Today in Great Lakes History

[Avenger]

Today in Great Lakes History - December 7
On 07 December 1893, the hull of the burned steamer MASCOTTE (steel ferry, 103 foot, 137 gross tons, built in 1885, at Wyandotte, Michigan) was towed from New Baltimore to Detroit by the tug LORMAN for repairs. She was rebuilt and put back in service. She went through nine owners in a career that finally ended with another fire in Chicago in 1934.

In 1990, the ENERCHEM LAKER was sold to Environment Protection Services, Inc., Panama and departed Montreal on December 7, 1990, for off-lakes service with the new name d) RECOVERY VIII. Built for Hall Corp. of Canada as a.) ROCKCLIFFE HALL, converted to a tanker renamed b.) ISLAND TRANSPORT in 1985, and c.) ENERCHEM LAKER in 1986. Renamed e.) MORGAN TRADER in 1993, and currently serves as a bunkering tanker in Suez, Egypt as f.) ANNA II, renamed in 1997.
The LEADALE, a.) JOHN A. KLING sank in the Welland Canal on December 7, 1982, and was declared a constructive total loss.
The GEORGE R. FINK, under tow, arrived at Gandia, Spain prior to December 7, 1973, for scrapping.
W. W. HOLLOWAY was laid up December 7, 1981, for the last time in Toledo’s Frog Pond.
On December 7, 1932, the MARQUIS ROEN caught fire at Meacher's dock at Bay City, and before the fire was brought under control, the cabins and after end were destroyed.
Captain John Roen of the Roen Steamship Co. died on December 7, 1970.
On December 7, 1906, the R. L. IRELAND stranded on Gull Island in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior. PERCIVAL ROBERTS JR. (Hull#398) was launched December 7, 1912, for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.
The steel side-wheel passenger steamer EASTERN STATES (Hull#144) was launched on December 7, 1901, by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company for the Detroit and Buffalo Steamship Company.
The railcar ferry ANN ARBOR NO 2 (Hull#56), was launched on December 7, 1892 at Toledo, Ohio by Craig Ship Building Co. Sold in 1914 and cut down to a barge, renamed b.) WHALE in 1916, abandoned in 1927.
In 1906, the ANN ARBOR NO 4 arrived Frankfort on her maiden voyage.
On 7 December 1894, KEWEENAW (steel steamer, 291 foot, 2511 gross tons, built in 1891, at W. Bay City, Michigan) was seen groping toward the coast of the State of Washington in a severe gale. With distress signals flying, she put back to sea and foundered. She was built by F. W. Wheeler (Hull #73) for saltwater service. Built in two pieces, she was towed down the St. Lawrence and reassembled at Montreal.
On 7 December 1866, M. BALLARD (2-mast wooden schooner, 116 foot, 288 tons, built in 1855, at Cleveland, Ohio) was lost with all hands in a storm on Lake Ontario.
The wooden propeller bulk freighter MORLEY was launched at Marine City on 7 December 1878. She was on the stocks for two years and was built for the Morley Brothers and Hill. She was a double decker with side arches between decks with iron straps. She also had iron trusses running through the center. Her boiler was on the main deck and she had the engine from the tug WM PRINGLE. She had three spars, a centerboard, and could carry 45,000 bushels of grain.
1909: MARQUETTE & BESSEMER NO. 2 disappeared with all hands in the overnight hours of December 7-8 while crossing Lake Erie from Conneaut to Port Stanley with 30 loaded railway cars. The hull has never been located.
1912: The whaleback BARGE 134 was operating on the East Coast as b) BANGOR when it stranded and broke up near Hampton Roads, Va. The hull was salvaged by blasting and dredging in 1975.
1917: SIMCOE, of the Canadian Department of Marine & Fisheries, left the Great Lakes earlier in the fall for new work on the Bay of Fundy. It sent out an S.O.S. that it was sinking in heavy seas and the ship was never seen again. The only trace was a lifering that came ashore at Sable Island. There were 44 on board.
1927: KAMLOOPS, inbound for the Canadian Lakehead, disappeared with all hands overnight December 6-7. The hull was finally found by divers off 12 O'Clock Point, Isle Royale, in 1977.
1927: AGAWA stranded on Advance Reef, Georgian Bay along the south shore of Manitoulin Island. It spent the winter aground and was not released until Nay 16, 1928. The hull had been declared a total loss but was rebuilt at Collingwood as the ROBERT P. DURHAM and then later sailed as c) HERON BAY (i).
1927: The first MARTIAN went aground off Hare Island, Lake Superior and was not released until December 14.
1929: ULVA sank in the ice at Port Colborne but was raised, refitted and returned to service in 1930. The British built freighter operated between Maritime Canada and the Great Lakes until about 1939. It was torpedoed and sunk by U-60 northwest of Ireland on September 3, 1940.
1941: The tanker MAKAWELI was reported to be anchored at Pearl Harbor during the infamous Japanese attack and damaged. The ship was built at Ashtabula as COWEE in 1919 and returned to the Great Lakes for Lakeland Tankers in 1946.
1967: FIR HILL, a Seaway trader in 1961, went aground off Yasuoka, Japan, as d) UNIVERSAL CRUSADER. It was lightered and released but sold for scrap and broken up at Hirao, Japan, in 1968. 1969: The bulk carrier PETITE HERMINE and TEXACO CHIEF (ii) collided in fog near Prescott and both ships had slight damage. The former became c) CANADIAN HUNTER while the latter last operated on the lakes as c) ALGONOVA (i).
1976: The Liberian flag bulk carrier UNIMAR grounded leaving Thunder Bay with a cargo of grain and was not released until December 15.
1976: HARRY L. ALLEN of the Kinsman fleet went aground in Lake St. Clair, near St. Clair, Mich., and was held fast in the ice before being freed by tugs.
1982: LEADALE (ii) finished unloading salt at Thorold and backed into a concrete dolphin while departing the dock. A hole was punched in the hull and the ship sank while trying to get back to the dock. LEADALE was refloated December 19, towed to Port Colborne and scrapped by Marine Salvage in 1983. 1983: UNISOL had been docked at Chandler, Que., to load newsprint but left to ride out an approaching storm after being pounded against the dock. The ship ran aground while outbound and the crew was saved by a Canadian Forces helicopter. The vessel, noted as the first Peruvian flag freighter to transit the Seaway earlier that year, broke up in the storm.
1983: The Norwegian freighter WOODVILLE began visiting the Great Lakes in 1962. It ran aground near Palau Mungging, Malaysia, enroute from Bangkok, Thailand, to Malacca, Malaysia, as d) PETER RICH and was abandoned as a total loss.
1989: CAPITAINE TORRES, enroute from the Great Lakes, got caught in a vicious storm on the Gulf of St. Lawrence on December 7-8 after the cargo shifted. All 23 on board were lost when the ship went down.
2005: ZIEMIA LODZKA collided with and sank the VERTIGO in shallow water in the Great Belt off Denmark. All were saved. The former began Great Lake trading in 1992.
2010: The passenger ship CLELIA II, a Great Lakes visitor in 2009, was hit by a monstrous wave in the Antarctic Ocean smashing the pilothouse window and damaging electronic equipment. The vessel made Ushusia, Argentina, safely and only one member of the crew had a minor injury.

[yachtsmanwilly]

The steamer EDWARD Y. TOWNSEND loaded the last cargo of ore for the 1942 season at Marquette.
CEDARGLEN, a.) WILLIAM C. ATWATER, loaded her last cargo at Thunder Bay, Ontario on December 10, 1984, carrying grain for Goderich, Ontario.

Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. of Cleveland, Ohio bought NOTRE DAME VICTORY on December 10, 1950. She would later become b.) CLIFFS VICTORY.

IRVIN L. CLYMER was laid up at Superior, Wisconsin on December 10, 1985, for two seasons before returning to service April 30, 1988.

An explosion occurred in IMPERIAL LEDUC's, b.) NIPIGON BAY ) forward tanks on December 10, 1951. This happened while her crew was cleaning and butterworthing the tanks. Five crewmembers were injured with one eventually dying in the hospital. Multiple explosions caused extensive damage in excess of $500,000.

On December 10, 1905, WILLIAM E. COREY finally was pulled free and refloated after grounding on Gull Island Reef in the Apostle Islands in late November.

FRANK A. SHERMAN laid up for the last time at Toronto, Ontario on December 10, 1981.

Donated by Cleveland-Cliffs to the Great Lakes Historical Society on December 10, 1987, the WILLIAM G. MATHER was to become a museum ship at Cleveland's waterfront.

PAUL H. CARNAHAN and her former fleet mate, GEORGE M. HUMPHREY, arrived safely under tow at Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1986, for scrapping.

On 10 December 1891, a fire started on MARY (2-mast wooden schooner, 84 foot, 87 gross tons, built in 1877, at Merriton, Ontario) when an oil stove in the kitchen exploded. The vessel was at anchor at Sarnia, Ontario and damage was estimated at $10,000.

The CORISANE (2-mast wooden schooner-barge, 137 foot, 292 gross tons, built in 1873, at Marine City, Michigan) was tied up alongside MARY and she also caught fire but the flames were quickly extinguished. She was towed away from MARY by the ferry J C CLARK.

PERE MARQUETTE 3 ran aground in 1893, north of Milwaukee.

1922: The wooden freighter JAMES DEMPSEY, built in 1883 as a) JIM SHERIFFS, was destroyed by a fire at Manistee, MI.

1963: The Canadian coastal freighter SAINTE ADRESSE went on the rocks off Escoumins, QC and was leaking in high winds while on a voyage from Montreal to Sept-Iles. Local residents helped lighter the cargo of beer and ale. The remains of the hull were visible at low water for several years.

1975: PAUL THAYER went aground in Lake Erie off Pelee Island. It was lightered to WOLVERINE and released Dec. 12 with extensive damage.

1994: The Maltese registered YIANNIS Z. entered Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago, in leaking condition after apparently hitting bottom while enroute from Manzanillo, Cuba, to Peru. The ship was arrested for non-payment of the crew. The vessel had been a Seaway trader in 1970 as a) MATIJA GUBEC. The hull was sold at public auction on August 28, 1997, and apparently partially dismantled to become a barge. It was noted sinking at its moorings on October 14, 2006, under the name f) KELLYS MARK and subsequent fate is unknown.

2005: JOHN D. LEITCH hit bottom above the Eisenhower Lock and began leaking.

While tied up at Port Colborne, Ontario, waiting to discharge her cargo of grain, a northeast gale caused the water to lower three feet and left the EDWIN H. OHL (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 5141 gross tons, built in 1907, at Wyandotte, Michigan) on the bottom with a list of about one foot. The bottom plating was damaged and cost $3,460.19 to repair.
Cleveland Tankers’ JUPITER (Hull#227) was christened December 9, 1975, at Jennings, Louisiana, by S.B.A. Shipyards, Inc.

JEAN PARISIEN left Quebec City on her maiden voyage December 9, 1977.

CLIFFS VICTORY ran aground December 9, 1976 near Johnson’s Point in the ice -laden Munuscong Channel of the St. Marys River.

The FRANK C. BALL, b.) J.R. SENSIBAR in 1930, c.) CONALLISON in 1981) was launched at Ecorse, Michigan by Great Lakes Engineering Works as (Hull #14) on December 9, 1905.

ARTHUR B. HOMER was towed by the tugs THUNDER CAPE, ELMORE M. MISNER and ATOMIC to Port Colborne, Ontario, December 9, 1986, and was scrapped there the following year.

