michigan over the decades and proud of our co-workers who've operated and maintained them so faithfully," Poppe said in a statement. "The company will be working actively to care for our co-workers through this transition."

About 300 employees are expected to be impacted by the closing of the coal units, said John Broschak, vice president of generation and compression for Consumers Energy.

Broschak said Consumers has been in negotiation with the workers' unions to help transition employees.

"Depending on their preference, we have various avenues for them to transition within the company," Broschak told MLive in an interview.

The coal units at Karn came online in 1959 and 1961, respectively, and can generate 515 megawatts of electricity. Consumers Energy plans to replace that power through wind energy. He declined to comment on future sites for wind farms.

Consumers will continue to operate units three and four at Karn. Those units run on natural gas and oil, Broschak said.

Environmentalists on Wednedsay applauded Consumers' decision.

"Consumers Energy is taking a step in the right direction by setting a retirement date for the Karn coal-fired power plant and apparently planning to replace that plant with clean energy. It is way past time for this antiquated technology and dirty fossil fuel to go," said Regina Strong, director of Michigan's Sierra Club.

In April 2016, the Weadock plant, along with seven other coal-powered plants across the state, went offline as Consumers began its shift away from coal as a fuel source.

Excluding the to Karn units, Consumers operates three coal units in Port Sheldon Township, north of Holland in Michigan. Two of those plants are scheduled to go offline in 2031, while the third will be retired in 2040, Broschak said.


6/14 - Chicago, Ill. – The Coast Guard located a motor vessel with 49 people aboard after one of the passengers called 911 stating she was concerned that the operator had become disoriented in heavy fog off of Navy Pier near the Chicago Harbor breakwall, Saturday.

Shortly before 11 p.m., a watchstander in the Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan command center received a call from Chicago 911 that a concerned passenger aboard the vessel, Serenity, a 56-foot yacht, reported the vessel had become disoriented in heavy fog with visibility less than one-quarter of a mile.

The Coast Guard launched a rescue crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from the Chicago Maritime Safety Station near Navy Pier and began the search. The passenger, who was communicating with the Coast Guard on a cell phone, helped guide the rescue crew toward the Serenity by listening for the horn on the Coast Guard boat. Once on scene, the Coast Guard found the vessel transiting slowly with no operating navigation system.

The Coast Guard escorted the Serenity into Monroe Harbor where a Coast Guard boarding team went onto the vessel to conduct a routine safety inspection. In addition to inoperable navigation and radio systems, the vessel did not have enough life jackets on board. Federal and state laws require all boaters to carry enough serviceable life jackets, correctly sized, for every person onboard.

The master of the vessel was issued a Coast Guard violation for negligent operations and for operating without the required navigation lights.

“The Coast Guard takes safety on the water very seriously,” said Chief Warrant Officer Matt James, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Calumet Harbor. “This voyage could well have had a much different and tragic ending for these passengers, given the vessel had no way to communicate, was lost in fog in an area that typically sees an increase in boat traffic on a Saturday night after fireworks, and did not have enough life jackets for everyone aboard.”

USCG


6/14 - Milwaukee, Wis. – In 1897, the Union Dry Dock Co. in Buffalo built a tugboat. In the years following, the tugboat sank (twice) and was raised, burned (twice) and was rebuilt. Today, after 118 strenuous years, the same tug is still at work in Milwaukee (Editor’s note: The Wisconsin was recently relocated to Monroe, Mich.), deftly assisting far larger ships in and out of the port. When it comes to tough workboats, the Wisconsin is in a class all its own.

The Wisconsin, some say, is also haunted.

In her excellent history Soul of a Port: The History and Evolution of the Port of Milwaukee (The History Press 2010) author Leah Dobkin relates several eerie encounters experienced by the Wisconsin’s crew. Dobkin also quotes the tug’s captain saying he isn’t troubled by talk of ghosts. If they exist, he said, they’re probably friendly enough.

Traditional-style tugboats are distinctive-looking vessels. They have wide, round, deep-riding hulls for maximum stability. The low stern keeps lines close to the water for safer towing. The small superstructure gives its crew plenty of deck space all around for line handling and allows the tug to nestle under the curving hulls of bigger ships.

It’s a purely functional design but its long-ago builders managed to give the Wisconsin elegant, flowing lines. More practically, this tug is known for its unusually good handling characteristics in rough weather (the Wisconsin is “a good sea boat,” in lake jargon).

