Today in Great Lakes History

[Avenger]

Wow, somebody else actually reads this!

I did the survey and made Bill and Ppat aware of it. It may help if you do the survey too.

[skycheney]

Aug 8, 2018 12:19:55 GMT -5 Avenger said:

Wow, somebody else actually reads this!

I did the survey and made Bill and Ppat aware of it. It may help if you do the survey too.

Already did it.

[Avenger]

Good deal. Thanks.

Today in Great Lakes History - August 9
On 09 August 1910, the Eastland Navigation Company placed a half page advertisement in both the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Leader offering $5,000 to anyone who could substantiate rumors that the excursion steamer EASTLAND was unsafe. No one claimed the reward.

The keel was laid for the INDIANA HARBOR (Hull#719) on August 9, 1978, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by Bay Shipbuilding Co. for Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. (American Steamship Co., mgr.).
The HAMILDOC (Hull#642) was christened on August 9, 1963.
The G.A. TOMLINSON (Hull#370) entered service August 9, 1909. Renamed b.) HENRY R. PLATT JR in 1959. Hull used as a breakwall at Burlington Bay, Ontario in 1971.
The SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY with the former CSL steamer ASHCROFT in tow of the Polish tug JANTAR arrived in Castellon, Spain for scrapping in 1969.
On August 9, 1989, the tug FAIRPLAY IX departed Sorel with the FORT CHAMBLY and NIPIGON BAY in tandem tow bound for Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping.
On the night of August 9, 1865, METEOR met her running mate, the propeller PEWABIC, off Thunder Bay on Lake Huron around 9 p.m. As the two approached, somehow METOER sheered and struck her sister, sinking the PEWABIC within minutes in 180 feet of water. About 125 people went down with her, and 86 others were saved.
On 9 August 1850, CHAUTAUQUE (wooden sidewheel steamer, 124 foot 162 tons, built in 1839, at Buffalo, New York) caught fire in the St. Clair River and burned to a total loss. In previous years she had been driven ashore 1844, and sank twice - once in 1846, and again in 1848. In September 1846, she made the newspaper by purposely ramming a schooner that blocked her path while she was attempting to leave the harbor at Monroe, Michigan.
On 9 August 1856, BRUNSWICK (wooden propeller, 164 foot, 512 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was carrying corn, scrap iron and lard from Chicago when she sprang a leak in a storm and was abandoned by the crew and passengers. One passenger drowned when one of the boats capsized, but the rest made it to shore near Sleeping Bear in the three other boats. BRUNSWICK went down in 50 fathoms of water, 6 miles south of South Manitou Island on Lake Michigan.
On 9 August 1875, The Port Huron Times reported that the schooner HERO, while attempting to enter the piers at Holland, Michigan, was driven two miles to leeward and went to pieces. Her crew took to the boats, but the boats capsized. Luckily all made it safely to shore.
August 9, 1938 - The Pere Marquette car ferries 17 and 18 left Milwaukee for Grand Haven carrying 600 United States Army Troops, bound for Army war maneuvers near Allegan and at Camp Custer.
On 9 August 1870, ONTONAGON (wooden propeller bulk freight, 176 foot, 377 tons, built in 1856, at Buffalo, New York by Bidwell & Banta) sank after striking a rock near the Soo. She was initially abandoned but later that same year she was recovered, repaired and put back in service. In 1880, she stranded near Fairborn, Ohio and then three years later she finally met her demise when she was run ashore on Stag Island in the St. Clair River and succumbed to fire.
The 204-foot wooden side-wheeler CUMBERLAND was launched at Melancthon Simpson's yard in Port Robinson, Ontario on 9 August 1871. She cost $101,000. Too large for the Welland Canal, she was towed up the Welland River to Chippewa and then up the Niagara River to Lake Erie. She operated on the Upper Lakes and carried soldiers to put down the Red River Rebellion. She survived being frozen in for the winter near Sault Ste. Marie in 1872, grounding in 1873, sinking in 1874, and another grounding in 1876. But she finally sank near Isle Royale on Lake Superior in 1877.
In 1942, the sea-going tug POINT SUR was launched at Globe Shipbuilding Co. in Superior, Wisconsin and the Walter Butler Shipbuilders, in Superior, launched the coastal freighter WILLIAM BURSLEY.
1968 Labrador Steamships agreed to sell POINTE NOIRE to Upper Lakes Shipping. The vessel was operated by U.L.S. on charter until the sale was approved.

[Avenger]

Today in Great Lakes History - August 10
On 10 August 1890, TWO FANNIES (3-mast wooden bark, 152 foot, 492 gross tons, built in 1862, at Peshtigo, Wisconsin) was carrying 800 tons of iron ore on Lake Erie when a seam opened in rough weather. The crew kept at the pumps but to no avail. They all made it off of the vessel into the yawl just as the bark sank north of Bay Village Ohio. The CITY OF DETROIT tried to rescue the crew but the weather made the rescue attempt too dangerous and only two men were able to get to the steamer. The tug JAMES AMADEUS came out and got the rest of the crew, including the ship's cat, which was with them in the yawl.

On August 10, 1952, the ARTHUR M. ANDERSON entered service for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Exactly 14 years later, on August 10, 1966, the vessel's namesake, Arthur Marvin Anderson, passed away.
In 1969, the EDMUND FITZGERALD set the last of many cargo records it set during the 1960s. The FITZGERALD loaded 27,402 gross tons of taconite pellets at Silver Bay on this date. This record was broken by the FITZGERALD's sister ship, the ARTHUR B. HOMER, during the 1970 shipping season.
On 10 August 1937, B.H. BECKER (steel tug, 19 tons, built in 1932, at Marine City, Mich.) foundered in heavy seas, 9 miles north of Oscoda, Mich.
In 1906, JOHN H. PAULEY (formerly THOMPSON KINSFORD, wooden propeller steam barge, 116 foot, 185 gross tons, built in 1880, at Oswego, New York) caught fire at Marine City, Mich. Her lines were burned through and she then drifted three miles down the St. Clair River before beaching near Port Lambton, Ont. and burning out.
On 10 August 1922, ANNIE LAURA (wooden propeller sandsucker, 133 foot, 244 gross tons, built in 1871, at Marine City, Mich.) beached near Algonac, Mich., caught fire and burned to the waterline.
1899: The whaleback steamer JOHN B. TREVOR was rammed and sunk by her barge #131 in the St. Clair River. The accident was caused by CRESCENT CITY crossing the towline. The sunken ship was refloated and, in 1912, became the ATIKOKAN.
1967: PAUL L. TIETJEN and FORT WILLIAM were in a head-on collision on Lake Huron about 25 miles north of Port Huron. Both ships were damaged but were repaired and returned to service.
1975: CIMBRIA came through the Seaway for the first time in 1965 under West German registry. The ship was sailing as c) KOTA MENANG when it stranded on Nyali Reef, off Mombasa, Tanzania, due to a steering failure on August 10, 1975. The vessel received severe hull damage and was deemed a total loss.
1979: The Indian freighter JALARAJAN and the British flag LAURENTIC sustained minor damage in a collision at Kenosha, Wis. The former was dismantled at Calcutta, India, in 1988 while the latter was scrapped at Karachi, Pakistan, in 1984.
1992: MENASHA was set adrift and then sank in the St. Lawrence off Ogdensburg, N.Y. The former U.S. Navy tug was refloated and repaired. After some later service at Sarnia, the tug was resold and moved for Montreal for work as c) ESCORTE.
2007: NORDSTRAND came to the Great Lakes in 1990 and sank at the stern, alongside the Adriatica Shipyard at Bijela, Montecaucasianally challenged individual, as c) MEXICA, when the engine room flooded on this date. The ship was refloated on September 1, 2007, and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on May 5, 2010.

[yachtsmanwilly]

8/13 - Duluth, Minn. – Moving the William A. Irvin from its current location at Minnesota Slip to Fraser Shipyards and back is going to cost the city of Duluth $250,000 more than expected.

The Duluth City Council will consider a resolution Monday that would reappropriate $250,000 of 2018 tourism tax funds, originally assigned to finance the rehabilitation of the Minnesota Slip Bridge, and use it to move the retired freighter. The pedestrian bridge that spans the slip will be pinned in an upright position to provide room for the Irvin to squeeze through the abutments with only 15 total inches to spare.