HILDA MARJANNE was launched December 9, 1943, as a.) GRANDE RONDE (Hull#43) at Portland, Oregon, by Kaiser Co., Inc.

The keel for Hall Corporation of Canada’s SHIERCLIFFE HALL (Hull#248) was laid on December 9, 1949, at Montreal, Quebec by Canadian Vickers Ltd.

On 9 December 1871, CHALLENGE (wooden schooner, 96 foot, 99 tons, built in 1853, at Rochester, New York) missed the piers at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in heavy weather, stove in some of her planking and sank. She was a particularly sleek craft, actually designed as a yacht and once owned by the U.S. Light House Service as a supply vessel.

On 9 December 1874, the Port Huron Times reported that "the old railroad ferry steamer UNION at Detroit is having machinery taken out and preparing to go into permanent retirement, or perhaps to serve as a floating dining room for railroad passengers."

1910: JOHN SHARPLES of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportation Co., stranded on Galops Island in the St. Lawrence due to low visibility. The vessel was holed fore and aft and not released until April 1911 with the help of the tug HECLA.

1943: SARNIAN, the first member of what became the Upper Lakes Shipping fleet, stranded on Pointe Isabelle Reef, Lake Superior, while downbound with 162,489 bushels of barley. The vessel was not refloated until July 24, 1944, and never sailed again.

1956: FORT HENRY, a package freighter for Canada Steamship Lines, hit Canoe Rocks approaching the Canadian Lakehead, cutting open the hull. It reached the dock safely, quickly unloaded, and went to the Port Arthur shipyard for repairs.

1968: NORTH CAROLINA lost power and sank in Lake Erie five miles west of Fairport, Ohio, in rough weather. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the three-member crew. The hull went down in about 30 feet of water and is a popular dive attraction.

1980: The salt-laden KINGDOC (ii) was released by the tugs POINT VALIANT and IRVING BIRCH after an earlier grounding at Pugwash, NS

1983: The saltwater ship d) IAPETOS was struck by Iraqi gunners in the Khor Musa Channel about 30-40 miles from Bandar Khomeini, Iran. It was abandoned and struck again by a missile and bombs on March 29, 1984. The vessel began Seaway service as a) JAROSA in 1965 and returned as b) IVORY STAR in 1973 and c) TURICUM in 1975. It was refloated about 1984 and scrapped at Sitalpur, Bangladesh.

2001: The former HAND LOONG, a Seaway trader beginning in 1977, sank as b) UNA in the Black Sea off Sinop, Turkey, enroute from Algeria to Romania with 11,000 tons of iron ore. Seventeen sailors were rescued but one was missing and presumed lost.

2003: STELLAMARE capsized on the Hudson River at Albany, N.Y., while loading turbines. The cargo shifted and three members of the crew were lost. The ship was righted, refloated and repaired as c) NANDALINA S. It was broken up for scrap at Aliaga, Turkey, as d) DOUAA A. in 2011. This heavy-lift freighter first came through the Seaway in 1989 and returned inland from time to time.

2011: VSL CENTURION lost its stern anchor while downbound in the Welland Canal at Port Colborne. Shipping was held up until it was found. The ship first visited the Seaway as a) SAGITARRIUS in 1990 and became d) PHOENIX SUN in 2012.

On 08 December 1917, DESMOND (wooden propeller sand-sucker, 149 foot, 456 gross tons, built in 1892, at Port Huron, Michigan) sprang a leak off Michigan City, Indiana, during gale and then capsized within sight of the lighthouse at South Chicago, Illinois. Seven lives were lost. Six others were rescued by the tugs WILLIAM A. FIELD, GARY and NORTH HARBOR.
CANADIAN ENTERPRISE (Hull#65) was christened December 8, 1979, at St. Catharines, Ontario, by Port Weller Drydocks. Ltd.

JAMES DAVIDSON was laid up for the last time on December 8, 1969, at Toledo, Ohio.

MERLE M. McCURDY collided with U.S. Steel’s PHILIP R. CLARKE opposite Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on Lake St. Clair, December 8, 1974.

On 8 December 1886, BELLE (2-mast wooden schooner, 61 foot, 40 gross tons, built in 1866, at Port Dalhousie, Ontario) burned while frozen in at anchor.

On 8 December 1854, WESTMORELAND (wooden propeller passenger/package freight vessel, 200 foot, 665 tons, built in 1853, at Cleveland, Ohio) was carrying supplies for Mackinac Island, including liquor and supposedly $100,000 in gold. She capsized in a storm due to the heavy seas and the weight of the thick ice on her superstructure. She sank in the Manitou Passage in Lake Michigan and dragged one of the loaded lifeboats down with her. 17 lives were lost. There were many attempts to find her and recover her cargo. Some reports indicate the wreck was found in 1874, however it was not discovered until 2010 by Ross Richardson.

1876: IRA CHAFFE was driven ashore in a severe snowstorm near the Chocolay River, Lake Superior, near Munising. All on board were saved and the ship was eventually released.

1909: Fire broke out in the hold of the CLARION off Southeast Shoal, Lake Erie. Six sailors who huddled on the stern were picked up in a daring rescue by the LEONARD C. HANNA the next day. Another 14 were lost when their lifeboat was swept away in the storm and one more perished when he went into the hold to fight the fire.

1909: W.C. RICHARDSON stranded on Waverley Shoal, 2 miles west of Buffalo. A storm had prevented entrance to Buffalo and the ship was riding out the weather on the lake. The hull had to by dynamited as a navigational hazard when salvage efforts failed. Five lives were lost.

1927: ALTADOC (i) stranded on the rocks of the Keweenaw Peninsula when the steering failed while upbound, in ballast, for Fort William. The hull could not be salvaged and it was cut up for scrap on location during World War Two.

1927: LAMBTON stranded on Parisienne Shoal, Lake Superior, with the loss of 2 lives. The engine was removed for the FERNIE and the hull salvaged in 1928 for further work as the barge c) SALVUS.

1963: FORT ALBANY sank in the St. Lawrence off Lanorie after a collision with the PROCYON, and five members of the crew were lost. Heavy fog persisted at the time. The hull was refloated in June 1964, taken to Sorel, and scrapped.

1971: HARMATTAN was attacked with missiles and gunfire by Indian Naval units south of Karachi, Pakistan, and heavily damaged. Seven sailors were killed and the ship was abandoned. It arrived at Karachi March 2, 1972, and was scrapped. The ship had been a Seaway trader earlier in 1971.

1982: The Liberian freighter GENIE came through the Seaway in 1972. It was badly damaged by an explosion and fire on this date while laid up the Seychelles Islands. The hull was taken to Karachi, Pakistan, and scrapped in 1985.

1983: AKTION, a Seaway trader for the first time in 1970, was laid up at Piraeus, Greece, as e) ELISA when fire broke out and the vessel was heavily damaged aft. The hull was towed into Aliaga, Turkey, in October 1984, and broken up for scrap.

12/9 - Traverse City, Mich. – Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers have recovered stolen artifacts from a historical shipwreck after receiving a tip from recreational divers.

In September, the DNR Law Enforcement Division’s Great Lakes Enforcement Unit was notified that people were stealing internal framework – referred to as “ribbing” – from the Metropolis, a shipwreck north of Traverse City.

Metropolis is a 125-foot schooner located offshore of Old Mission Point in the East Grand Traverse Bay, which is part of Lake Michigan. The ship was abandoned after becoming lost in a snowstorm in November 1886. The remains of the Metropolis are divided in two portions, one located in 8 feet of water and the other at a depth of 120 feet. The site is part of the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve.

Michigan’s Great Lakes are home to 1,500 shipwrecks and 14 underwater preserves, including Isle Royale, which provide recreational diving opportunities. It is illegal to remove anything from underwater shipwrecks.

“Shipwrecks are irreplaceable resources. They cannot be regenerated,” said Wayne Lusardi, a state maritime archaeologist with DNR’s Michigan History Center. “Unlike any other place in the world, Michigan’s fresh water allows for shipwrecks and other historical resources to be uniquely preserved.”

The two divers were able to provide conservation officers with photographs of the individuals removing the ribbing, the suspect’s boat registration and a license plate number from the vehicle located at the launch site. Conservation Officer Sean Kehoe was able to use the evidence from the divers to quickly locate and interview the two suspects.

Jacob Garris, 27, from Traverse City, and Joseph Frawley, 28, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., confessed to taking the ribbing and cooperated to return the stolen items to Kehoe.

Garris and Frawley were charged last month in the Grand Traverse County 86th District Court for the removal of antiquities from state-owned bottomlands. Both will serve 20 hours of community service and were fined $1,025 in fines and costs and $1,450 in restitution; they will serve 30 days of jail if they do not meet their requirements. The restitution will go toward shipwreck protection and education.

Michigan conservation officers are fully commissioned state peace officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect citizens by providing general law enforcement duties and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve.

FOX 17 News

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/11 - Detroit, Mich. – The J.W. Westcott is the only boat with its own ZIP code. The 45-foot steel boat works 24 hours a day, delivering mail, packages and sometimes pizza to the giant lakers that chug daily through the Detroit River, headed anywhere on the Great Lakes.

“Oh Lord, it’s crazy this time of year,” said the general manager, Captain Sam Buchanan. “We deliver Amazon. We’re delivering all kinds of stuff to every ship that goes by our station, pretty much.”

The Westcott has been an official marine U.S. Post Office since 1895. The company was founded in 1874, when it used a rowboat to deliver messages to passing ships through its “mail-in-the-pail” technique.

144 years later, the boat is still delivering mail in the pail. Of course, there are a lot fewer letters than there once was. There are a lot more packages, instead. But “you still can’t get a handwritten note from your child over the phone," Buchanan said. "Or the old letters that used to be doused with the wife’s perfume.”

The Westcott works from April until about Christmas Eve, usually remaining within a mile of its station, near the Ambassador Bridge to Canada. The boat meets every freighter on the Detroit River – which is basically every freighter delivering cargo from the upper Great Lakes to Lake Erie.

In addition to mail deliveries and pick-ups, the Westcott also:

• Serves a water taxi • Ferries Americans and Canadians to pilot foreign-owned ships, and brings pilots who are finished their shifts back to shore • Sells snacks and cigarettes • Sells U.S. and Canadian nautical charts, maritime history books, postcards and marine manuals • Stores and delivers freight

“When we’re out there delivering, we’re usually bringing somebody some happiness,” Buchanan said. “If you really want to see happiness, deliver 20 pizzas.”

View a video at this link: www.cleveland.com/news/2018/12/jw-westcott-is-the-only-boat-with-a-us-zip-code-serving-freighters-on-the-great-lakes.html


12/11 - Port Huron, Mich. – Freighter enthusiasts have another chance to watch St. Clair River traffic live from anywhere, but this time, via a livestream set up at the Blue Water Convention Center in Port Huron.

Gino Giacumbo, the center’s general manager, said he purchased the equipment a year ago but more recently “worked out the kinks” to stream the view continuously.

The livestream can be viewed at www.porthuroncam.com. In addition to the St. Clair River and lower Lake Huron, the view includes part of Thomas Edison Parkway and the boardwalk beneath the bridge.

“Hopefully, it’s something. I noticed a lot of people who don’t live in the area any more love it,” Giacumbo said. “They just like to watch boats. (Imagine) Float Down, the Mackinac Race. (But) especially the freighters constantly. It’s just going to be a nice thing for people to check every once in a while.”