Since tugboats are usually seen alongside much larger ships, it’s easy to forget that they are not necessarily small themselves. The Wisconsin is 83 feet long, 21 feet wide, and its diesel engine produces more than 1,000 horsepower.

For all their great stability and power, tugboats are potentially hazardous places to work. They perform the most demanding tasks in the maritime world, day or night, and frequently in harsh weather.

Ghosts are far down the list of things tugboat captains worry about. They know tragedy can strike at any moment – even when you do everything right. It happened to the Wisconsin.

In fall 1941, a freighter named the B.F. Jones with a capacity load of iron ore blundered onto a clay bank off the east end of Belle Isle in the Detroit River and stuck fast.

The Wisconsin – it was then named the America – her sister tug Oregon, and several other vessels were dispatched to free the grounded freighter. The Oregon tied a heavy towline to bow of the America, which, in turn, attached its own towline to the Jones’ anchor. The two tugs started pulling the anchor further into the river as the big freighter slowly fed out anchor chain. Once the anchor was reset, the Jones could assist in pulling itself free by winding in its anchor chain.

It was 2 a.m. on Oct. 23, 1941. Some of the tugboat’s crew were at their duty stations, others were asleep in their bunks. Inexplicably, the Jones’ suddenly stopped feeding out anchor chain. Before the Oregon could react, the America, jerked to a violent halt, rolled upside down, kept rolling until it was right side up, and sank – all within five seconds.

Seven men aboard were rescued including the captain of the tug, who escaped by smashing the pilothouse windshield with his fists – seriously injuring himself in the process – and he dragged a company supervisor to the surface with him. Six others drowned in the submerged vessel.

Read more and view photos at this link: milwaukeenotebook.com/2015/10/19/tugboat


6/14 - Daily rides on a Lake Michigan cruise ship now based in Michigan City will start Friday. The 70-foot, two-deck Emita II docked in Trail Creek at Millennium Plaza can hold 150 passengers. It was acquired by Lowell resident Victor Tieri, owner of Harbor Country Adventures, who has more than 20 years in the hospitality industry.

"It always amazed me that we didn’t have sightseeing boats like they have in Chicago," Tieri said. "Standing on the beach looking out over the lake is completely different than being out on the water and getting a view of the shoreline," he said.

Tieri said the ship will offer light food items and a full bar during 90-minute cruises to be offered seven days a week at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and a 7:30 p.m. "Sunset Tour." There also will be a 2½-hour "party cruise" every Saturday at 9:30 p.m. for people 21 and over with live music on the upper deck. The boat also will be available for private gatherings with catered food allowed.

After Labor Day, Tieri said, cruises probably will be offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the end of October, weather permitting.

Tieri said each cruise will begin with a presentation about Michigan City's maritime history. Passengers also will learn "fun facts" shared about Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes as the boat turns west.

Tieri started offering speed boat rides on Lake Michigan six years ago when he started Harbor Country Adventures in New Buffalo, which also offers winery tours on luxury buses.

"It went over so well I knew the next boat I was going to get had to be something larger," Tieri said.

Two years ago, he began talking with Michigan City Port Authority officials, who welcomed the cruise ship idea with open arms. Tieri said the Emita II, constructed in 1953, was used for cruises of the Erie Canal in the Syracuse, New York, area the past 50 years or so.

The longtime tour operators were looking to slow down in their later years, Tieri said.

The boat arrived in Michigan City after a 14-day voyage through the canal and Lake Erie, then up Lake Huron and down the entire length of Lake Michigan.

Daily cruises are $30 for adults, $16 for children and free for kids 2 and under. Fares are half price for all emergency responders and veterans. People currently active in the military ride at no cost.

Tickets can be obtained at www.harborcountryadventures.com or at the dock, Tieri said.

It’s believed the last time a tour boat operated in Michigan City was in the 1930s. Jack Arnett, executive director of the LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the boat is a nice attraction for boosting Michigan City’s lakefront experience. Tieri is also relocating his speed boat ride business to Michigan City.

NW Indiana Times


On this day in 1985, Captain Edward Rogowski passed away. Captain Rogowski started sailing as a deckhand on the 514 foot JOHN SHERWIN in 1936. He retired in 1982 as the first captain of the largest freighter on the Great Lakes, the 1,013 foot PAUL R TREGURTHA.
On this day in 1957, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter HARVEY H. BROWN, Captain Percy E. Mc Ginness, delivered the first cargo of coal to the new taconite loading port of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota.