The city already approved an agreement in June to provide half the funding needed to move the laker at a total cost not expected to exceed $600,000. But the agreement also stated that the city will have to pick up any overrun expenses. With the additional cost of more than $250,000, the city is now on the hook for more than $550,000.

The extra cost stems from the contract to move the Irvin from the Minnesota Slip this fall to Fraser Shipyards, where its hull will be painted, and back again in the spring, said Jim Filby Williams, Duluth's director of public administration.

"We estimated the cost of towing the Irvin to be around $400,000, but the bids came back around $650,000," he said.

The resolution to approve the contract to relocate the Irvin is also on the city council's agenda for Monday. The contract is expected to be awarded to Wren Works, LLC for an amount not to exceed $656,968. The Irvin will need to move this fall to allow for crews to begin working on a project designed to stabilize and contain contaminated sediments in the slip.

Duluth News Tribune


Operated by a crew of retired Hanna captains, chief engineers and executives, the GEORGE M. HUMPHREY departed the old Great Lakes Engineering Works yard in Ecorse, Michigan, under her own power on August 13, 1986, for Lauzon, Quebec. The HUMPHREY cleared Lauzon September 3rd with the former Hanna steamer PAUL H. CARNAHAN in tow of the Dutch tug SMIT LLOYD 109. The tow locked through the Panama Canal, September 27-30, and arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan December 10, 1986 completing a trip of over 14,000 miles. The HUMPHREY was scrapped in 1987, by Shiong Yek Steel Corp.
On 13 August 1899, H. G. CLEVELAND (wooden schooner, 137 foot 264 tons, built in 1867, at Black River, Ohio) sank with a full load of limestone, 7 miles from the Cleveland harbor entrance.

August 13, 1980 - The ARTHUR K. ATKINSON returned to service after repairing a broken crankshaft suffered in 1973. She brought 18 railcars from Manitowoc to Frankfort.

The 272 foot, 1,740 gross ton, wooden propeller freighter SITKA was launched by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#32) at W. Bay City, Michigan on 13 August 1887.

1986 INDIANA HARBOR set a Toledo and Lake Erie record, loading 55,047 tons of coal at Toledo for Marquette.

1917: The barge MIDDLESEX of the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company broke loose and stranded at Rapide Plat in the St. Lawrence. The ship was abandoned to the insurers but salvaged and returned to service as b) WOODLANDS in 1918.

1979: IRISH OAK first came to the Great Lakes in 1960 for Irish Shipping Ltd. The vessel went aground near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as c) VEGAS on this date in 1979, while enroute from Piraeus, Greece, to Vietnam. The hull was refloated on October 28, 1979, and reached Jeddah on November 16, 1979. It was sold for scrapping at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, and arrived there on January 29, 1980.

1982: EUTHALIA visited the Seaway for the first time in 1972. It caught fire in the engine room as d) FORUM SPIRIT enroute from Port Said, Egypt, to Piraeus, Greece, and was abandoned by most of the crew. While it was towed into Piraeus on August 14, the vessel was declared a total loss. The ship arrived at Split, Yugoslavia, again under tow, for scrapping on March 6, 1984.

1993: The second CORFU ISLAND to visit the Great Lakes came inland in 1970. This SD14 cargo carrier had been built the previous year and returned as b) LOYALTY in 1980. Later that fall, the ship arrived at Basrah, Iraq, from Duluth with severe missile damage resulting from the Iraq-Iran War. The ship was declared a total loss but remained idle there until being towed away on August 13, 1993. LOYALTY arrived at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, for scrapping on September 22, 1993.

The C&O carferry SPARTAN, in a heavy fog while inbound from Kewaunee on the morning of August 12, 1976, struck rocks at the entrance to Ludington harbor. She suffered severe damage to about 120 feet of her bottom plating. She was taken to Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay on August 18th for repairs. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
TOM M. GIRDLER was christened August 12, 1951; she was the first of the C-4 conversions.

MAUNALOA (Hull#37) was launched August 12, 1899 at Chicago, Illinois by Chicago Shipbuilding Co. for the Minnesota Steamship Co. Sold Canadian and renamed b.) MAUNALOA II in 1945. She was scrapped at Toronto in 1971.

WILLIAM E. COREY sailed from Chicago on her maiden voyage August 12, 1905, bound for Duluth, Minnesota to load iron ore. She later became b.) RIDGETOWN in 1963. Used as a breakwater in Port Credit, Ontario, in 1974, and is still there.

On 12 August 1882, FLORIDA (3-mast wooden schooner, 352 tons, built in 1875 at Batiscan, Ontario) was carrying 662 tons of coal from Black River to Toronto when she sprang a leak and sank 12 miles from Port Maitland, Ontario. She hailed from Quebec and was constructed mostly of pine and tamarack.

1941: The first EAGLESCLIFFE HALL was attacked by a German bomber from the Luftwaffe and was struck aft. The vessel was two miles east of Sunderland, England, at the time and one member of the crew was killed. The ship reached Sunderland for repairs and, at the end of the war, resumed Great Lakes service for the Hall Corporation. It later joined the Misener fleet as DAVID BARCLAY.

1960: A collision on the Detroit River between the Finnish freighter MARIA and the ALEXANDER T. WOOD damaged both vessels and put the latter aground in the Ballard Reef Channel. After being lightered of some grain by MAITLAND NO. 1, the vessel was released with the aid of the tug JOHN PURVES. MARIA, a pre-Seaway caller to the Great Lakes as BISCAYA and TAMMERFORS, was towed to the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse for repairs. It was eventually scrapped in Yugoslavia in 1968. ALEXANDER T. WOOD sank as VAINQUER after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico on March 15, 1969.

1980: An explosion in the crankcase of the bulk carrier RALPH MISENER left one crew member killed and another four injured. One of the injured later died. The ship was loaded with coke and on the Saguenay River bound for Port Alfred. Repairs were carried out at Montreal.

On 11 August 1899, the SIMON LANGELL (wooden propeller freighter, 195 foot, 845 gross tons, built in 1886, at St. Clair, Michigan) was towing the wooden schooner W K MOORE off Lakeport, Michigan on Lake Huron when they were struck by a squall. The schooner was thrown over on her beam ends and filled with water. The local Life Saving crew went to the rescue and took off two women passengers from the stricken vessel. The Moore was the towed to Port Huron, Michigan by the tug HAYNES and placed in dry dock for inspection and repairs.
The H.M. GRIFFITH was the first self-unloader to unload grain at Robin Hood's new hopper unloading facility at Port Colborne, Ontario on August 11, 1987. She was renamed b.) RT HON PAUL J. MARTIN in 2000.

On August 11, 1977, the THOMAS W. LAMONT was the first vessel to take on fuel at Shell's new fuel dock at Corunna, Ontario The dock's fueling rate was 60 to 70,000 gallons per hour and was built to accommodate 1,000- footers.

Opening ceremonies for the whaleback tanker METEOR a.) FRANK ROCKEFELLER, museum ship were held on August 11, 1973, with the president of Cleveland Tankers present whose company had donated the ship. This historically unique ship was enshrined into the National Maritime Hall of Fame.

The T.W. ROBINSON departed Quebec City on August 11, 1987, along with US265808 (former BENSON FORD in tow of the Polish tug JANTAR bound for Recife, Brazil where they arrived on September 22, 1987. Scrapping began the next month.

On 11 August 1862, B F BRUCE (wooden propeller passenger steamer, 110 foot, 169 tons, built in 1852, at Buffalo, New York as a tug) was carrying staves when she caught fire a few miles off Port Stanley, Ontario in Lake Erie. She was run to the beach, where she burned to a total loss with no loss of life. Arson was suspected. She had been rebuilt from a tug to this small passenger steamer the winter before her loss.

On 11 August 1908, TITANIA (iron propeller packet/tug/yacht, 98 foot, 73 gross tons, built in 1875, at Buffalo, New York) was rammed and sunk by the Canadian sidewheeler KINGSTON near the harbor entrance at Charlotte, New York on Lake Ontario. All 26 on board were rescued.