The Blue Water Convention Center, including the livestream equipment, is owned and operated by St. Clair County. The livestream began Tuesday. It follows another river camera in Marine City that went live a month ago.

Giacumbo said officials thought it would be a good way to market the area. Unlike in Marine City, the convention center’s camera doesn’t pan the river or follow traffic as it passes. That stream can be found through the city and Marine City Area Chamber of Commerce’s websites at cityofmarinecity.org and visitmarinecity.com, or on YouTube at .

Giacumbo said the view was also limited because of the convention center’s roof, which doesn’t allow for a more scenic look.

He said the center will be providing a link for viewers to check on approaching boat traffic.

“It just seems like there’s people out there watching,” Giacumbo said. “I just thought looking at the freighters – it’s not that bad at all. I wish I would’ve known (the setup process) sooner. I would’ve had (IT help) do it a while ago.”

Times Herald


On 11 December 2002, after last minute dredging operations were completed, Nadro Marine’s tugs SEAHOUND and VAC took the World War II Canadian Naval Tribal-class destroyer H.M.C.S. HAIDA from her mooring place at Toronto’s Ontario Place to Port Weller Dry Docks where a $3.5M refit was started in preparation for the vessel to start her new career as a museum ship in Hamilton, Ontario.
TEXACO CHIEF (Hull#193) was launched December 11, 1968, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The H. LEE WHITE collided with the Greek salty GEORGIOS on December 11, 1974, near St. Clair, Michigan, and had to return to Nicholson's dock at Detroit, Michigan for inspection.

On December 11, 1979, while about 11 miles off Manitou Island near the Keweenaw Peninsula, the ASHLAND's engine stalled due to a faulty relay switch. Caught in heavy weather and wallowing in the wave troughs, she put out a distress call. True to Great Lakes tradition, four vessels immediately came to her assistance: two 1,000 footers, LEWIS WILSON FOY and EDWIN H. GOTT, along with WILLIS B. BOYER and U.S.C.G. cutter MESQUITE.

WILLIAM CLAY FORD loaded her last cargo at Duluth on December 11, 1984.

PERE MARQUETTE 21 passed down the Welland Canal (loaded with the remnants of Port Huron's Peerless Cement Dock) on December 11, 1974, towed by the tugs SALVAGE MONARCH and DANIEL MC ALLISTER on the way to Sorel, Quebec where she was laid up.

The fishing boat LINDA E vanished on Lake Michigan along with its three crewmen on December 11, 1998.

Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd.’s WHEAT KING was laid up for the last time December 11, 1981.

On 11 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels in winter lay-up in Port Huron: Sailing Craft: A H MOSS, FOREST HUNTER. MARY E PEREW, SEA BIRD, REINDEER, T S SKINNER, L W PERRY, ADAIN, LITTLE NELLIE, MAGGIE, PRINCE ALFRED, CAPE HORM, KITTIE, JOHNSON (wrecker), CHRISTIANA, HOWE, C G MEISEL, AUNT RUTH, W R HANNA, IRONSIDES, GOLDEN FLEECE, JOHN L GROSS, WARRINGTON, ANGLO SAXON, MOORE, LADY ESSEX, ANNIE, FORWARDER (sunk), GROTON, NORTHWEST, FRED H MORSE, GEM OF THE LAKES, D J AUSTIN, CZAR, JAMAICA, ANNIE (scow), AND HATTIE. Side wheel Steamers: 8TH OHIO, WYOMING (lighter). Propeller Steam Barges: W E WETMORE, SANILAC, CITY OF DETROIT. Tugs: KATE MOFFAT, TAWAS, HITTIE HOYT, FRANK MOFFAT, J H MARTIN, JOHN PRIDGEON, BROCKWAY, GLADIATOR, CORAL, GRACE DORNER (small passenger vessel), AND C M FARRAR.

On 11 December 1895, GEORGE W. ADAMS (wooden schooner-barge, 231 foot, 1444 gross tons, built in 1875, at Toledo, Ohio) was in tow of the steamer CALEDONIA with a load of coal, bound from Cleveland for Chicago. Her hull was crushed by ice and she sank near Colchester Shoals on Lake Erie. A salvage operation on her the following summer was a failure.

1911: A fire broke out in a wooden grain elevator at Owen Sound. The KEEWATIN was moored nearby for the winter but not yet locked in ice. The ship was moved to safety but the elevator was destroyed.

1963: MANCOX went aground in Lake St. Clair, near Peche Island, enroute from Sault Ste. Marie to River Rouge.

1984: The Yugoslavian freighter BEOGRAD, outbound in the Seaway with soybeans for Brazil, collided with the FEDERAL DANUBE at anchor near Montreal and had to be beached. The hull was refloated and arrived at Montreal for repairs on December 27. It was scrapped at Gadani Beach, Pakistan, as b) MURIEL in 1999. FEDERAL DANUBE (i) now operates for Canada Steamship Lines as c) OAKGLEN (iii).

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/12 - Cleveland, Ohio – You can hop on a freighter and see the Great Lakes, work two months straight and then have a month off. “People can walk on to our boats with a high school degree and make $60,000 to $70,000 a year,” said Interlake Steamship spokeswoman Chrissy Kadleck.

You can bank much of that money, since aboard the ship Interlake covers your lodging, your food, your cable TV. You don’t even have to make your own meals. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig, right?

Yet the marine industry is facing an employment crisis, as Baby Boomers reach retirement age. Generation X were pushed toward college, rather than labor jobs. The result is a “silver tsunami,” too few new workers to replace those who will soon leave.

“You have the perfect storm of a much smaller generational population with less exposure to the trades,” said Neal Harrell, president of the recruiting firm Brooks Marine Group, in Rhode Island.

The average Coast Guard-credentialed merchant mariner is 46, according to a 2015 federal government report called “Strengthening Skills Training and Career Pathways Across the Transportation Industry.” The overwhelming majority of job openings in maritime will be for occupations serving on vessels. And 90 percent of the high-demand maritime occupations will pay above the national median wage, with relatively low barriers to entry

The merchant marine refers to the non-military U.S. shipping industry; the freighters could be conscripted in time of war.

People may not know about the marine jobs available, said Jayson Toth, Interlake director of training & vessel personnel. Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School in Cleveland is one of about 55 marine high schools nationwide, aiming to let students know about possible marine careers.

“We’re trying to connect kids with exciting, fun jobs,” said D. Andrew Ferguson, the founder of Phastar, a Northeast Ohio aviation non-profit that provides technology and instruction at the school. “We’re trying to get that culture where kids are hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder, with people from industry.”

That culture, and those jobs, could include:
• serving in the U.S. Coast Guard or Navy
• managing a port
• building, repairing or storing boats
• sailing on a cruise ships
• working on a freighter
“These are good jobs,” Harell said. Many need baseline skills, such as welding or engine repair. But companies will invest in hard workers. “It’s an opportunity to work around the waterfront, and people who are out for recreation,” he said. “That’s a fun environment to work in.”

Interlake, which employs about 400 men and women aboard its nine freighters, accepts workers with a high school degree, a merchant marine credential and a Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

Officers generally earn bachelor’s degrees through maritime academies, such as the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, Michigan. The school admits 60 people annually, 80 percent of them from Great Lakes states. The goal is to graduate 40 people, in either deck or engine tracks, each year.

On a freighter, the deck includes piloting the vessel and other jobs on the deck of the ship. Engine requires keeping the ship’s machinery running. (There’s also galley, which is the cooking and hotel services part of the ship.)

The academy is working to recruit more engineering students, and more diversity, said academy superintendent Jerry Achenbach. About 80 percent of the last class was men, the majority of them white, he said.

The work is hard, experts say. Eight hours a day, plus overtime, if you want it.

Interlake, which recruits from the academies and from union halls, works to find people with the right credentials and licensing, who want to live aboard a vessel for months at a time.

“It’s a cool, adventurous lifestyle,” Kadleck said. “Their office is the pilot house, and they’re looking out on the Great Lakes.”

Cleveland.com


12/12 - Port Huron, Mich. – Several parties will meet Wednesday to discuss the future of the Pere Marquette train bridge in Port Huron.

The meeting comes more than six years after the Port Huron Yacht Club requested permits to demolish the structure, and about three months since the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a memorandum of agreement between itself, the yacht club and state historic preservation office.

Yacht club Commodore Jim Goldenbogen said he believes the meeting hosted by the Army Corps is to ensure everyone has their final pitch on the future of the historic movable bridge. Marcia Haynes, who is behind the group Friends of the Pere Marquette Train Bridge, said she will also be attending the meeting.

"Well, we're going to all present our cases and we're going to see how the shoe drops," she said.

The yacht club applied for the permit in March 2012. It purchased the 3.3-acre parcel at the mouth of the Black River, next to its current property, with plans to remove the bridge and develop the area.

Goldenbogen stressed there are no set plans for what the yacht club will do with the property if it receives a permit to raze the bridge. "That's not in our design to have the bridge there, but we have to wait and see what the final outcome is," he said. "The cart's before the horse until we have a resolution."

Haynes and the friends group hope to preserve the structure. "Because it's a landmark ... and landmarks are landmarks. In saving the Round Island Lighthouse, there's no function to it, it's just a landmark," Haynes said, referencing the historic structure adjacent to Mackinac Island she assisted in preserving in the 1970s.

Goldenbogen said the yacht club is aware not everyone supports its plan. "You've got a very small group push back. And you know if it was public property that would be a different thing, but it's not," he said.

Goldenbogen hopes the meeting will end with a final memorandum for the yacht club, state preservation office and Corps to sign off on.

If the three parties sign the agreement, the yacht club would be required to extensively document the train bridge with a detailed written history, maps, photos and drawings of the structure and its surroundings. If and when the state historic preservation office approves the documentation, the Corps would grant the yacht club a demolition permit.

Officials have said the alternatives to demolition include doing nothing, preserving the site using federal criteria, moving the bridge to another location and the recommended documentation option.

Colette Luff, regulatory project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Detroit District said in an email no decision on the permit application has been made.

"The primary purpose of the meeting is to consult on the feasibility of the bridge preservation alternative. We do not know what the outcome of the meeting will be," she said in an email.

Times Herald


On 12 December 1898, FANNY H (wooden propeller tug, 54 foot, 16 gross tons, built in 1890, at Bay City, Michigan) was sold by J. R. Hitchcock to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. She underwent a major rebuild in 1908, when she was lengthened to 60 feet.
The push tug PRESQUE ISLE was launched December 12, 1972, as (Hull #322) by the Halter Marine Services, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana.

SPINDLETOP, e.) BADGER STATE was launched December 12, 1942, for the United States Maritime Commission.

WHEAT KING returned to Port Weller Dry Docks on December 12, 1975, for lengthening to the maximum Seaway size of 730 feet overall for the iron ore and grain trade, thus ending her salt water activities.

One unusual trip for the WOODLAND occurred when she arrived at Toronto, Ontario on December 12, 1987, to load a 155-foot, 135-ton self-unloading unit for delivery to the Verolme Shipyard in Brazil, where the Govan-built Panamax bulk carrier CSL INNOVATOR was being converted to a self-unloader.

On Monday December 12, 1898, the AURORA was fast in the ice at Amherstburg, Ontario, when a watchman smelled smoke. The crew tried to put out the fire, but to no avail. They were taken off the burning vessel by the tug C A LORMAN. The ship burned to the water's edge, but was salvaged and rebuilt as a barge.

