MARCH • APRIL, 1999 VV.Iinno VI V II- ______COLUMBIA
STE. CLAIRE MEMBERSHIP NOTICES •
JUNE 19 - SECOND ANNUAL TRIP TO BOB-LO ISLAND The Great Lakes Maritime Institute & The Steamer Columbia Foundation presents: The Next Boat to Bob-Lo on Saturday, June 19, 1999. Tickets by reservation only and $75.00 per person includes round trip river voyage to Bob-Lo and steak luncheon in the pavillion on Bob-Lo. This special voyage of the Diamond Bell will depart from Diamond Jack's Landing at the foot of West Grand Blvd., Detroit, 4 blocks from Clark Street Exit off 1-75. Bob-Lo Island is in Canada and you must have two IDs - one must be passport or birth certificate. The ship leaves at 9:00a.m. and returns at 5:00 p.m. Deadline for reservations is June 12, 1999. To obtain a registration form, call (313) 852-4051.
JUNE 26 - G.L.M.I. MARITIME ARTISTS SHOW A Special Show and Sale by two Great Lakes Maritime Artists in DeRoy Hall. Featured will be Mr. Dave Maize who will be exhibiting his photographs of Great Lakes vessels. In addition a working exhibit will be presented by Mr. Joe Barr, a member of the Ships in Bottle Association of America, an artist who specializes in steam and sail Great Lakes vessels in bottles. Fee $2.00 non-members, G.L.M.I. & Historical members free.
JULY 8 -11 - HYDROPLANE RACING ON THE DETROIT RIVER Come and watch the hydroplanes skim over the water at more than 100 mph. Join the crowd on Belle Isle and see one of the greatest free shows on the water as the boats do time trials and race for the Gold Cup on Sunday.
JULY 24 - 39TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DOSSIN GREAT LAKES MUSEUM Come and celebrate the opening of the Dossin Museum with FREE ADMISSION and other events. The museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
AUGUST 6-7 - WALLACEBURG ANTIQUE MOTOR AND BOAT OUTING (WAMBO) Canada's largest and foremost antique transportation display. Entertainment, parade of antique boats, "Supper on the Sydenham". For information contact WAMBO, (519) 627-1443 or (519) 627-8000.
OUR COVER PICTURES .. .Boblo boats, the Columbia on the Detroit River, July 1979 and the Ste. Claire on the St. Clair River. Photos by Alan Mann and part of the Mann Historical Files.
CONTENTS • Toooot, Toot, Toot ...in Five Minutes the Bob-Lo Boat Will D e p a r t ! ...... 39 Whittaker Propellers and the Sherman's Fletcher E n g in e ...... 41 Great Lakes & Seaway N e w s...... 47
Telescope© is produced with assistance from the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, an agency of the Historical Department of the City of Detroit.
Visit our Website at: http://www.GLMI.org
Published at Detroit, Michigan by the GREAT LAKES MARITIME INSTITUTE ©All rights reserved. Printed in the United States by Macomb Printing, Inc. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 39
Toooot, Toot, Toot. . . in Five Minutes the Bob-Lo Boat Will Depart!