The wooden scow-schooner SCOTTISH CHIEF had been battling a storm on Lake Michigan since Tuesday, 8 August 1871. By late afternoon of Friday, 11 August 1871, she was waterlogged. The galley was flooded and the food ruined. The crew stayed with the vessel until that night when they left in the lifeboat. They arrived in Chicago on Sunday morning, 13 August.

1865: A fire broke out at Sault Ste. Marie in the cargo of lime aboard the wooden passenger and freight carrier METEOR that was involved in the sinking of the PEWABIC on August 9. METEOR was scuttled in 30 feet of water to prevent its loss. The hull was pumped out and salvaged four days later and repaired.

1919: MURIEL W. hit a sunken crib off Port Weller and was partially sunk. An August 15, 1919, storm broke up the hull.

1928: W.H. SAWYER stranded off Harbor Beach Light in a storm. Her barges, A.B. KING and PESHTIGO, were blown aground and broken up by the waves. The trip had run for shelter but the effort ended 100 yards short of safety. The cook was a casualty.

1944: The Norwegian freighter ERLING LINDOE was built in 1917 and came to the Great Lakes for the first time in 1923. The ship struck a mine in the Kattegat Strait, off Varberg, Sweden, and sank with its cargo of pyrites. The number of casualties varies with one report noting the loss at 19 members of the crew, another at 17 and, yet another, had the death toll at 13. There were 6 survivors.

1976: The Panamanian freighter WOKAN was beached off Oman with a fractured hull enroute from the Ulsan, South Korea, to Kuwait. It was declared a total loss and abandoned. The 1952-built vessel first came through the Seaway as b) DAUPHINE in 1968 and returned as d) SPACE KING in 1975.

2001: Bridge 11 of the Welland Canal was lowered prematurely striking the downbound bulk carrier WINDOC taking the top off the pilothouse, toppling the stack and igniting a fire. The massive damage to the ship was never repaired and efforts for find work for the vessel as a barge were not a success. The hull arrived at Port Colborne for dismantling on November 9, 2010.

2004: ONEGO MERCHANT came through the Seaway for the first time in May 2004. Later that summer, the vessel sustained bow damage in a grounding near Larvik, Norway, but was refloated within hours. It returned to the Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006 and has sailed as b) VRIESENDIEP since 2009.

[yachtsmanwilly]

8/14 - A handymax bulk carrier under construction at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's New Yangzi shipyard caught fire on Saturday.

According to local reports, the fire started from a ship cabin around 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. The local firefighting department was called in and managed to put out the fire in a few hours. No casualties were reported in the incident.

The ship is Canadian owner Algoma's 38,000 dwt Algoma Conveyor which is scheduled for delivery in 2019. The ship was originally ordered at Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry and construction of the ship was taken over by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding after Mingde went bankrupt.

The cause of the fire is unknown.



8/14 - Houghton, Mich. – Michigan Technological University unveiled its Maritime Autonomy Research Site last Friday, which the university hopes will spur new developments in unmanned research vessels. The site, located at the Great Lakes Research Center, is believed to be the first freshwater testing spot of its kind.

At the same time, officials announced the Smart Ships Coalition. It includes scientists, policymakers, navigators, educators and others from around the Great Lakes looking to develop guidelines for conducting research with autonomous boats.

Applications of autonomous technology in the near term will be focused on research, surveying and search and rescue, said David Naftzger, executive director of the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers. The group consists of governors of Great Lakes states, including Gov. Rick Snyder, and premieres from the Canadian provinces.

Their goal is to double maritime trade in the Great Lakes, he said. Autonomous technology can be a “quantum leap” in advancing shipping, he said.

“Shipping 25 years from now will look very different than it does today,” he said. “In part, that’s going to be because of the work that’s being done here.”

In smaller ways, autonomous features are already entering the market, said Travis White, a research engineer at the GRLC and cofounder of ProNav Marine. He pointed out a buoy in the water that can be used to set up a race course via smart course, which ProNav helped develop the GPS controls.

“Being fortunate to work here at the Great Lakes Research Center, I’m excited to have an opportunity to work on some of the issues still that face the adoption of autonomous technologies” such as safety concerns, he said.

With no crew onboard, a craft could go out in conditions that would preclude a manned trip. The event included the demonstration of a one-third-scale model of a swarming boat, which will be able to work in conjunction with other vehicles and assess wavefields to choose how to maneuver in choppy waters.

Interest in the jet ski, which is outfitted with sonar, is also a step toward surveying the Great Lakes without a piloted vessel said Guy Meadows, director of the Great Lakes Research Center.

“Surveying on a jet ski is really fun, but if you’re talking about surveying the Great Lakes, our real goal is to get the human out of the loop,” Meadows said.

“Human, out of the loop!” he then commanded the pilot, who raised his hands away from the controls as the jet ski sped on.

Daily Mining Gazette


8/14 - Commercial fishing operations near the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior are reporting record numbers of whitefish and a strong recovery of lake trout from a low in the early 2000s.

During a presentation to the state’s Natural Resources Board, Craig Hoopman, of Lake Superior whitefish, said he is seeing record numbers of young whitefish and a strong rebounding of lake trout numbers. Hoopman, who chairs the state Department of Natural Resources Lake Superior Commercial Fishing Board, said fishing has been phenomenal so far this year.

"We're averaging between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds of whitefish per day in the traps right now and releasing thousands of sub-legal fish," said Hoopman. "There's just multiple year classes of fish."

And while whitefish is the most sought-after species, Hoopman said he is also seeing strong numbers of lake trout as well after a decades-long population decline that began in 1950s.

"The lake trout recovery … it's unbelievable. There's around three year classes of lake trout that I'm seeing daily that are extremely large. Very nice, beautiful-looking fish, healthy, the whitefish, the lake trout, all the species that I'm seeing every day, they are feeding well, there just healthy-looking fish," he said.

A year class refers to all fish born in the same year.

Hoopman credited refuges near the Apostle Islands — where fishing is prohibited and where the fishing season ends Sept. 30, before fish spawn in October and November — for letting the whitefish and trout populations boom.

"We have a fishery that is protected here," he said. "It is of such utmost importance of our restricted use areas and the refuge that we have in place that have been there for a long time to protect these fish and also our closed season dates."

Brad Ray, a DNR fisheries biologist, said lake trout populations crashed during the 1950s and '60s due in part to the introduction of invasive sea lamprey.

The DNR, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission have worked for decades to target spawning lamprey to reduce their numbers, which Ray said has allowed the lake trout populations to recover. He said since 2007, the DNR has noticed a consistent number of young lake trout coming into the population.

"The recreational fishery has been booming and we have a higher quota than we did last year and catch rates have been through the roof. Everybody seems to be doing really well on the recreation side and there are a lot of fish out there in terms of lake trout," Ray said.

Ray also said he has seen strong numbers of younger year classes of whitefish in recent years. That's not surprising since the two species have similar feeding and spawning behaviors.

"There's a lot of smaller whitefish that we catch in our summer assessment that has smaller meshes than the commercial gear, but we see good numbers of fish coming into the fishery population, what can be harvested by the commercial industry," Ray said.

At the end of his presentation, Hoopman said if conditions hold and the younger whitefish and lake trout are able to grow to maturity, the Apostle Islands and South Shore region of Lake Superior will get a lot of attention for being a national sport fishing destination.

Wisconsin Public Radio


On this day in 1962, the ARTHUR M. ANDERSON departed Conneaut and headed downbound to become the first Pittsburgh boat to transit the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway.
At 11 p.m., 14 August 1882, the steam barge CHICAGO, 206 foot, 935 gross tons of 1855, was carrying coal on Lake Michigan while towing the barge MANITOWOC, 210.5 feet, 569 gross tons of 1868. In mid-lake, near Fox Island, CHICAGO was discovered to be on fire. Within 15 minutes, she was ablaze. Her crew escaped to her barge-consort MANITOWOC. The CHICAGO burned to the water's edge and sank the following day.

Sea trials for the HENRY FORD II took place on August 14, 1924, and shortly after she left on her maiden voyage with coal from Toledo, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota and returned with iron ore to the Ford Rouge Plant at Dearborn.