On December 12, 1956, the once-proud passenger vessels EASTERN STATES and GREATER DETROIT were taken out onto Lake St. Clair where they were set afire. All the superstructure was burned off and the hulls were taken to Hamilton, Ontario, where they were scrapped in 1957.

On 12 December 1872, the Port Huron Times listed the following vessels at winter lay-up at Sarnia, Ontario: Schooners: MARY E PEREW, KINGFISHER, UNADILLA, ONEONTA, AMERICAN, J G MASTEN, PELICAN, UNION, B ALLEN, and CAMDEN; Brigs: DAVID A WELLS, WAGONER, and FRANK D BARKER; Barks: C T MAPLE, EMALINE BATES, and D A VAN VALKENBURG; Steamer: MANITOBA.

On 12 December 1877, U.S. Marshall Matthews sold the boiler and machinery of the CITY OF PORT HURON at auction in Detroit, Michigan. Darius Cole submitted the winning bid of $1,000.

1898: The wooden passenger and freight carrier SOO CITY sank at the dock in Holland, Mi after bucking ice while inbound.

1925: SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY stranded on a rocky shoal inside the breakwall at Fairport, Ohio. Hull repairs were listed at over $18,000.

1966: AMBROSE SHEA, a new Canadian carferry, was hit by a flash fire while under construction by Marine Industries Ltd. at Sorel, Quebec, and sustained over $1 million in damage. Completion of the vessel was delayed by 3 months before it could enter service between North Sydney, NS and Argentia, Newfoundland. The ship arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping as d) ERG on June 22, 2000.

1972: SIR JAMES DUNN went aground in the St. Lawrence near the Thousand Islands Bridge while enroute to Sorel with grain.

1990: CLIPPER MAJESTIC was abandoned by the crew due to an engineroom fire off the coast of Peru. The vessel had been through the Seaway as a) MILOS ISLAND in 1981, MAJESTIC in 1989 and was renamed c) CLIPPER MAJESTIC at Toronto that fall. The damaged ship was towed to Callao, Peru, on December 13, 1990, and repaired. It also traded inland as d) MILLENIUM MAJESTIC in 1999 and was scrapped at Alang, India, as e) MYRA in 2012.

2009: The Canada Steamship Lines bulk carrier SPRUCEGLEN (ii) went aground near Sault Ste. Marie and had to go to Thunder Bay for repairs.

2010: The tug ANN MARIE sank in the Saginaw River while tied up for the winter. It was salvaged a few days later.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/13 - Whitehall, Mich. – The spine of a sunken ship that has been buried in sand for several decades has reappeared on Lake Michigan near Whitehall.

Researchers believe the spine belongs to the ill-fated L.C. Woodruff, a schooner that sank off the shores of Lake Michigan in November 1878. But, they can’t say for certain.

Based on where pieces of the Woodruff were beached following its demise, the spine now visible through the shifting Lake Michigan sand and surf is more than likely a piece of the wayward Woodruff, said Allan Dake, a Whitehall-area resident and a researcher with the Muskegon Heritage Museum.

Dake spent four years doing research on the history of the Great Lakes, some of which is available to visitors and historians at the historic White River Station lighthouse on the White Lake channel from Lake Michigan.

“Over the years, other researchers have said that’s where the Woodruff was supposed to have been because it went ashore on the south side of the pier," Dake said.

That’s where residents first observed the ship spine at least a week ago – near the south break wall and channel walkway on Sylvan Beach near the entrance of White Lake, said Bob Lukens, community development director for the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Read more and view photos at this link: www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2018/12/buried-sunken-ship-spine-reappears-on-lake-michigan.html


Historic Delta Queen riverboat can cruise again; boat undergoing $10M repairs

12/13 - After a decade at dock, 1920s-era Delta Queen riverboat will cruise again. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Tuesday authorizing the 285-foot-long (87-meter-long) riverboat immortalized in poems and songs to cruise again along the Mississippi and several other rivers.

The Delta Queen was sidelined in 2008 by a federal law prohibiting overnight excursions on wooden vessels. Both U.S. senators from Missouri — Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Roy Blunt — co-sponsored a bill to allow the exemption, which requires modifications to the wooden portions of the vessel, most of which are cabins and public areas. The hull is already steel.

"Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in American steamboat history," Leah Ann Ingram, vice president of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., said in a statement. "This was the first big step in returning the Delta Queen to the waterways, where she belongs."

The Delta Queen began operation in 1927. Passengers have included presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. It served as a naval ship during World War II and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. is based in Kimmswick, Missouri, near St. Louis, but the boat itself is undergoing repairs in Houma, Louisiana. The upgrade will include replacing boilers original to the boat, along with generators, plumbing, the steam line and heating and air conditioning. The total cost is estimated at $10 million to $12 million.

The company expects to begin three-, five- and seven-day cruises on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Kanawha, Arkansas and Illinois rivers in 2020. The Delta Queen is expected to visit more than 80 ports each year, including St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Louisville, Kentucky, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Blunt said more than 170 jobs are expected to be created in Kimmswick, and cited the benefit of many of the cruises beginning and ending there.

"This important part of our nation's history will create jobs and strengthen our state's growing tourism industry," Blunt said in a statement.

Associated Press


CANADIAN ENTERPRISE entered service for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. on December 13, 1979.
On December 13, 1989, Kinsman’s HENRY STEINBRENNER, a.) WILLIAM A. MC GONAGLE was laid up at Toledo's Lakefront Dock.

G.A. TOMLINSON, a.) D.O. MILLS arrived under her own power at Triad Salvage Inc., Ashtabula, Ohio, on December 13, 1979, to be scrapped.

THOMAS WILSON ran aground in the St. Marys River on December 13, 1976. The accident required lightering before she would float free.

On 13 December 1872, the Port Huron Times added three vessels to those in winter lay-up at Port Huron: Steamer MARINE CITY, tug JOHN PRINDEVILLE, and wrecking tug RESCUE. December 13, 1906 - The ANN ARBOR NO 4 departed for Manitowoc, Wisconsin on her first trip.

In 1929, the McLouth Steamship Company filed a claim against the City of Port Huron for $687 because its sand sucker, the KALKASKA, was held up for 27-1/2 hours in the Black River because of an inability to open the north span of the Military Street Bridge.

On 13 December 1961, SWEDEN, a.) L C SMITH, steel propeller, 414 foot, 4702 gross tons, built in 1902, at W. Bay City, Michigan) arrived in tow at Savona, Italy, for scrapping.

1899: BARGE 115 broke loose of the towing steamer COLGATE HOYT in northern Lake Superior and drifted for 5 harrowing days before it stranded on Pic Island on December 18. While feared lost with all hands, the crew managed to come ashore in the lifeboat, found their way to the rail line and hiked to safety. They were found December 22.

1906: JOHN M. NICOL was loaded with barbed wire when it stranded off Big Summer Island, Lake Michigan. The crew was rescued by fishermen in a gasoline-powered launch, but the ship broke in two as a total loss.

1916: BAY PORT, a whaleback steamer built at West Superior as a) E.B. BARTLETT in 1891, struck bottom in the Cape Cod Canal enroute to Boston with coal. The ship was refloated but sank again December 14 blocking the entrance to the canal. All on board were saved. The hull had to by dynamited as a hazard.

1939: The Russian freighter INDIGIRKA went aground in a blizzard off the coast of Japan while trying to enter Laperouse Strait, near Sarafatsu, Japan. The ship rolled on its side and was abandoned by the crew. It was carrying fishermen and political prisoners. A reported 741 died in the cargo holds after being left behind. Only a few were still alive when salvagers returned after the storm had subsided. The vessel had been built at Manitowoc, WI in 1919 as a) LAKE GALVA and was renamed b) RIPON before leaving the lakes the next year.

1965: The Liberty ship PONT AUDEMER made one trip through the Seaway in 1960. It was abandoned by the crew as d) VESPER following an engineroom explosion on the Mediterranean enroute from Marseilles, France, to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The vessel arrived at Cartagena, under tow on December 18, 1965. It was sold to Spanish shipbreakers and left for Villanueva y Geltru for dismantling on May 18, 1966.

[yachtsmanwilly]

On 14 December 1902, JOHN E. HALL (wooden propeller freighter, 139 foot, 343 gross tons, built in 1889, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin) was towing the barge JOHN R. NOYES (wooden schooner, 137 foot, 333 gross tons, built in 1872, at Algonac, Michigan) on Lake Ontario when they were caught in a blizzard-gale. After a day of struggling, the NOYES broke loose and drifted for two days before she went ashore and broke up near Lakeside, New York without loss of life. The HALL tried to run for shelter but swamped and sank off Main Duck Island with the loss of the entire crew of nine.
On December 14, 1984, WILLIAM CLAY FORD laid up for the final time at the Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

The JIIMAAN was towed out of dry dock at Port Weller Drydocks Ltd. on December 14, 1992, by the tugs JAMES E. McGRATH and LAC VANCOUVER to the fit out dock for completion.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE was sold for scrap in 1988, and was towed up the Welland Canal on December 14, 1988, by the tugs THUNDER CAPE and MICHAEL D. MISNER to Port Colborne, Ontario.

On December 14, 1926, W.E. FITZGERALD was caught in heavy seas and suffered damaged frames and hull plating. Repairs consisted of replacing nearly 25,000 rivets and numerous hull plates.

The package freighter GEORGE N. ORR, a recent war acquisition from the Canada Atlantic Transit Company, was wrecked off Savage Point, Prince Edward Island, on December 14, 1917. She was enroute to New York City with a load of hay.

On 14 December 1883, MARY ANN HULBERT (wooden schooner-barge, 62 gross tons, built in 1873, at Bayfield, Wisconsin) was carrying railroad workers and supplies in tow of the steamer KINCADINE in a storm on Lake Superior. She was sailing from Port Arthur for Michipicoten Island. The HULBERT was overwhelmed by the gale and foundered, The crew of five plus all 15 of the railroad workers were lost.

December 14, 1903 - The PERE MARQUETTE 20 left the shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio on her maiden voyage.

1977: SILVER FIR, outbound from Great Lakes on her only trip inland, went aground at Squaw Island, near Cornwall and was released two days later.

1991: The small tug HAMP THOMAS sank off Cleveland while towing a barge. They were mauled by 12-foot waves but the barge and a second tug, PADDY MILES, survived as did all of the crew.

1997: CANADIAN EXPLORER of Upper Lakes Shipping and the ISLAND SKIPPER collided in the St. Lawrence at Beauharnois with minor damage. The former reached Hamilton and was retired. The latter was repaired and resumed service. It revisited the Great Lakes as late as 2010.

[yachtsmanwilly]

While breaking ice off Colchester Reef, Lake Erie on 17 December 1917, the HENRY CORT (steel propeller whaleback bulk freighter, 320 foot, 2,234 gross tons, built in 1892, at W. Superior, Wis., formerly a.) PILLSBURY) was in a collision with the MIDVALE (steel propeller bulk freighter, 580 foot, 8,271 gross tons, built in 1917, at Ashtabula, Ohio). The PILLSBURY sank in thirty feet of water 4 1/2 miles from Colchester Reef. Her crew walked across the ice to the MIDVALE. The wreck was located on 24 April 1918, four miles from its original position, with seven feet of water over her and raised later that year to be repaired.
C. L. AUSTIN was launched December 17, 1910, as a.) WILLIS L. KING (Hull#79) at Ecorse, Mich., by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

With an inexperienced Taiwanese crew, boiler problems and the collapse of Lock 7's west wall in the Welland Canal, the departure of SAVIC (CLIFFS VICTORY) was delayed until December 17, 1985, when she departed Chicago, Illinois, under her own power.