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

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

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

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

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

[yachtsmanwilly]

6/15 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – More than $65 million earmarked for Eastern Upper Peninsula projects has been allocated to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District for fiscal year 2018 under the official work plan rolled out early this week.

The Detroit District, encompassing Great Lakes from Duluth-Superior Harbor on the far western end of Lake Superior on down into Lake Michigan and Lake Huron will receive an additional $79 million to repair breakwaters, dredge harbors and complete various projects and studies throughout its jurisdiction.

Congressman Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) revealed in a press release from his office that the plan includes $42 million for a pump well system for the Poe Lock and Davis Lock. An additional $4.2 million has been allocated for Poe Lock ship arrestors, while $6.2 million has been dedicated to Poe Lock bulkheads. Another $5.2 million will go toward what was described as a tainter valve project for the MacArthur Lock.

“Since taking office, I’ve worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) leadership and the Trump Administration to highlight the dangers to our economy and national security of an unscheduled outage of the 50 year old Poe Lock,” said Bergman.

“After urging USACE in April to use additional appropriated funds towards Soo Locks modernization, the updated FY18 work plan released this week directs over $57 million to be spent on major rehabilitation and modernization at the soo Locks complex. This is great news for Michigan’s First District, and critical in our mission of building a new Poe-sized Lock,” said Bergman. “I appreciate the administration’s refreshing focus on our vital waterway infrastructure. This is another major step towards ensuring seamless operation of the Soo Locks. I will continue working to advance momentum we’ve begun to build a new Poe-sized lock on Sault Ste. Marie.”

An additional $7.845 million has been allocated for asset renewal and hydropower projects on the St. Marys River, but specifics were not detailed by either Bergman’s Office or the USACE in their press released.

Finally, for the Eastern Upper Peninsula coverage area, $305,000 has been earmarked for Whitefish Point Harbor improvements.

Soo Evening News


6/15 - Hamilton, Ont. – There will be a lot more 'buzz' at on Hamilton's port lands as it becomes a breeding ground for queen bees — an effort to increase essential pollination services.

The Hamilton Port Authority (HPA) has partnered with urban beekeeping company Humble Bee, to provide 12 hive boxes at a yard adjacent to Sherman Inlet on the port's Pier 15, the heart of industrial Hamilton.

"The queens end up supporting beekeepers across the province and help provide essential pollination services for food production," said Luc Peters of Humble Bee in a news release.

The 12 boxes will be divided into three miniature colonies with approximately 500 bees in each 'mini-hive.' The authority says the breeding location for the queen bees was chosen due to its proximity to the waterfront, because of the distance from other beekeeping activity and because it allows for a more isolated breeding ground with greater control and quicker results.

The HPA says the bee yard is a compliment to the authority's first pollinator garden that's also located at Pier 15. The garden is part of HPA's goal to create a corridor of native plantings that provide food and shelter for pollinators like butterflies and bees as they travel across the port lands.

"The port lands are uniquely suited to contribute to a pollinator corridor in north Hamilton, because of the ability to create native planting nodes across the port's 630 acres," said HPA's community relations manager, Sharon Clark in a release.

"And as it turns out, the port lands also offer ideal conditions for honeybee breeding, and the establishment of new 'queendoms,’ as we've been calling them."

According to HPA, the beekeepers will first visit to catch the queens that have been raised, and then visit again to install new queen cells. As the season comes to a close in November, the hives will be wrapped up for winter until beekeeping activity resumes in the spring.

The HPA is reminding people that honeybees are" non-aggressive" due to the fact that they can only sting once and only sting when they feel that their own life or their colony is threatened. They say unless you're in the immediate area of the colonies, the only thing that will be noticed is more honeybees on the flowers.

CBC


On this day in 1967, the new $6 million Allouez taconite pellet handling facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was dedicated. The first cargo of 18,145 tons of pellets was loaded into the holds of the Hanna Mining Company freighter JOSEPH H. THOMPSON.
At midnight, on Saturday, 15 June 1901, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 199 gross tons, built in 1882, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at her dock on the Black River in Port Huron, Michigan. Her upper works were destroyed, but she was repaired and put back in service. She lasted until 1922, when her boiler exploded, killing four people and destroying the vessel.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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