After been sold for scrap, the GOVERNOR MILLER was towed down the Soo Locks on August 14, 1980, for Milwaukee, Wisconsin to load scrap.

On 14 August 1873, CHESTER B. JONES (3-mast, wooden schooner, 167 foot, 493 gross tons) was launched at East Saginaw, Michigan. She was built by Chesley Wheeler. The spars and top hamper ordered for her were broken in a logjam, so the 3-master received her spars at Buffalo, New York on her first trip.

The 149 foot bark MARY E. PEREW was found floating west of the Manitou Islands by the propeller MONTGOMERY on 14 August 1871. The PEREW had been sailing to Milwaukee with a load of coal when a storm came upon her so quickly on 8 August (nearly a week before MONTGOMERY found her) that the crew did not have time to trim the sails. All three masts were snapped and the mizzen mast fell on the yawl, smashing it. So the crew was stuck on the ship, unable to navigate. The MONTGOMERY towed her to Milwaukee where she was rebuilt and she lasted until 1905.

On 14 August 1900, the tug WILLIAM D of the Great Lakes Towing Co. got under the bow of the steamer WAWATAM at Ashtabula, Ohio, and was rolled over and sank. One drowned.

August 14, 1899 - W. L. Mercereau, known as the "Father of the Fleet,” became Superintendent of Steamships for the Pere Marquette Railway.

1936: Registration for the wooden steamer MARY H. BOYCE was closed. The ship, which had burned at Fort William in 1928, was scuttled in deep water off Isle Royale in 1936.The vessel had been an early member of the Paterson fleet.

1950: The Canada Steamship Lines passenger carrier QUEBEC caught fire near Tadoussac, Quebec, and was able to reach the dock. Of the 426 passengers on board, 3 lives were lost. The blaze was considered suspicious as it began in a linen closet. The vessel was a total loss.

1961: The wooden diesel-powered tug NORTH STAR IV had visited the Great Lakes as b) ROCKY RIVER and had been used to handle the barges BLACK RIVER and PIC RIVER for the Quebec & Ontario Transportation Co. The vessel was serving under her fourth name when she stranded on a rock in James Bay while doing hydrographic survey work. The crew was rescued but the vessel was a total loss. The rocky area is now called North Star Shoal.

1986: GABRIELLA came through the Seaway in 1975 when only a year old. The ship capsized at Port Kembla, Australia, while discharging a 227-ton heavy lift on this date. The vessel was turned upside down, refloated in November 1986 and towed 30 miles out to sea and scuttled on December 9, 1986.

2004: FEDERAL MAAS was damaged at the Iroquois Lock when the wing of the pilothouse struck the edge of the bascule bridge.

2005: The Cypriot freighter ULLA visited the Seaway in September 1995 with cocoa beans for Valleyfield, QC and returned, in ballast, in November 1996 for Port Robinson. It was in a collision as f) REEF PEMBA with the GAS VISION and sank off Oman on this date in 2005. The crew was saved.

[yachtsmanwilly]

8/15 - Cleveland, Ohio – The U.S. Coast Guard is warning boaters and people using paddle craft on the Cuyahoga River to stay out of the way of larger, cargo ships.

As more people flock to the revitalized Flats to explore the river and Lake Erie, the Coast Guard said there has been an increase in smaller vessels getting in the way of freighters.

“The risk is being in the way of a large vessel that can't stop very quickly or maneuver fast enough, especially in a narrow channel,” said Petty Officer Second Class Lauren Steenson.

The owners of Great Lakes Watersports, which rents boats, jet skis and kayaks on the west bank of the Flats, said rentals have been steadily growing since they bought the business in 2016.

Increased activity along the river, including new bars and restaurants, have drawn more people to the area.

“Business has been fantastic. It's been pretty much a steady increase since we've opened two years ago. It's been on the rise pretty much every month since then,” said manager Pete Dittoe.

With increased fun has come increased issues for freighters, according to the Coast Guard.

Congestion on the river can make it difficult for freighters to navigate tight corners. The Coast Guard said ships have collided with the west bank twice over the last two years while trying to avoid hitting smaller vessels.

“It's dangerous to be in the way of any large ship,” Steenson said. “Stay out of the main shipping lane, which is the middle of the river, and stick toward the edge of the river which is a little bit safer and out of the tankers' ways.”

View a video at this link: fox8.com/2018/08/13/coast-guard-warns-to-steer-clear-of-freighters-on-cuyahoga-river


8/15 - Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. – The US Coast Guard, along with partner agencies, is slated to conduct on-the-water exercises in the Straits of Mackinac Wednesday and Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of Marine Transportation System (MTS) recovery training.

More than 50 participants as well as 10 boats from federal, state, county and local agencies and stakeholders will be participating in the recovery drill.

USCG


8/15 - Lewiston, N.Y. – The Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University will present an exhibition of model ships created from the imagination of artist Justin Higner, opening with a reception from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9. "The Higner Maritime Collection: Twenty-Five Years of Ship Building by Justin Higner" will be on display through March 17, 2019.

The exhibition celebrates Higner's 25-year shipbuilding career, highlighting the evolution of his model-building techniques and inventive, pseudo-historical nautical allegories.

For as long as he can remember, Higner has created all sorts of lived environments for real and imagined figures, from full cities made of brick and found stones to cardboard box villages with streets and a port. In 1994, Higner's passion would take a new direction after watching documentary after documentary about the Titanic and the Edmund Fitzgerald: building worlds by building ships.

The exhibition will feature models of cargo ships, cruise ships, salvages, shipwrecks, tankers and tenders (or dinghies), as well as ships repurposed as convention centers, hotels and museums. Drawn from a collection centered on the artist's fictional maritime settings, these works are accompanied by narratives that chronicle not only the vessels' imagined histories, but also the interactions and relationships between the various builders and owners that populate the artist's mythological world.

Higner utilizes many of the ships' interiors to display miniature reproductions of works by regionally and nationally known artists, as well as his own artwork. These micro-exhibitions, featuring artwork accompanied by real-world historical documentation, reflect his admiration for the central mission of any given art, history, or cultural museum – to serve the public.

For more information, visit www.castellaniartmuseum.org or call 716-286-8286.


On this day in 1899, a major blockage of the St. Marys River occurred. The steamer MATOA was towing the barge MAIDA past Sailors Encampment when the steering chain of the MAIDA parted. The MAIDA ran ashore but the current swung her around to completely block the channel, and she sank. The lower St. Marys River was closed for several days and 80 - 90 boats were delayed.
The whaleback barge 107 (steel whaleback barge, 276 foot, 1,295 gross tons) was launched by the American Steel Barge Co., at W. Superior, Wisconsin. She only lasted eight years. In 1898, she broke free from the tug ALVA B in rough weather and stranded near Cleveland, Ohio and was wrecked.

JOSEPH L. BLOCK sailed light on her maiden voyage from the Bay Ship Building Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to load 32,600 long tons of taconite ore pellets at Escanaba, Michigan for delivery to Indiana Harbor, Indiana on August 15, 1976.

In 1991, ALGOSTEEL was outbound at Superior when a small, smoky fire broke out in the electrical panel. The ship went to anchor and then returned to port for repairs. The trip resumed on August 24.

The OTTERCLIFFE HALL, the last "straight deck" Great Lakes bulk freighter built with a pilot house forward, was bare boat chartered to Misener Transportation Ltd. on August 15, 1983, renamed b.) ROYALTON. In 1985, renamed c.) OTTERCLIFFE HALL, d.) PETER MISENER in 1988, and e.) CANADIAN TRADER in 1994. She was scrapped at Alang, India in 2004.

Under threat of a strike on August 15, 1978, the uncompleted GEORGE A. STINSON was towed out of Lorain, Ohio by six tugs to River Rouge's Nicholson's Terminal & Dock Co. to finish her fit-out. She was renamed b.) AMERICAN SPIRIT in 2004.

The LEON FALK JR. was laid up for the last time August 15, 1980, at the Great Lakes Engineering Work's old slip at River Rouge, Michigan.

On August 15, 1985, the MENIHEK LAKE sailed under her own power to Quebec City (from there by tug), the first leg of her journey to the cutter’s torch in Spain.