Paterson’s NEW QUEDOC sank at her winter moorings at Midland, Ont., on December 17, 1961, with a load of storage grain. The sinking was caused by the automatic sea valves that were accidentally opened.

The ROGERS CITY was laid up for the last time at Calcite, Mich., on December 17, 1981.

On December 17, 1955, in heavy fog, the B.F. AFFLECK collided head-on with her fleetmate HENRY PHIPPS in the Straits of Mackinac. Both vessels were damaged but were able to sail under their own power for repairs.

In 1905, the Anchor Line steamer JUNIATA was launched at the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The JUNIATA was the first large passenger boat built in Cleveland since the NORTH LAND and NORTH WEST. Today the JUNIATA exists as the National Historic Landmark MILWAUKEE CLIPPER in Muskegon, Mich.

On 17 December 1875, the steamboat JENNISON of Captain Ganoe's line, which ran between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, burned at Grand Rapids. She was laid up for the winter just below the city on the Grand River. She was insured for $12,000.

1957: The Great Lakes-built LAKE HEMLOCK foundered in Long Island Sound.

1964: The former T-2 tanker GOOD HOPE, operating as a bulk carrier, ran aground in a blizzard at Ulak Island, in the Aleutians, as d) SAN PATRICK. The ship had loaded wheat and cattle feed at Vancouver for Yokohama, Japan, and all on board perished. It had been a Seaway trader in 1962.

1972: THOMAS SCHULTE began Great Lakes trading in 1957 and returned through the Seaway in 1959. It was sailing as c) CAPE SABLE when it sank with the loss of 13 lives in a gale 100 miles west of La Corunna, Spain. The vessel was enroute from Antwerp, Belgium, to Algiers, Algeria, with general cargo when it went down.

1977: STADACONA (iii) went aground after clearing the Manitoulin Island community of Little Current with a cargo of ore pellets. The ship was stuck for several days.

In 1949, the tow line between the tug JOHN ROEN III and the barge RESOLUTE parted in high seas and a quartering wind. The barge sank almost immediately when it struck the concrete piers at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Eleven crewmembers, including Captain Marc Roen, were safely taken off the barge without difficulty.
On 16 December 1922, the JOSHUA W. RHODES (steel propeller bulk freighter, 420 foot, 4,871 gross tons, built in 1906, at Lorain, Ohio) struck bottom in the middle of the St. Clair River abreast of Port Huron, Michigan. Damages cost $6,179.32 to repair.

In 1983, HILDA MARJANNE's forward section, which included a bow thruster, was moved to the building berth at Port Weller Dry Docks where it was joined to CHIMO's stern. The joined sections would later emerge from the dry dock as the b.) CANADIAN RANGER.

IMPERIAL BEDFORD (Hull#666) was launched December 16,1968, at Lauzon, Quebec, by Davie Shipbuilding Co.

Canada Steamship Lines’ J.W. MC GIFFIN (Hull#197) was launched December 16, 1971, at Collingwood, Ontario, by Collingwood Shipyards.

Litton Industries tug/barge PRESQUE ISLE departed light from Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 1973, on its maiden voyage bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota. This was the latest maiden voyage date at that time. There, the PRESQUE ISLE loaded 51,038 long tons of taconite pellets for delivery to Gary, Indiana. After this ice-covered trip, the vessel returned to Erie for winter lay-up. PRESQUE ISLE was the second thousand-foot vessel on the Great Lakes (the Erie-built STEWART J. CORT which came out in 1972, was the first).

While in tandem tow on the way to scrapping with the former Ford Motor Co. steamer ROBERT S. McNAMARA, BUCKEYE MONITOR developed a crack in her deck amidships. The crack extended down her sides to below the waterline and she sank at 0145 hours on December 16, 1973, at position 43¡30'N x 30¡15'W in the North Atlantic.

BENSON FORD, a) RICHARD M. MARSHALL made her last trip to the Detroit’s Rouge River where she was laid up on December 16, 1984.

The PIC RIVER was the last vessel to use the old Welland City Canal on December 16, 1972, as the new Welland by-pass opened the following spring.

WOLFE ISLANDER III arrived in Kingston, Ontario on December 16, 1975. Built in Thunder Bay, she would replace the older car ferries WOLFE ISLANDER and UPPER CANADA on the Kingston - Wolfe Island run.

WILLIAM A. IRVIN sustained bottom damage in Lake Erie and laid up December 16, 1978, at Duluth, Minnesota.

The Maritimer THOMAS WILSON operated until December 16, 1979, when she tied up at Toledo. During that final year, the vessel carried only 30 cargoes and all were ore.

On 16 December 1906, ADVENTURER (wooden propeller steam tug, 52 foot, built in 1895, at Two Harbors, Minnesota) broke her moorings and went adrift in a gale. She was driven ashore near Ontonagon, Michigan on Lake Superior and was pounded to pieces.

On 16 December 1954, the 259-foot bulk carrier BELVOIR was launched at the E. B. McGee Ltd. yard in Port Colborne, Ontario. She was built for the Beaconsfield Steamship Co. and sailed in the last years before the Seaway opened. During the winter of 1958-59, she was lengthened 90 feet at Montreal. She left the lakes in 1968, and later sank in the Gulf of Honduras with the loss of 21 lives.

1939: GLITREFJELL was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-59 while sailing southwest of Norway. The vessel was newly built when it first came to the Great Lakes in 1934.

1941: The Norwegian freighter NIDARDAL, best remembered as LAKE GORIN, a World War One-class laker, foundered in the Atlantic P: 56.07 N / 21.00 W enroute from Freeport, Bahamas, to Manchester, England, with sulphur.

1962: ARISTOTELES of 1943 sank in the Atlantic 250 miles off Cape Vincent, Portugal, after developing leaks. The vessel, enroute from Detroit to Calcutta with steel, had first come inland in 1961. All on board were rescued by the Liberty ship HYDROUSSA, which had also been a Seaway trader in 1962.

1964: DONNACONA (ii) was disabled by a fire while downbound in Lake Huron and the forward cabin was burned out before a distress call could be sent. The ship was found, brought to safety and repaired.

1966: CABOT was loading at Montreal when the ship rolled on her side at Montreal and sank in 30 feet of water. Two lives were lost. It was righted on the bottom and refloated in January 1967 for a return to service. The stern of this vessel was cut off to help form CANADIAN EXPLORER in 1983 and has been part of ALGOMA TRANSFER since 1998.

1975: THORNHILL (i) went aground in the St. Marys River, was lightered and released.

1979: ARCHANGELOS ran aground in the St. Lawrence while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of scrap. The ship was lightered and released December 21. It had to spend the winter in the harbor at Port Weller as it was too late to depart the Seaway that year.

1980: D.G. KERR (ii), enroute overseas to Spain for scrapping, was lost in the Atlantic, after it began leaking in bad weather.

On 15 December 1902, the TIONESTA (steel propeller passenger steamer, 340 foot, 4,329 gross tons) was launched at the Detroit Ship Building Company, Wyandotte, Michigan (Hull #150) for the Erie & Western Transportation Company (Anchor Line). She was christened by Miss Marie B. Wetmore. The vessel lasted until 1940, when she was scrapped at Hamilton, Ontario.
ROBERT KOCH went hard aground December 15, 1985, on Sheldon Point off Oswego, New York, loaded with 2,000 tons of cement, when her towline parted from the tug R & L NO 1. Dragging her anchors in heavy weather, she fetched up on a rocky shelf in 16 feet of water 300 yards off shore. She spent the winter on the bottom but was released in July 1986 and taken to Contrecoeur, Quebec, for scrapping. The dismantling was finally completed at Levis, Quebec, in 1990-1991.

NORTHCLIFFE HALL departed Kingston on December 15, 1974, headed for Colombia with a load of newsprint. She traded briefly in the Caribbean and then laid up at Houston, Texas, later to return to the lakes.

On December 15, 1972, GEORGIAN BAY was reported as the last ship to pass through the city of Welland as the new $8.3 million by-pass channel was to be ready for the beginning of the 1973, shipping season. (Actually two other ships, the TADOUSSAC and PIC RIVER, followed her through.)

The JOHN E. F. MISENER, a.) SCOTT MISENER, was laid up for the last time on December 15, 1982, at Port McNicoll, Ontario.

JOE S. MORROW (Hull#350) was launched December 15, 1906, at Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Co.

RED WING was laid up for the last time at Toronto on December 15, 1984, due in part to the uneconomical operation of her steam turbine power plant.

The self-unloader ROGERS CITY cleared Lauzon, Quebec, on December 15, 1987, in tow of the Maltese tug PHOCEEN on the first leg of her tow to the cutter’s torch.

On December 15, 1988, Purvis Marine's ANGLIAN LADY departed Mackinaw City with the CHIEF WAWATAM under tow, arriving at the Canadian Soo the next day. During the winter of 1988-89, Purvis removed items tagged by the state of Michigan (including the pilot house) and began converting her into a barge.

On 15 December 1888, GEORGE W. ROBY (wooden propeller, 281 foot, 1,843 gross tons,) was launched at W. Bay City, Michigan. She was built by F. W. Wheeler (Hull#45).

Below is a winter lay-up list as published in the Port Huron Times on 15 December 1876. At Port Huron -- Steam barges: ABERCORN, BIRKHEAD, BAY CITY, H D COFFINBURY, WILLIAM COWIE, N K FAIRBANK, GERMANIA, GEORGE KING, V H KETCHUM, MARY MILL, MARY PRINGLE, E W POWERS, D F ROSE, SALINA, TEMPEST. Propellers: CITY OF NEW BALTIMORE. Tug: CORA B Schooners and Barges: T Y AVERY, BUCKEYE STATE, GEORGE W BISSEL, KATIE BRAINARD, D K CLINT, DAYTON, S GARDNER, A GEBHART, C G KING, T G LESTER, MARINE CITY, H R NEWCOMB, J H RUTTER, REINDEER, C SPADEMAN, SAGINAW, ST JOSEPH, TAYLOR, TROY, C L YOUNG, YANKEE. At Marysville -- D G WILLIAMS, 7 tow barges, JUPITER, and LEADER.

1915: The passenger and freight steamers MAJESTIC and SARONIC of Canada Steamship Lines caught fire and burned while laid up at Point Edward, Ontario.

1952: The three-masted barquentine CITY OF NEW YORK came to Chicago for the World's Fair in 1933 and was also on display at Cleveland while inland. The famous ship had been active in Antarctic exploration and the Arctic seal hunt. The shaft broke on this date in 1952 and the vessel stranded off Yarmouth, N.S. Released at the end of the month, the vessel caught fire and stranded again off Chebogue Point as a total loss.

1973: RICHARD REISS (ii) broke loose in a gale at Stoneport, Michigan, and went aground with heavy bottom damage. The ship was refloated, repaired at South Chicago, and returned to service in 1974. It has been sailing as d) MANISTEE since 2005.

1983: CARIBBEAN TRAILER spent much of the summer of 1983 operating between Windsor and Thunder Bay. It was outbound from the Great Lakes when it was caught pumping oil in the St. Lawrence. The vessel remained active on saltwater routes until arriving at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping on August 29, 2009.