J.P. MORGAN JR arrived in tow of Hannah Marine's tug DARYL C. HANNAH at Buffalo, New York on August 15th where she was delayed until she could obtain clearance to transit the Welland Canal. Permission to pass down the Canal was refused because of the MORGAN JR's improper condition. By September 5, 1980, the situation was rectified and she was towed down the Welland Canal by the tugs BARBARA ANN, STORMONT and ARGUE MARTIN bound for Quebec City.

On 15 August 1856, the WELLAND (sidewheel steamer, wood, passenger & package freight, 145 foot, 300 ton, built 1853, at St. Catharines, Ontario) burned to a total loss at her dock at Port Dalhousie, Ontario. She was owned by Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railroad Co. On 15 August 1873, Thomas Dunford and Frank Leighton announced a co-partnership in the shipbuilding business in Port Huron, Michigan. Their plans included operating from Dunford's yard. When they made their announcement, they already had an order for a large tug from Mr. George E. Brockway. This tug was the CRUSADER with the dimensions of 132 feet overall, 100 foot keel, and 23 foot beam. In 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened to maritime traffic.

[yachtsmanwilly]

8/16 - Trois-Rivieres, Que. – The general cargo ship Umiavut remains aground in the St. Lawrence River’s Lac Sainte-Pierre upstream from Trois-Rivieres. The ship was en route from Churchill to Valleyfield, Canada on Aug. 12 when she veered out of the channel after rudder failure.

Lightering has begun and tugs will try to pull her off later on this week. Umiavut (IMO 8801591), built 1988, is managed by Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping of Montreal, Que.


8/16 - Thorold, Ont. – Work on one of the twinned flight locks in Thorold will see the Welland Canal shut down for a day in late August, said both the manager of engineering and manager of regional services for St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

The work will be carried out on Lock 5 East and will see divers and others install instrumentation to determine what is causing an issue with one of the valves that drain the lock.

"We had some issues earlier on in the season with the valve … it was binding as the lock was operating," said Cassie Kelly, the Seaway's manager of engineering. The issue caused a 12 to 14 hour shut down in the middle of June and some adjustments were made to the valve

She said the 100-year-old valve, used to drain the lock, was rebuilt four years ago and the adjustment made in June required a shift of only 40,000ths of an inch to make it operational. "It's behaving now," said Kelly. She said the instrumentation to be installed should give the Seaway some insight into why the valve went out of alignment and what is happening in the lock.

Kelly and Alvina Ghirardi, manager of regional services, said the work is being done now as early preparation for the upcoming winter work program in January 2019. "We decided for this work it's best to have a maintenance shut down from 6 a.m. to midnight on the 28 to carry it out and get it done all in one shot," said Ghirardi.

She said shipping companies told the Seaway all they needed was a bit of notice for the closure. While work on the lock is being carried out, she said the Seaway will look to carry out work on different bridges across Niagara. "The good news is the bridges will be down that day … there'll be no ships," she said of the one-day canal closure.

The Welland Tribune


8/16 - Great Lakes-St. Lawrence shipping continues to bounce back after a slow start. With strong tonnage numbers in July, particularly shipments of U.S. grain, liquid bulk and project cargo, the 2018 shipping season is right on par with the healthy statistics posted last year.

Overall cargo shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway between March 29 and July 31 totaled 16.5 million metric tons. Areas of strength included U.S. grain shipments totaling 888,000 metric tons, up 32 percent over last year. Liquid bulk shipments totaled 2.3 million metric tons, an increase of 25 percent. Dry bulk shipments were down 9 percent, due to decreases in salt shipments from earlier in the season.

“St. Lawrence Seaway cargo shipments have been continuously gaining ground and are now in line with last year’s robust performance,” says Bruce Burrows, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “U.S. grain shipment increases are coming out of Toledo and heading to European markets. Some of the increase can be attributed to the 2017 soybean crop that did not go out at the end of last year due the weather. Liquid bulk continues a steady performance with asphalt and petroleum products, and it’s promising to see so many project cargo imports and exports too.”

Tonnage to date at the Port of Toledo is slightly above the same period in 2017 reaching nearly 4.5 million short tons. A 30 percent increase in coal, and an 89 percent jump in grain shipments lead the way. “We have seen some modest shipments of distiller’s dry grains and canola this year and it is always good when we have new commodities moving through the Port,” said Joe Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “While soybean and corn shipments slowed down a bit from a very busy spring export season, there was still movement of these commodities and we hope to see that activity continue through the fall harvest when things should pick up again.”

The Port of Green Bay saw a slight increase in July tonnage from July 2017; up one percent. “Though one percent might sound insignificant, it is a measurement of growth and a strong shipping season so far,” explained Port Director Dean Haen. “Petroleum products, in particular, have been an incredibly high source of tonnage in both imports and exports. That reflects a trend in overall St. Lawrence Seaway traffic where petroleum shipments are up this year.” Shipment numbers are especially high in Green Bay due to indefinite shutdown of the main pipeline between Milwaukee and Northeast Wisconsin.

The Port of Cleveland has also been busy this summer shipping project cargo and many large items such as yachts and beer tanks heading to various parts of the U.S. “The Port of Cleveland and our terminal operator, Federal Marine Terminals, continue to grow in the project market segment and handled multiple generators from Siemens in South Carolina destined to a power plant in western Pennsylvania,” said David Gutheil, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Cleveland. “Our on-dock rail access to both CSX and Norfolk Southern, supported by Cleveland Harbor Belt Railroad, has played a key role in securing these cargoes, providing key advantages for project cargo moving to and from the nation’s heartland.”

The Port of Cleveland is in the process of reactivating the Foreign Trade Zone site on Port property, which will be operated by Federal Marine Terminals. Once activated, this general-purpose site will provide multiple users with short and long-term solutions for benefits such as duty deferral and direct delivery of their cargo to an international seaport, bypassing congestion at coastal ports. As the grantee of FTZ #40, the Port is focused on providing solutions to cargo owners that will decrease costs within their supply chains.

Shipments through the Port of Duluth-Superior are bouncing back after a slow, ice-laden start to the 2018 season. “While final tallies aren’t in yet for July, tonnage heading into midsummer stood at 11.4 million short tons, nearly on par with 2017,” said Adele Yorde, spokesperson for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Shipments of iron ore and limestone are running ahead of last year; ore is up four percent with an 11 percent increase in limestone. Yorde adds, “This summer we have seen a variety of project cargoes and a shipment of kaolin clay to Duluth Cargo Connect docks, where crews stayed busy coordinating deliveries to paper mills, mines, wind farms and electrical transmission projects across North America.”

According to a new study released in July, cargo shipments to ports on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River waterway support 147,500 jobs and generate U.S.$25.6 billion in economic activity in the eight Great Lakes states

Marine Delivers



8/16 - A man is dead after a diving accident around a shipwreck in the Straits of Mackinac. At around 12:42 Sunday afternoon, deputies learned that a diver was being transported to the Mackinac Straits Hospital. An investigation showed the man was with another diver and a third person who captained the boat.

According to deputies, the two divers made two trips down to the sunken ship Cedarville and rose in tandem. On the second dive, both divers had surfaced when one diver noticed the other struggling and helped him into the boat. The man was then taken to St. Ignace, where he was pronounced dead.

At this time, investigators say are not sure what caused the death and will conduct an autopsy as well as inspect the dive equipment.

MI News16


8/16 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – The volunteer board of St. Mary's River Marine Heritage Centre has launched an online petition aimed at persuading City Council to drop the eviction notice it served earlier this year on the M.S. Norgoma.

"We... implore City Council to reverse its decision to terminate the berthing rights and support the Norgoma's endeavours to be an exciting home of history, culture and community," says the petition, which was posted Tuesday.

On April 23, councillors voted to end the museum ship’s berthing rights at Roberta Bondar Marina effective Aug. 31. The last packet ship built for the Great Lakes has been a fixture on the Sault waterfront for the past 43 years.

Many see it the 68-year-old former passenger ferry as an important artifact of our marine heritage. Others, including Mayor Christian Provenzano, see only an eyesore.

"It's a long time. That boat has to go," the mayor told a City Council meeting last September, indicating he wanted the rusting boat towed out of Roberta Bondar Marina, clear out of downtown Sault Ste. Marie.

"We, the undersigned do support the M.S. Norgoma in its entirety and do wish that it stay in its current, and well deserved berth at Roberta Bondar Marina as a tourist attraction, symbol of Sault Ste. Marie's history, culture and heritage, as well as a monument to the significant federal government-mandated historical event of packets travelling the Turkey Trail," states the petition, drafted by the board of St. Mary's River Marine Heritage Centre, which has owned the Norgoma since 1981.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, 167 supporters had signed the document, which states it's seeking 3,000 signatures.

"The petition is a response to community requests," William Hollingshead, a volunteer curator and member of the marine centre board, tells SooToday.

"Lots of people have been coming in and asking how they could help, support the ship or make their opinion heard."

Late last month. Sean Meades of NORDIK Institute completed a pro bono strategic plan for the Norgoma. Meades' report serves as both a feasibility study and business plan, setting out how Norgoma volunteers can engage better with the community and generate revenue, as well as options for relocating the ship, complete with goals and timelines, Hollingshead said.

"We have been evicted by the city, so we do have to consider relocation as our primary option at this point. But with current fundraising opportunities, community partnerships, events, admission by donation, pay-what-you-can and extended evening hours, we hope that we can change some of the negative opinion on the Norgoma," Hollingshead told us.

In recent weeks, the ship has become a new base for programming that used to take place at Gore Street Cafe, which was forced out by its landlord at the end of June. Nicole Dyble, the cafe's owner, is now offering musical and other events at the Norgoma under the Dryer Fire name.

Norgoma volunteers are still in talks with a number of groups about the possibility of moving the boat. City officials are expected to extend the Aug. 31 deadline to mid-September to better accommodate their plan to remove and replace the marina's wooden docks.

Even if the city stands firm on its eviction notice, "we're hoping that we can come up with some sort of a solution if it comes to that," he said. The volunteers are talking to both local and out-of-town groups about moving the Norgoma. Hollingshead says the out-of-town groups are all in Algoma or the Greater Sudbury area.

Soo Today


On 16 August 1890, the ANNIE WATT (wooden propeller, passenger and package freight "packet,” 75 foot, 62 gross ton, built in 1884, at Lion's Head, Ontario) collided with the ship WM. ALDERSON and sank off of Gunn Point, Ontario. Just the previous year (8 November 1889), ANNIE WATT had burned and been declared total loss, but she was rebuilt.
The captain of the 2 year old, 125-foot wooden schooner-barge JOHN F. RITCHIE brought his wife, two other women and several small children as guests on a voyage from Bay City, Michigan to Buffalo, New York. The RITCHIE was one of a string of four barges loaded with lumber in tow of the tug ZOUAVE. As the tow entered Lake Erie, they were struck by a terrifying storm. The RITCHIE broke her towline and was cast adrift. The deck load of lumber broke loose and everyone was in danger. The women and children were brought out of the cabin since it was considered to be a death trap and they were lashed on deck for safety. Soon the vessel was waterlogged and the cabin was actually washed away. On 17 August, a passing steamer took everyone aboard and towed the RITCHIE in to Cleveland, Ohio where she was repaired. Amazingly, no lives were lost.

August 16, 1902 - The PERE MARQUETTE 18 (Hull#412) was launched at Cleveland, Ohio, by American Ship Building Co. for the Pere Marquette Railway.

1921 – The wooden steamer H.N. JEX foundered off Long Point, Lake Ontario, while carrying coal between Sodus and Kingston. All on board were rescued.

1927 – NORTHERN LIGHT, a steel package freighter, left the Great Lakes for saltwater service in two sections in 1917. The vessel was ravaged by a fire that began in the coal bunker, at Mobile, AL. on this date in 1927. The engine was removed in 1928 and the hull converted to a barge. It foundered off the Florida Keys on November 8, 1930.

1966 – The PEAVEY PIONEER, laid up with damage from a May 31, 1966, grounding at Ashland, was traded to the U.S. Maritime Administration by Sea-Land Services for the C-4 transport GENERAL H.G. FREEMAN.

1967 – The third GEORGE HINDMAN went aground and sustained heavy damage in the St. Lawrence off Clayton, N.Y. The ship was inspected at Collingwood and considered beyond economical repair. It was sold to Marine Salvage for scrap and resold to Hyman-Michaels for dismantling at Duluth, arriving there on October 13, 1967.

[yachtsmanwilly]

8/17 - Trois-Rivieres, Que. – The general cargo ship Umiavut was released Thursday around noon by the tugs Océan Clovis T. from Quebec and Océan Intrepide from Montreal after some of the vessel’s cargo was lightered. She ran around Tuesday in the St. Lawrence River’s Lac Sainte-Pierre upstream from Trois-Rivieres. The ship's own lighterage tugs Ukalik and Qimmik headed for Trois-Rivières, as did Umiavut.


8/17 - Hamilton, Ont. – An increase in overseas exports of Ontario-grown corn has led to a surge in cargo volume at the Port of Hamilton. Larissa Fenn, director of public affairs at the Hamilton Port Authority, said cargo shipments through the port are up by 20 per cent so far this year.

"Our total tonnage [all commodities] so far this year is 4.7 million metric tonnes, compared to 3.9 million metric tonnes at the same point last year," Fenn told CBC Hamilton. "Grain is up 93 per cent on a year-to-date basis. Close to one million metric tonnes have transited the port so far this year, including 600,000 metric tonnes of Ontario-grown corn."

This compares with 492,000 metric tonnes of grain and 250,000 metric tonnes corn for the same period in 2017.

All of this corn has been exported overseas, Fenn said, adding that the primary export market for Ontario-grown corn is Europe. "We've had recent shipments from Hamilton to Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands," she said.

"Europe is always a large importer of corn. This year, a heat wave has meant European livestock producers have been relying on more imported corn as feed."

Tetreault said the export market has found that Ontario is a reliable source. "There's no trade dispute really ongoing with any other country that we've been shipping to," he said. "They just seem to be kind of coming back and hitting the market again just because they know that there was that extra tonnage sitting there in Ontario and the quality is good, the price is good and they didn't have to worry about any trade disputes ongoing."

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is also driving some of the increased activity, as it has given Canadian corn improved access to Europe.

At the same time, the EU has placed a retaliatory tariff on U.S. corn, which usually serves some of this market. "Whether the motivating factor is tariff changes or something else, what's happening now with corn is an example of how Canada is well-served by being prepared to diversify," Fenn said.

The Port of Hamilton has also placed a lot of emphasis on diversification.

Agricultural cargo has grown as a proportion of the port's total tonnage, from nine per cent in 2008, to 23 per cent in 2017. The port has attracted more than $200 million in agricultural-related investment in the last decade, including two new grain export terminals.

"This new infrastructure means Canadian producers have the ability to ship more product, and take advantage of new market opportunities when they arise," Fenn said.

"This season's experience with corn has been a perfect example of how investments in trade-enabling infrastructure really position Canada to compete globally."

Meanwhile, a 25 per cent increase in year-to-date shipments on the St. Lawrence Seaway have also been reflected at the Port of Hamilton.

As of the end of July, steelmaking inputs, coal and coke continue to trend about 40 per cent higher at the port than the same period in 2017, while iron ore has been stable so far year over year, the Chamber of Marine Commerce said.

The chamber is a bi-national association that represents more than 130 marine industry stakeholders including major Canadian and American shippers, ports, terminals and marine service providers, as well as domestic and international ship owners.

More than 187,000 metric tons of products such as gasoline and diesel have transited the port so far this season, 56 per cent more than the same period in 2017, it added. Overall, the port's tonnage to the end of July exceeded 4.7 million metric tons, 20 per cent higher than year-to-date 2017.

"The commodities transiting the port's piers showcase the role of marine transportation in a number of key southern Ontario industries, such as steel-making and other advanced manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and petrochemicals," said Ian Hamilton, president and CEO at the Hamilton Port Authority.

CBC


8/17 - Grand Haven, Mich. – When my weekly articles are published, I expect them to be read by locals in the West Michigan area. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the Canadian-flagged Saginaw’s most recent visit to our port.