1987: The French bulk carrier PENMARCH began regular Seaway service when new in 1974. It was also back as b) PHILIPPI in 1985 and became c) MIMI M. in 1987. The ship was attacked by Iraqi aircraft December 15 and again on December 16, 1987. It reached Bushire, Iran, December 22 with heavy damage and was ultimately sold to shipbreakers in Pakistan.

2008: ALIKRATOR began Great Lakes trading in August 1983. It was moored in the estuary at Vilagarcia, Spain, as b) DOXA when a fire broke out in the accommodations area. One life was lost and another 8 sailors injured. The ship was sold for scrap and arrived at Aliaga, Turkey, for dismantling as c) ADO on June 29, 2009.

12/15 - Two Harbors, Minn. – A group of dedicated volunteers from Friends of the Edna G spent time Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 decorating the 128-year-old tugboat with strands of donated lights.

"It's always somewhat of a challenge when you try to put Christmas lights on something odd," Friends of the Edna G member Hayse Scriven said. "The deck was slippery with snow and trying to figure out how they'd connect took some work, but we also had a group of pretty ingenious people working on it."

The Friends of the Edna G is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Great Lakes tugboat Edna G. The goals of the organization are to restore, maintain, display and interpret its historic appearance and to educate the public about its role, according to the organization's website.

Scriven brought the idea of covering the tug with lights to the Friends after he was inspired by his job. Scriven serves as the executive director of the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior. Last Christmas, he wrapped the M60 tank displayed in front of the center with holiday lights.

"I had experience putting lights on a weird vehicle, so it felt like we could use some of the same tactics," Scriven said.

Scriven posted a call for light donations on the group's Facebook page and received many responses.

"All the lights came from community members," Scriven said. "There was one guy from the Cities who donated a bunch. He had a friend up here who came up and dropped off the lights for us."

The group picked the days and got to work. Scriven said the biggest challenge was finding some ways to hang the icicle lights to the lip and attaching lights to the metal sides.

The overall goal of the project is to raise awareness of the tug. "Maybe people come come down and see how cute the tug looks and it'll get them excited about her and talking about her," Scriven said.

The tug is facing challenges. The city and the tug commission have been working with an outside consultant on a feasibility study of the tug, looking at the hull and exploring the option of taking the tug out of the water.

"That was done before I came onboard and some of the other commission members came onboard earlier this year," Scriven said. "What we'd like to do is take another route and look at what it would take to keep the boat in the water because we want to explore all of our options with the tugboat. We're not set down the path that it needs to come out of the water. We want all of the information down in front of us to make a wise decision on her future."

In the meantime, while the tug's future is yet to be determined, steps are being taken to ensure less ice damage occurs over this winter. The commission recently purchased several bubblers to keep ice from forming around the tug.

Lake County News-Chronicle

12/15 - Port Huron, Mich. – The retired U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble could be repeating its historic 1957 voyage through the Northwest Passage. In a news release, Robert Klingler of Marine City said he has sold the Bramble to Tom Clarke, who is president of Kissito Healthcare Inc. in Roanoke, Virginia.

According to the news release, Clarke plans to prepare the ship to retrace the 1957 passage through the Northwest Passage. The ship will leave Miami in 2019, which will be the 75th anniversary of its launching.

"We very much want to continue in Bob Klingler's footsteps of involving the Bramble community in every aspect of Bramble's future," said Clarke in the news release.

The Bramble will spend the rest of the winter moored at the Bean Dock in Port Huron, where a new crew will prepare it for a spring passage to Mobile Bay, Alabama. Once there, the ship will be hauled out at Clarke's Pinto Island shipyard.

The Bramble could be undergoing sea trials in ice conditions in the St. Clair River during the winter.

"We, the family of the Klinglers and the crew of the Bramble for the past six years, are extremely fortunate to have found a trustee of history, as we were, who is going to keep Bramble preserved for as long as we can imagine and especially recreate the Northwest Passage," Klingler said. "He has the love of the history and the means to keep the ship intact for all to enjoy her for years to come."

Robert and Sara Klingler bought the Bramble in 2013 from the Port Huron Museum, which received the ship from the Coast Guard. The Klinglers have been operating it as a museum ship docked at the Bean Dock in Port Huron. It had been listed with a Florida yacht broker with an asking price of $1.65 million.

The museum had the Bramble on the market for about four years. The original asking price was $300,000, which was reduced to $200,000.

Read more and view a photo gallery at this link: www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2018/12/14/bramble-sold-virginia-man/2309471002

12/16 - Levis, Que. — As the Canadian Coast Guard took possession of a new icebreaker at Quebec's Davie Shipyard Friday, a Davie official warned that the national shipbuilding strategy could be headed for "disaster."

Frederik Boisvert, vice-president of public affairs, said shipyards in British Columbia and Nova Scotia that have won almost all shipbuilding contracts so far are not equipped to handle the work.

"We're ready to help. We've got the capacity," Boisvert said. Davie, he said, "could build in parallel six massive ships. The two other shipyards, Seaspan (in Vancouver) and Irving (in Halifax) they can only do one at a time. So, sincerely, that national strategy might become a bit of a disaster if we're not leveraged properly."

The comments cast a cloud over what was billed as a celebration of a milestone for the shipyard across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, delivery of the first new icebreaker floated by the Coast Guard in 25 years. Federal officials announced another $90 million in work for Davie to convert two other icebreakers.

The three ships were bought from Norway in August, at an announced cost of $610 million. Budget documents revealed in November that with tariffs, brokerage fees, engineering work and other costs, the total cost had risen to $827 million.

Boisvert said the icebreaker contract will bring the workforce up to about 260, but that is well below the 1,400 who once worked there. There is a danger of losing expertise, he said.

The ship handed over Friday has been named the CGCS Captain Molly Kool after the first woman in North America to become a licensed ship captain.

Myrtle "Molly" Kool was born into a family of mariners in Alma, N.B. in 1916 and earned a reputation as a fearless captain transporting cargo on the sometimes treacherous Bay of Fundy.

Kool, who died in 2009 at age 93, qualified as a captain when she was 23. Her certification led to the addition of the prefix "she" to the Canada Shipping Act, which previously had only referred to mariners as "he."

Vancouver Courier

CCG takes possession of new icebreaker named after pioneer Molly Kool

12/16 - Levis, Que. – The first of three new Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers refitted at Quebec's Davie Shipyard will be named after a female maritime pioneer. The Coast Guard has taken possession of CGCS Captain Molly Kool at a ceremony at the shipyard across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. Federal officials also announced another $90 million in work for Davie.

The ship, one of three bought from Norway in August, is the first new icebreaker floated by the Coast Guard in 25 years.

Myrtle "Molly" Kool was the first woman in North America to become a licensed ship captain. She was born into a family of mariners in Alma, N.B. in 1916 and earned a reputation as a fearless mariner transporting cargo on the Bay of Fundy.

The government cited the cost for the three icebreakers as $610 million in August when it announced its plan to buy them and have them refitted at the Davie Shipyard.

Budget documents later revealed that with tariffs, brokerage fees, engineering work and other costs, the total cost had risen to $827 million.

Canadian Press

12/16 - Marinette, Wis. – The Lockheed Martin-led shipbuilding team launched Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 19, the future USS St. Louis, into the Menominee River at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipyard on Saturday. Ship sponsor Barbara Broadhurst Taylor, the daughter of a decorated World War II aviator, christened LCS 19 just prior to launch.

"LCS 19 is the second ship we've christened and launched this year. Our shipbuilding team has truly hit its stride. We completed trials on three ships and delivered two more. Once delivered to the Navy, LCS 19 will be on its way to independently completing targeted missions around the world," said Joe DePietro, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of Small Combatants and Ship Systems. "We remain focused on delivering these affordable ships to the fleet as quickly as possible and increasing capability with each hull."

The Freedom-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to affordably support current and future missions from deep water to the littorals. LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship, designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. LCS 19 is targeted to support the mine countermeasures mission.

Lockheed Martin is in full-rate production and has delivered seven ships to the U.S. Navy. There are seven ships in various stages of production and test at Fincantieri Marinette Marine. This year, the Lockheed Martin-led team began construction on two ships, delivered two ships, completed sea trials for three ships and saw one delivered ship commissioned. LCS 13, the future USS Wichita, is slated for commissioning in Mayport, Florida, on Jan. 12.

View a video at this link:

12/16 - Duluth, Minn. – Observers of the local port might have noticed the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Neah Bay moored in Superior Bay off Harbor Drive over the course of the past several days.

The Neah Bay, normally stationed in Cleveland, is in Duluth as a precautionary icebreaking measure as the Duluth-based cutter Alder is undergoing an extended-period of engine maintenance, Coast Guard director of vessel traffic services Mark Gill said.

"We sought and received tactical control of the Neah Bay and positioned it over in the west end of the lakes rather than let something happen and get caught unawares and have an asset 1,000 miles away," said Gill, who is based in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., home to the Soo Locks that connect Lake Superior to the rest of the Great Lakes.

The Neah Bay will return to her home port next week and give way to the Katmai Bay, another 140-foot icebreaking tug. The Katmai Bay is home-ported in Sault Ste. Marie.

The 225-foot Alder is expected to come back online around Christmas, Gill said.

A unseasonably frigid period around Thanksgiving necessitated icebreaking efforts locally. "Neah Bay has been loosening things up in the port and been up to Thunder Bay twice," Gill said.

Unseasonably warmer temperatures of late have left little in the way of ice. That's likely to change in the coming weeks.

"I'm comfortable saying we'll have a normal start to winter about the third week of December with early development of ice by the first of the (new) year," Gill said. "We'll be having to do frequent track maintenance at the head of the lake."

The close of the Great Lakes shipping season is Jan. 15, when the Soo Locks fold up for 10 weeks of projects, maintenance and repair.

Duluth News Tribune

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/18 - Superior, Wis. – Firefighters responded to a large fire on Monday afternoon at a defunct grain elevator in Superior.

Formerly the Globe Elevators, the fire was located at 2 Banks Ave., in Superior adjacent to the operational General Mills elevators. Large flames and smoke plumes were visible from places throughout the Twin Ports, blowing the trail of smoke northeast for all to see.

“This is a large wooden structure so it’s going to burn for a while,” Mayor Jim Paine said in a statement on Facebook. “The wood is untreated, old growth timber, not much different than what you would throw in a fireplace. Superior Fire (Department) is on the scene, there are no injuries, and we don’t expect much damage beyond the structure itself.”

Battalion Chief Scott Gordon of the Superior Fire Department said three contracted workers were removing wood when they apparently cut through a nail or spike, creating a spark that set the structure ablaze. The three workers, as well as the owner, who was in another section of the complex, were all accounted for.

Gordon expected the fire would take multiple days to suppress. The elevator is 150 feet tall and firefighters have established a 225-foot collapse zone around the blaze, Gordon said. Nobody, including firefighters, will be allowed within the collapse zone.

A smaller, rear section of the structure had collapsed by late afternoon, as had one of the large cranes workers had on scene.

There was an estimated $10 million of wood reclamation equipment on site, Gordon said, with only a Bobcat salvaged. He added that about $450,000 of wood that had already been sold by the owner was destroyed.

Necessitating “millions of gallons of water” to extinguish, firefighters successfully established a direct pump from the nearby harbor, though Gordon expected the fire would take multiple days to fully suppress.