Well, the Internet works in amazing ways, and the online article somehow found its way to the Saginaw, and the freighter’s captain, Colin Lozon, reached out to me and invited me on for a tour the next time his vessel returned to Grand Haven.

The Saginaw arrived in Grand Haven this past Saturday afternoon and traveled up to the Verplank dock in Ferrysburg, laden with a cargo of trap rock from Bruce Mines, Ontario. Trap rock is a specific type of stone that is used in road construction.

I hopped aboard a little before sunset and was met by a crew member who acted as my tour guide. After visiting the mess halls at the stern, we ventured into the engine room. I thought it was rather noisy, but since the vessel wasn’t underway, it was operating on generator power.

I couldn’t fathom how loud the diesel engine was when the ship was going full speed.

After seeing the stern of the ship, we headed to the front and up into the spacious pilothouse. For a ship that was built in the 1950s, the bridge was incredibly modern. I went out on one of the bridge wings and watched the sun set behind the stern.

In my time aboard the vessel, I learned a few new vocabulary terms.

The first: punt job. This is a term used to describe a dock that requires a ship to launch a workboat to help secure lines. Usually how it works is the workboat is launched and the lines are delivered ashore to a dock worker who uses his car to tow the lines to the pylon. Once the line is secure, the ship winches into position.

The Verplank dock is considered a punt job because the dock is too shallow to ease right up next to it.

The second term was leaf hatches. The Saginaw has a different hatch configuration than other self-unloaders that visit our port. Most freighters on the Great Lakes have covers that conceal the entire hatch. These covers can be lifted off with a crane and stored on the deck when the hatches need to be opened.

The Saginaw has 30 hatches on its deck. There are two covers in each hatch that meet at the middle. When the deck crew pulls them apart, they open and close similar to a telescope assembly, with smaller parts that combine to collapse or expand.

The Saginaw has been a very busy vessel this summer. I could see remnants of cargo from trips the vessel has taken earlier in the week. On its deck were leftover iron ore pellets from a pair of trips to Marquette, as well as stone from a run to Holland.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.grandhaventribune.com/Transportation/2018/08/15/Touring-the-Saginaw.html?ci=stream&lp=1&p=1

On August 17, 1987, the CADILLAC was towed by the tugs GLENADA and ELMORE M. MISNER, from Toledo's Frog Pond on the first leg of her journey to be scrapped.
At 4 p.m. on 17 August 1869, the schooner CARLINGFORD was launched at the Fitzgerald and Leighton yard in Port Huron, Michigan with plenty of spectators on hand. Robert Montgomery of Buffalo, the owner, built the vessel for the grain trade. Her capacity was 30,000 bushels of grain. After launching, she still had to have her masts (96 foot, 98 foot and 94 foot) and rigging installed. At the time, she was the largest sailing vessel built in Port Huron. Her dimensions were 155-foot keel, 165-foot overall, 31-foot-6- inch beam and 12-foot 8-inch depth. 50 men worked on her and she cost $35,000.

1905 – The wooden steamer CALEDONIA sank in Lake Superior while towing the barge JOHN M. HUTCHINSON. It was later refloated and returned to service.

1913 – The whaleback steamer ATIKOKAN went ashore in a spectacular grounding at Marine City but was released and returned to service.

1994 – INDIANA HARBOR went to Sturgeon Bay for repairs after going aground at Muskegon, Mich.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 20 August 1881, MICHIGAN (Hull#48), (iron propeller passenger-package freight steamer, 215 foot, 1,183 tons) was launched by the Detroit Dry Dock Company at Wyandotte, Michigan for the Goodrich Transportation Company. She was then taken to Milwaukee for fitting out and completion. She cost $159,212. She was designed by Frank E. Kirby especially for cross-lake winter service.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORT arrived at Toronto, Ontario, August 20, 1969, on her maiden voyage, with fuel oil.

R. BRUCE ANGUS in tandem tow with the ULS steamer GORDON C. LEITCH (i) behind the tug IRVING CEDAR arrived at Setœbal, Portugal August 20, 1985, where they were broken up. The a.) IRVING CEDAR is now Purvis Marine's c.) RELIANCE. August 20, 1920 the WILLIS L. KING, upbound light in Whitefish Bay, was in collision with and sank the down bound Steel Trust steamer SUPERIOR CITY. The SUPERIOR CITY was struck nearly amidships and when the cold water reached her engine room, her boilers exploded. She sank immediately with 29 of her 33 crew members aboard.

The US266029, a.) WILLIAM CLAY FORD departed her lay-up berth at the Rouge slip on August 20, 1986, in tow of Gaelic tugs and she was taken to Detroit Marine Terminals on the Rouge River, where her pilothouse was removed to be displayed at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Detroit's Belle Isle.

On 20 August 1899, the HUNTER SAVIDGE (2-mast, wooden schooner, 117 foot, 152 gross tons, built in 1879, at Grand Haven, Michigan) capsized in a squall or tornado in Lake Huron. 5 survivors, including Capt. Fred Sharpstein, were rescued from the overturned schooner by the steamer ALEX MC VITTIE. However, 5 lost their lives, including the captain's wife and their son, the ship's owner's wife and daughter, and the Mate. Capt. Sharpstein patrolled the beaches looking for the bodies of his wife and son for months but they were never found. The wreck was found in 1987, near Grindstone City, Michigan.

On 20 August 1852, ATLANTIC (wooden sidewheeler, 267 foot, 1,155 tons, built in 1849, at Detroit, Michigan) was loaded with immigrants when she collided with the propeller freighter OGDENSBURG and quickly sank south of Long Point on Lake Erie at about 2:30 a.m. Of the 600 on board, estimates of death range from 150 to 250. Numerous salvage attempts have been made through the years up through 1989, since there were supposed to be valuables on board when she went down.

1874 – The CITY OF LONDON, built by Louis Shickluna at St. Catharines in 1865, was destroyed by a fire at Collins Inlet. The engine was later removed for installation in the CITY OF OWEN SOUND.

1900 – CAPTAIN THOMAS WILSON was launched at Port Huron for the Wilson Transit Co.

1903 – QUEEN OF THE WEST sank in a Lake Erie storm off Fairport, Ohio but the crew was rescued by the CODORUS. One sailor perished in the transfer between the two ships.

1919 – MOHEGAN was built as a wooden steam barge at Marine City in 1894. It left the lakes for ocean service in 1917. The ship was anchored at Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on this date in 1919 when an explosion and fire destroyed the vessel. All on board survived.

1964 – TEXACO WARRIOR hit bottom and settled in the Welland Canal with a punctured tank at Thorold South near Bridge 10. The ship was refloated and resumed service. It was scrapped at Sorel, QC, in 1978 as LAKE TRANSPORT (i).

1969 – PETER ROBERTSON, sold for scrap and anchored in western Lake Ontario, dragged her anchors in a storm and landed on the beach near Jordan Harbour, Ontario. The vessel was released August 24 and headed down the Seaway August 27 between the tugs SALVAGE MONARCH and HELEN M. McALLISTER on the next leg of the journey to Spain for scrapping.

1972 – VILLE DE QUEBEC was a pre-Seaway trader to the Great Lakes from 1955 to 1958 and returned inland, for three trips, in 1959. The ship sank off the coast of Albania, due to heavy weather, on this date as c) SUZY in 1972. It was enroute from Durres, Albania, to Patras, Greece. Eleven members of the crew were lost while only 7 survived.

1975 – The coastal freighter AIGLE D'OCEAN struck an iceberg off Port Burwell, Labrador, and sank. Only five crew were rescued. The ship had been inland on several occasions.

1977 – CAPO MELE first came through the Seaway as a) PIERRE L.D. in 1959 and again, for 3 trips, in 1960. It was sold and renamed b) CAPO MELE in 1961 and made 22 voyages to the Great Lakes from then through 1967. The ship sustained heavy damage from an engine room fire as e) PAULINA at Banjul, Gambia, and was sold for scrap. The vessel arrived at Santander, Spain, on October 17, 1977, for dismantling.


On this day in 1865, the PEWABIC, Captain George P. McKay, was down bound on Lake Huron when she was rammed by her sister ship, METEOR. The PEWABIC sank with an estimated loss of 125 lives and a cargo of copper ingots, ore and hides valued at $500,000.
On 19 August 1902, OMAR D. CONGER (wooden propeller ferry, 92 foot, 200 gross tons, built in 1887, at Port Huron, Michigan) burned at Port Huron, Michigan. The entire upper works burned and the lower deck was also badly burned. She had burned on 20 June 1901, and had been rebuilt over the winter. She was again rebuilt and lasted until 1922.

The ROBERT S. PIERSON (i) was sold to P & H. Shipping Ltd. on August 19, 1982, and renamed e) SPRUCEGLEN.

The package freighter ARIZONA was launched on August 19, 1868, at Cleveland, Ohio by Quayle & Martin for E.T. & J.C. Evans of Buffalo, New York.

The CARDINAL, a.) WINDSOLITE, was towed to the Strathearne Terminal in Hamilton, Ontario on August 19, 1974, for scrapping.

On 19 August 1909, CITY OF GREEN BAY (wooden propeller passenger/package freight, 134 foot, 257 gross tons, built in 1880, at Fort Howard, Wisconsin as the sidewheeler M C HAWLEY) caught fire while crossing Saginaw Bay, burned to the waterline and sank. This wasn't her first experience with this type of accident since on 17 November 1887, she had burned to a "total loss" in Lake Michigan.

August 19, 1930 - The ANN ARBOR NO 7 towed the disabled tug FRED C GREILING from Frankfort, Michigan to Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.

The propeller QUEBEC was launched at the Chisholm & Simpson yard at Chatham, Ontario on 19 August 1874. She was built for the Beatty Line and designed to run between Sarnia and Duluth.

1906 – GOVERNOR SMITH, a wooden package freight carrier, sank in Lake Huron, about 8 miles off Pointe aux Barques, after a collision with the URANUS. All 20 on board were rescued.

1915 – The wooden passenger and freight carrier HENRY PEDWELL burned at Wiarton, ON but was salvaged and rebuilt at Owen Sound in 1916.

1960 – BELLE ISLE II caught fire and sank after a collision with the HOLMSIDE on Lac St. Pierre in the St. Lawrence near Trois Rivieres. The ship had originally been the “Castle Class” corvette H.M.S. WOLVESEY CASTLE and later H.M.C.S. HUNTSVILLE for the Canadian Navy. It was rebuilt for cargo service as c) WELLINGTON KENT in 1947 becoming d) BELLE ISLE II in 1951. The hull was salvaged and towed up the Seaway to Portsmouth, ON on November 2, 1960, and broken up at Whitby, ON during the winter of 1965-1966. HOLMSIDE was later a casualty as b) CABINDA after hitting a jetty while inbound at Casablanca on December 28, 1980, with the loss of 9 lives.

1966 – JOHN E.F. MISENER went aground on Hard Island in the St. Lawrence and had to be lightered before being released on August 21.

1967 – The retired Paterson steamer SASKADOC, which last operated in 1966, was downbound at the Iroquois Lock under tow of GRAEME STEWART and SALVAGE MONARCH enroute to the scrapyard. It arrived at Santander, Spain, on September 24, 1967, along with the AUGUSTUS B. WOLVIN, behind the Polish tug JANTAR.

1988 – The Greek owned, Cypriot flag, freighter BLUESTONE arrived at Halifax to load flour, but the crew reported “hull cracks” and the Coast Guard said repairs must be made. The vessel first visited the Great Lakes as a) ASIA SWALLOW in 1980 and returned as b) BLUESTONE for the first time in 1985. The work was carried out. The ship finally cleared September 13 and operated until arriving at Chittagong, Bangladesh, for scrapping as e) VRITA N. about August 31, 1998.


On 18 August 1871, GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT (wooden schooner, 114 foot, 213 tons, built in 1852, at Black River, Ohio) was carrying lumber from Menominee to Chicago when she sprang a leak during a gale and capsized off Spider Island near Death's Door on Lake Michigan. The crew clung to her for 13 hours until rescued by the passing schooner ETHAN ALLEN.
CANADIAN ENTERPRISE (Hull#65) was float launched on August 18, 1979, at St. Catharines, Ontario by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.

On August 18, 1972, $50,000 in bottom damage occurred when the CHAMPLAIN, of 1943, hit an obstruction in the Trenton Channel, on the lower Detroit River.

The NORMAN B. REAM (Hull#70) was launched August 18, 1906, at Chicago, Illinois by the Chicago Ship Building Co. for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Renamed b.) KINSMAN ENTERPRISE in 1965. She served as a storage barge in Port Huron from 1979 to 1989. She was scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 1989.

On 18 August 1907, KATE WHITE (wooden propeller steam tug, 62 foot, 28 gross tons, built at Erie, Pennsylvania in 1885, as a yacht) sank near the harbor entrance at Fairport, Ohio. On 18 August 1878, JAVA (iron twin propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 232 foot, 1,525 gross tons, built in 1873, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing from Bay City, Michigan for Chicago and Milwaukee with mixed merchandise, including 300 tons of fine household goods, parlor stoves, salt, etc. She was a twin-screw and the main theory of her loss in good weather was that her starboard shaft coupling came loose and the shaft slid out the stern, allowing water to flood through the sleeve. Nevertheless, she sank quickly, 15 miles off Big Sable Point on Lake Michigan in over 300 feet of water. The crew escaped in lifeboats and was picked up by passing steamers.

1919 – The former wooden bulk carrier NEOSHO was sold for off lakes service in 1917 and was operating as a barge, under tow of the tug NORFOLK, when she broke loose in a storm on Delaware Bay, got caught in the trough, struck a reef and broke up.

1927 – The first HENNEPIN foundered in Lake Michigan, 18 miles west of South Haven, enroute to Grand Haven to load. The hull was discovered in 2006 and is upright in 230 feet of water.

1966 – BAYGEORGE knocked off a lock fender in the downbound section of the Welland Canal Flight Locks and delayed navigation. Only the upbound side remained in use to handle traffic pending repairs.

1972 – The ocean going general cargo carrier FELTO caught fire at Bata, Equatorial Guinea, while discharging cement. The blaze broke out in the engineroom and spread to the accommodation area before the ship settled on the bottom as a total loss. The vessel had been a Great Lakes trader in 1968 and had previously come inland as a) FERDIA in 1953 and b) FAIRWAY in 1963.

1985 – CHI-CHEEMAUN went aground due to fog while departing South Baymouth and was released the following day. The Georgian Bay ferry went to Collingwood for repairs.

1996 – HERCEG NOVI, a Yugoslavian freighter dating from 1981, first came through the Seaway in 1989 bringing a cargo of newsprint to Detroit. It sank following a collision with the containership MING GALAXY off Singapore on this date in 1996. Local officials ordered the removal of the hull and this was done, in pieces, later in the year.


8/18 - Detroit, Mich. – A lake freighter that was among the last steamships built for Great Lakes service received a cake Friday marking the 200th anniversary of steam propulsion’s advent on Lake Erie.

“Of all the possible vessels, this one is very appropriate,” Bill Redding, the captain Friday morning of the mailboat J.W. Westcott II, said before delivering the ceremonial cake to the Hon. James L. Oberstar as it sailed the Detroit River with taconite ore destined for AK Steel in Dearborn, Mich.

The cake, provided by the National Museum of the Great Lakes, celebrates the August, 1818, arrival in Detroit of the steamship Walk-in-the-Water, the first ship not reliant on fickle wind to transit Lake Erie.

The anniversary calls attention to “a lot of the history of boating on the Great Lakes, which was and is very important to the economy of the area,” said Don Wallace of Maumee, a volunteer with the Toledo museum who took the cake up to the Westcott dock in Detroit and out onto the river for final delivery.

For the Oberstar’s crew, which had been informed just that morning that the vessel would be the ceremonial cake’s recipient, the occasion was much more prosaic.

“You can never say ‘no’ to cake,” Karly Duquella, the ship’s second mate, said with a smile after hoisting a box containing the cake up to his vessel’s deck. He hustled it aft to the ship’s galley soon thereafter.

Although it had two masts to provide backup propulsion in case its engine failed, the Walk-in-the-Water was registered as a sidewheel steamer.