The defunct elevator has been in the process of being dismantled, said a spokesperson with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

“It was being taken apart and its wood being reclaimed — salvaging that had been taking place for years and years,” said spokeswoman Adele Yorde.

The fire was believed to be located in the “head house” portion of the old elevator site, Yorde said.

“We’re pretty sure it’s the head house that’s on fire,” said Jason Serck, the port director for the city of Superior. “The old Globe Elevators haven’t been in operation for many many years.”

The defunct elevators are owned by Gordon Ostedahl, who Serck said lives down on the elevator property. The site featured two storage buildings and a head house. Built in 1887, the Globe Elevators were at one time the largest elevators in the world, according to an online historical record kept by the Old Globe Wood Company and confirmed by the Duluth port authority.

The Globe Elevators featured the first integrated elevator system — able to convey grain between structures. Grain from throughout the Midwest was transported by rail to the Globe Elevators, where it was then loaded onto cargo ships and transported throughout the Great Lakes and beyond, said the historical record.

More recently, much of the elevators’ wood had already been removed by Wisconsin Woodchuck LLC, which sought to salvage the elevators’ millions of board feet of old-growth pine. Notably, their efforts were documented on the History Channel’s “Ax Men” series.

But a foreclosure judgment entered in Douglas County Circuit Court in 2013 put a stop to the work. At the time, only grain-eroded slabs and a small amount of dimensional wood was said to remain.

Employees at the nearby Barko Hydraulics building gathered outside to observe the fire and take photos with their smartphones.

“When I looked out the window everybody was outside,” said Barko customer support representative Shawn Wynne, who noted his place of employment wasn’t in any danger from the fire. “It’s pretty big, but with the wind everything was going straight up.”

The steamer Edward L. Ryerson, moored nearby, was not in any danger from the fire.

Duluth News Tribune

View a video and photos at this link: duluthnewstribune.com/news/fires/4544671-update-fire-superior-grain-elevator-causes-10m-damages-battalion-chief-says


The 425-foot Finnish tanker KIISLA ran aground while transiting the North Entrance of Buffalo Harbor on the 29th of December 1989. The ship was inbound with xylene for the Noco Product Terminal in Tonawanda when it strayed from the navigation channel due to reduced visibility from heavy snow squalls and grounded near the #1 green buoy of the Black Rock Canal. She was towed off the rocks by tugboats from Buffalo and then tied up at the Burnette Trucking Dock (formerly the Penn Dixie Dock) on the Buffalo River for Coast Guard inspection. A diver found a 47-inch by 5-inch crack below the waterline at the #1 ballast tank, with a large rock firmly wedged in the outer hull plating, but with no damage to the inner hull or cargo tanks. The ship was cleared to head back to Sarnia to off-load her cargo before repairs could be made.
In 1921, 94 vessels were laid up at Buffalo with storage grain when a winter gale struck. The 96 mile-per-hour winds swept 21 vessels ashore and damaged 29 others. Three weeks were required to restore order to the Buffalo waterfront.

Canada Steamship Lines NANTICOKE (Hull#218) was launched December 18, 1979, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

The tug AMERICA freed the ore carrier IRVING S. OLDS in 1956, after the OLDS grounded entering the River Raisin from Lake Erie. The OLDS stuck at a 45-degree angle to the channel, while entering for winter lay up.

Canada Steamship lines GEORGIAN BAY (Hull#149) was launched during a snowstorm on December 18, 1953, at Collingwood, Ontario by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd.

JOHN T. HUTCHINSON was laid up for the last time December 18, 1981, at Cleveland, Ohio.

On December 18, 1921, gale force winds drove the CARMI A. THOMPSON ashore at Buffalo, New York where she was laid up with grain for winter storage. She ended up wedged between the LOUIS W. HILL and the MERTON E. FARR. The THOMPSON was released on January 5, 1922, but required the replacement of 156 hull plates before her return to service.

The Goodrich Transit Co.’s ALABAMA (Hull#36) was launched in 1909, at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. Reduced to a barge in 1961.

On 18 December 1899, 115 (steel whaleback barge, 256 foot, 1,169 gross tons, built in 1891, at Superior, Wisconsin) was carrying iron ore in a storm on Lake Huron when she broke from her tow steamer well out in the lake. She went ashore five days later at Pic Island off Thunder Bay, Ontario, and broke up. Her crew was thought to be lost, but they showed up days later after a long trek through the wilderness.

On 18 December 1959, BRIDGEBUILDER X (propeller tug, 71 foot, 46 gross tons, built in 1911, at Lorain, Ohio) foundered in a storm while enroute from Sturgeon Bay to N. Fox Island on Lake Michigan. Two lives were lost. She had been built as the fish tug PITTSBURG. In 1939, she was converted to the excursion boat BIDE-A-WEE. Then she was converted to a construction tug for the building of the Mackinac Bridge and finally she was rebuilt in 1958, as a logging tug.

1909: Ice punctured the hull of the F.A. MEYER, formerly the J. EMORY OWEN, on Lake Erie while enroute from Boyne City, Michigan, to Buffalo with a cargo of lumber. The crew was rescued by the sailors aboard MAPLETON.

1915: The canaller PRINCE RUPERT, requisitioned for World War 1 service, was lost at sea enroute from Newport News, Virginia, to Trinidad with a cargo of coal. It foundered P: 34.40 N / 74.45 W.

1932: A fire in the coal bunker of the BROWN BEAVER, laid up at Toronto with a winter storage cargo of wheat, brought the Toronto Fire Department to extinguish the blaze.

1947: The tug EMERSON was Hull 5 at the Collingwood shipyard and completed in 1903. The ship stranded at Punta Sardegna, in the Maddalena Archipelago, as f) GIULIANOVA. The hull broke in two January 8, 1948, and sank.

1950: The tug SACHEM sank in Lake Erie and all 12 on board were lost. The hull was later located, upright on the bottom. It was refloated October 22, 1951, reconditioned and returned to service. The ship became c) DEREK E. in 1990.

1962: RIDGEFIELD, a Liberty ship that visited the Great Lakes in 1961 and 1962, ran aground at the east end of Grand Cayman Island in ballast on a voyage from Maracaibo, Venezuela, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The hull was never removed and visible for years.

1968: The Canadian Coast Guard vessel GRENVILLE was trapped in an ice flow and rammed against the St. Louis Bridge along the Seaway. The crew was removed safely by stepping on to the bridge before the ship sank. It had been retrieving buoys. The hull received considerable ice damage over the winter but was refloated in June 1969, towed to Sorel and scrapped.

1975: TECUN UMAN visited the Seaway in 1969. It disappeared without a trace in heavy seas 250 miles east of Savannah, Georgia, enroute from Mobile, Alabama, to Port Cartier, Quebec, as b) IMBROS. All 22 on board were lost.

1985: FEDERAL ST. LAURENT (ii) collided with the Mercier Bridge in the Seaway with minor damage to both the ship and the structure. The vessel was scrapped at Chittagong, Bangladesh, as c) DORA in 2003.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/19 - Sturgeon Bay, Wis. – As winter approaches, shipping on the Great Lakes is starting to wind down. Some freighters are already heading to port for their seasonal lay-up.

At 1,000-feet long, the Burns Harbor is one of the biggest ships on the Great Lakes. It arrived at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding 10 days ago for some scheduled maintenance.

"Yeah, the first one of the year. I see they're changing its color. Used to be kind of a reddish color," said Don Gospodarek, of Sturgeon Bay. Gospodarek says he checks out the fleet a couple times a week.

Not far from the Burns Harbor, the 636-foot long American Courage has been laid up in Sturgeon Bay for two years. This weekend, it is scheduled to be dry-docked where it will undergo some major steel repairs.

The ships are part of 13 vessels scheduled to make up this year's winter fleet. Shipyard workers typically have 70-90 days to make repairs and get the big boats ready to sail in the spring.

"It makes a big boon to Sturgeon Bay, because there are again the workforce, and then there are the contractors that come in throughout the winter season as well. So we are happy to have them here in Sturgeon Bay," said Pam Seiler, Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center Executive Director.

Seiler says there are more than just workers in town. The winter fleet becomes quite a tourist attraction as well. "It's one of the things that Sturgeon Bay has that isn't available anywhere else in Door County. So, it's absolutely unique. When those thousand-footers come through the canal, it's absolutely amazing," said Seiler.

In January, the thousand-foot long Stewart J. Cort made its way through two bridges downtown. The frosty conditions didn't stop the ship or people taking it all in.

"It's a great thing to see. If you've never seen it before, we encourage people to get up here and see it first-hand, for yourself," said Seiler.

The next ship is scheduled to arrive on December 31st. Here's the schedule for the rest of the ships through January:

Winter Fleet arrival schedule for 2018-19
Burns Harbor (1,000 feet)- Dec. 7
American Courage (636 feet)- drydock, Dec. 22
Joseph L. Block (728 feet)- Dec. 31
Barge A397 (270 feet)- Jan. 1
Wilfred Sykes (678 feet)- Jan. 15
Paul R. Tregurtha (1013 feet)- Jan. 20
Barge-Huron Spirit (328 feet)- Jan. 20
Tug-Leonard M.- Jan20
John G. Munson (768 feet)- Jan. 25
Cason J. Callaway (767 feet)- Jan. 25
James R. Barker (1,000 feet)- Jan. 25

fox11online.com/news/local/winter-fleet-early-arrivals-in-sturgeon-bay


12/19 - The St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes ports are reporting strong growth in November cargo volumes that is expected to carry through in the final weeks of the 2018 season.

Overall cargo volumes through the St. Lawrence Seaway from March 29 to November 30 topped 36 million metric tons, up 5.3 per cent over the same period in 2017.

“It’s been a really positive year for St. Lawrence Seaway shipping and for several Great Lakes ports, particularly considering the unpredictable trade environment of the past year,” said Bruce Burrows, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “We expect the busy momentum from November to carry through to the end of December. All indications are that overall cargo volumes through the St. Lawrence Seaway will meet forecasts to top 40 million tons in 2018. When you consider Seaway shipping was up 9 percent in 2017, this year’s continued growth underlines the importance of this trade corridor to the success of the many industries we serve in the region.”

Grain exports and road salt were highlights of activity in November. Seaway salt shipments are ahead of last year’s volumes, totaling 2.2 million metric tons up to the end of November.

Year-to-date U.S. grain volumes via the Seaway have surpassed 2.1 million metric tons, up 33 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

Great Lakes ports have also seen the impact of business growth. The Port of Toledo loaded or unloaded 12 ocean vessels and 56 lakers and barges in November. With total tonnage approaching 8.9 million short tons, it will be a strong finish for the season. The largest gains compared to the 2017 season were in the grain and dry bulk categories.

“During October and November, we saw a steady stream of ocean vessels bringing in products like salt, fertilizer, pig iron and project cargo for the new Cleveland Cliffs HBI facility,” said Joe Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “Vessels also loaded out petroleum coke and grain from Toledo. During the 2018 season we have already seen more ocean vessels than any year since 2006.”

There was a late-season rush of iron ore and grain activity at the Port of Duluth-Superior in November; something the Port anticipates will continue in December.

“The Port of Duluth-Superior is ending the shipping season on a strong note,” said Deb DeLuca, Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director. “Through November, grain volume was up 22 percent over last year, and shipments of Minnesota iron ore were outpacing the five-year average by over 25 percent. While coal loadings have dropped significantly in recent years, iron ore shipments have picked up pace, already at 18.4 million short tons through November. With Great Lakes traffic continuing well into January, we anticipate the Port’s overall tonnage tally will top 32 million tons to close out the 2018 shipping season.”

The Port also had ship calls of international cargo in November. Early in the month, a shipment of domestically-produced wind blades moved for export through Duluth Cargo Connect via the Great Lakes-Seaway system to Europe. The Port saw its last inbound cargo of kaolin clay from Brazil, which the Port slurries onsite before transporting to papermakers in the region.

The Port of Green Bay is also on pace for a successful season, with 2018 tonnage already topping total tonnage for 2017. The year-to-date total has reached 1,882,855 tons; nearly 50,000 tons over the total for all of last year. The top commodities for the month were limestone and petroleum products.

“We’re on pace to reach, and most likely even exceed, our annual goal of two million tons,” explained Dean Haen, Port Director. “That number is an indicator of the strength of Northeast Wisconsin’s economy. We’re appreciative of the manufacturers, farmers and transportation and logistics companies of Northeast Wisconsin and their employees, who’ve worked hard this past year and as a result have increased their imports and exports, leading to this high overall tonnage.”


ASHLAND was launched December 19, 1942, as the L6-S-B1 class bulk carrier a.) CLARENCE B. RANDALL (Hull #523) at Ashtabula, Ohio, by Great Lakes Engineering Works. She laid up for the last time on the same day in 1979.
ELMGLEN ran aground December 19, 1989, near Johnson’s Point in the Munuscong Channel of the St. Marys River. Downbound, loaded with grain, she had been diverted to the Munuscong Channel because of difficulties encountered by her fleet mate BEECHGLEN in the ice-clogged West Neebish Channel.

Because of the increased demand for iron ore during the Korean conflict, more ships were needed and as a consequence the yards on the Great Lakes were operating at capacity. In December 1950, the Republic Steel Corp. bought 70 percent of Nicholson-Universal stock in order to purchase ships from the surplus fleet.

On 19 December 1927, ALEXANDRIA (wooden propeller freighter, 97 foot, 201 gross tons, built in 1902, at Chatham, Ontario) burned in the harbor of Little Current, Ontario, off the Government Dock, where her remains still lay.

1959: The British freighter ALBANO, which had made three trips through the newly opened Seaway earlier in the year, ran aground at Rethymo, Crete, in heavy weather and was not refloated until December 27. It received extensive hull and engine repairs and was back on the Great Lakes in 1960.

1980: The tanker LAKESHELL (III) went aground at Telegraph Rock, near Parry Sound, due to high winds and ice. The vessel was lightered to IMPERIAL SARNIA and released December 21.

1998: SHURA KOBER first came to the Great Lakes under the flag of the USSR in 1971. The vessel went missing on the Mediterranean north of Cyprus as d) MARELIE after sending out a distress call. It disappeared with all hands.

2006: SELNES came through the Seaway in the 1980s after having been inbound as a) RISNES in 1978. The ship went aground off Stafnes, Iceland, as c) WILSON MUGGA and the crew were rescued by helicopter. It was expected to be broken up on location but was salvaged and repaired. It returned to service as d) KARIM in 2007 and became f) RAKAN M. in 2011.

[yachtsmanwilly]

12/20 - Canada has a new tanker owner. Ontario-based McKeil Marine has swooped for a pair of Turkish product tankers to go alongside its fleet of tugs, barges and general cargo ships.

Brokers report the Burlington-headquartered 62-year-old company has paid Istanbul-based Transal Denizcilik Ticaret $9m and $8.5m respectively for the two ice-class tankers, Topaz-T and Turquoise-T.

The acquisition follows hot on the heels of another Canadian owner, Algoma, buying a similar sized product tanker called Ramira (since renamed Algonorth).

McKeil Marine is a well-known name in Canadian maritime circles. The company delivers transportation and project service solutions across the Great Lakes, St Lawrence Seaway, Canada’s east coast and the Canadian Arctic.

The move into tankers comes at a time where the nation is seeking to beef up oil exporting infrastructure to match a forecasted growth in oil sales overseas.

A report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers earlier this year predicted that led by oil sands production, total Canadian oil production is expected to increase to 5.6m barrels per day by 2035 – an increase of 1.4m barrels per day compared to 2017.

In its latest weekly report broker Zachariassen suggested other Canadian tanker owners are likely to emerge soon.

“With Canada producing significant amounts of oil and the country looking for ways to get its product to the markets, we may very well expect to see some more purchasing within this segment from this nation,” the German outfit mused.


12/20 - St. Catharines, Ont. – Algoma Central Corporation has announced its results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

All amounts reported below are in thousands of Canadian dollars, except for per share data and unless otherwise noted. Third quarter and year to date 2018 highlights include:

• A 16% increase in revenue in the third quarter and a 14% increase for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 compared to the same periods in 2017. • EBITDA increased 8% during the third quarter and 32% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

• Net earnings from continuing operations increased 35% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. This was due to higher operating earnings, including higher earnings from joint ventures and a gain on the disposition of assets within the Domestic Dry-Bulk fleet.

For the third quarter of 2018: • Domestic Dry-Bulk net earnings increased 8% as a result of improved freight rates.

• Product Tanker revenue increased 24% compared to 2017. The segment is experiencing strong customer demand from its major customer. Subsequent to the quarter, the strong outlook for volumes and sustained levels led the decision to purchase a sixth full size product tanker (Algonorth).

• Ocean Self-Unloaders revenue increased 28% compared to the prior year. This was mainly as a result of the fleet being at full utilization with the return of the Algoma Integrity to the Pool.

• Steps were taken to begin the cancellation of four shipbuilding contracts with a Croatian shipyard as a result of delays encountered in the construction of the ships.

• During the third quarter, a new joint venture, NovaAlgoma Bulk Holdings (“NABH”) was created. NABH has interests in four deep-sea bulkers operating internationally and is managed out of Lugano, Switzerland.

“Customer demand is strengthening and we expect this will continue to have positive impacts on daily rates in the Domestic Dry-Bulk segment,” said Ken Bloch Soerensen, President and CEO of Algoma. “In order to provide capacity, we are currently reviewing options to replace the cancelled vessels and in the meantime we look forward to the arrival of the Algoma Conveyer from China in early 2019.”

Algoma Central Corporation


In 1948, the ROBERT HOBSON was blown against the Duluth-Superior breakwall as she tried to enter the harbor during a 68-mph gale. Damage to the vessel was kept to a minimum when Captain John Mc Nellis ordered the seacocks opened to settle the HOBSON on a sandbar. Renamed b.) OUTARDE in 1975, she was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario in 1985.
On 20 November 1854, BURLINGTON (2-mast wooden brig, 80 foot, 117 tons, built in 1842, at Cleveland, Ohio) was driven hard aground near Port Bruce, Ontario, on Lake Huron while trying to assist the stranded Canadian bark GLOBE.

SAGINAW was christened at the Government Dock in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1999. Bonnie Bravener and Wendy Siddall broke the traditional bottle of champagne adding the second vessel to Lower Lakes Towing's fleet. The company then opened the vessel for tours to all those in the large crowd that had gathered to witness the event. She was built in 1953 as a.) JOHN J. BOLAND.

Hall Corporation of Canada's EAGLESCLIFFE HALL was launched in 1956, at Grangemouth, Scotland. Sold off the lakes, renamed b.) EAGLESCLIFFE in 1974, she sank two miles east of Galveston, Texas, on February 9, 1983.

The ferry WOLFE ISLANDER was christened on November 20, 1946, at Marysville, Wolfe Island. The new ferry was the unfinished OTTAWA MAYBROOK which was built to serve the war effort in the south Pacific Ocean. She replaced two landing barges which were pressed quickly into service following the condemned steamer WOLFE ISLANDER, a.) TOM FAWCETT of 1904, which had served the community for 42 years. Officially christened WOLFE ISLANDER by Mrs. Sarah Russell, it took five tries before the champagne bottle finally broke on her port side.

Pittsburgh Steamship's steamer RALPH H. WATSON (Hull#285) was launched in 1937, at River Rouge, Michigan, by Great Lakes Engineering Works.

On 20 November 1872, the side wheel steamer W. J .SPICER was finally laid up and the crew dismissed. She had served for many years as the Grand Trunk ferry at Fort Gratiot on the St. Clair River.

On 20 November 1880, BAY CITY (wooden barge, 199 foot, 480 tons, built in 1852, at Trenton, Michigan as the sidewheeler FOREST CITY) was carrying coal when she was cast adrift east of Erie, Pennsylvania by the steamer JAMES P. DONALDSON in a storm. She was driven ashore and wrecked. Her crew was saved by the U.S. Lifesaving Service using breeches' buoy. November 20, 1898. ANN ARBOR #3 left Cleveland, Ohio for Frankfort, Michigan, on her maiden voyage.

November 20, 1924 - Pere Marquette fleet engineer Finlay MacLaren died after 42 years with the railroad. He was succeeded by his brother Robert until Leland H. Kent was named fleet engineer in 1925.

On 20 Nov. 1871, the schooner E. B. ALLEN was sailing from Chicago to Buffalo with a load of corn when she crossed the bow of the bark NEWSBOY about six miles off the Thunder Bay Light on Lake Huron. The NEWSBOY slammed her bow deep into the schooner's hull amidships and the ALLEN sank in about 30 minutes. The crew escaped in the yawl. The NEWSBOY was badly damaged but did not sink.

On 20 Nov. 1999, the Bermuda-flag container ship CANMAR TRIUMPH went aground on the St. Lawrence River off Varennes about 15 kilometers downstream from Montreal. She was the third vessel to run aground in the St. Lawrence River that autumn. The Canadian Coast Guard reported that she was having engine problems and the CBC News reported that the vessel's rudder was damaged in the grounding.

On Saturday morning, 20 Nov. 1999, Marinette Marine Corporation of Marinette, Wisconsin, launched the 175-foot Coast Guard Cutter HENRY BLAKE. The BLAKE was one of the "Keeper" Class Coastal Class Buoy Tenders. Each ship in the "Keeper" class is named after a famous American lighthouse keeper. 1917: JOHAN MJELDE, built at Cleveland in 1916, was sailing as b) STORO when captured by the German submarine U-151 near the Azores and, after 22 tons of copper were removed, the ship was scuttled on November 26.

1920: J.H. SHEADLE ran aground on the rocks at Marquette when the steering failed while backing from the dock. The ship was badly damaged. It last sailed in 1979 as e) PIERSON INDEPENDENT.

1943: The former LAKE FINNEY, later a Pre-Seaway trader in the 1930s as SANTA EULALIA, was torpedoed and sunk by British forces as the enemy ship c) POLCEVERA off Carlovassi, Italy. 1966: The Liberty ship MOUNT EVANS made two trips through the Seaway in 1961. It stranded off Mapingil, Philippines as h) EASTERN ARGO on this date in 1966. The hull was refloated with damage and then towed to Taiwan for scrapping in 1967.

1990: GINA, a Lebanese freighter, began leaking at Varna, Bulgaria. The ship was later taken to Piraeus, Greece, and laid up. The superstructure was removed and installed on a fire damaged vessel while the hull was towed to Aliaga, Turkey, in October 1991 and dismantled. GINA had been a Great Lakes trader as a) MARCOSSA-I in 1972