by ALAN M ANN February, 1999
The foot of Woodward Avenue in Detroit explore the ship without bumping into hordes serves as a window to the numerous sights and of people lugging picnic hampers or impatient sounds of the Detroit River, one of the world's youngsters scurrying about the decks. busiest and most interesting waterways. At least The sounds? Now anyone who appreciates once a year (and sometimes more frequently), the a steam boat, knows there are many to seek prime location also held a special purpose for me out. The loud, throaty stack whistle sound was as embarkation point for the historic Bob-Lo my favorite. When a passing vessel approached island excursion steamers. Two vintage vessels in the busy Detroit River, I was sure to be on made up the fleet, the older "Columbia" (built in top deck. I would anticipate the whistle cord 1902) and her newer sister ship "Ste Claire" nine stretch which released a bellowing burst of years younger, but both equally appealing as steam, which in turn created the most beautiful authentic steam powered excursion boats. steam sound one would want to hear. A very Almost everyone aboard looked upon the special sound extravaganza was assured about steamers simply as a means of filling time for the mid way when the second Bob-Lo steamer 90 minute trip to Bob-Lo where they could spend appeared. The captains always exchanged a joyous day on the roller coaster, super slide, whistle salutes, signalled by either a one long ferris wheel or the many other means of making and two shorts or in some cases, "the big one" merry. I was more interested in enjoying the three longs and two shorts. Now that was fascinating sights and intriguing sounds of the something special! steamer. I had been a "boat nut" all my life and Down below, the heavy and powerful the Bob-Lo boats were about the last of a dying steam engine sounds could be taken in via a breed - special viewing s te a m e r s ! area. Here, the Many a time open vantage I stayed point gave a a b o a r d view of the rather than huge power disem bark plant enriched on the by the sopping island. Or if up of engine I wished to heat. In "experience" retrospect, both ships, I perhaps this would leave inhalation was the ship, not healthy but wait an hour or so and catch the "other" steamer it was a trance-making elixir. On one back to Detroit. The quick turnaround was much memorable occasion, a sympathetic crew more enjoyable because I could then easily member, sensing my engine reverie, invited me TELESCOPE Page 40 down below to have a rapturous close FDR A QUICK SIQHTSEEIM6 TOUR OF DETROIT up view of the gargantuan steam dynamo. Now talk about "engine 7th heaven" that was the day! The smells, the rhythmic reverberations of a steam orchestra, the warmth, well, that was just about the best day ever of my steamboat riding career. Live music for dancers was another wondrous sound aboard the steamers. The Joe Vitale Orchestra (a name I still hear on Detroit radio) provided the on deck music for many years until the cost saving measures (I suspect) saw the "canned" recorded variety take over in later years. Continually prowling all deck levels, i t was mandatory to "ear" the bridge steamers might not continue their runs much conversations before longer. The vintage vessels had regaled the < ° 'r reaching port. The Detroit River since 1902 when the Columbia ship to shore made her inaugural cruise. The annual, mandatory r a d i o Bob-Lo trip became more important than ever V < 5 $ Sul**' lest the rumor materialize. Sadly, the end came 9 at the conclusion of the 1990 season. Even though I made a run that season (thank goodness!), the "unexpected" expected brought a lump to my throat and an uneasiness in my stomach. The end had come. But I had accumulated many steamboat memories, had numerous Bob-Lo souvenirs to gaze at and was thankful I had taken part in a special era.
could be NOTE: The Bob-Lo excursion overheard at times with boats languished in a chit chat exchanged with deteriorating state at passing vessels. On occasions of boldness, a Ecorse, Michigan conversation could also be opened up with a congenial deck watch officer who would usually offer some "inside" talk. Further examination of the vessel would include a visit to the gift shop where another Bob-Lo momento would be purchased, the configuration of a steamer mandatory. The beautiful woodwork, the stained glass windows, the brass and the many other trappings of a vintage ship would be ritually since 1990. However, announced plans are inspected. underway for possible restoration which will By the late 1980's, talk circulated amongst result in a return to Detroit River duty for the marine circles that Detroit’s historic Bob-Lo venerable Columbia and Ste. Claire steamers. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 41 WHITTAKER PROPELLERS AND THE SHERMAN S FLETCHER ENGINE by GORDON P. BUGBEE
Reprinted from Telescope NOVEMBER • DECEMBER. 197 McDonald McDonald Collection/Dossin Museum
COMMODORE PERRY, presumably as rebuilt with conventional twin screw propulsion.
"Preparedness" was in the air that summer Erie. Andrew Johnson was named for the nation's new before the Spanish-American War when the Ohio President. The other cutters were named for present or Naval Reserves steamed into Detroit aboard the old past Secretaries of the Treasury, or, with remarkable Andy Johnson about noon on July 30, 1897. The Ohio foresight, for a future Secretary of the Treasury in the sailors were showing off their newly-acquired case of Senator John Sherman of Ohio, brother of the training ship. Only a few weeks before, a patriotic General. The Civil War had been over for five months Clevelander had bought the ancient wooden when these new revenue cutters began arriving from sidewheeler for them at Government auction. That the Shipyards: John Sherman and William P. Fessenden summer the Michigan sailors were also pulling from Cleveland, Andrew Johnson from Buffalo and John strings that would bring them the yet-more-ancient A. Dix from down the Niagra River at Tonawanda. With gunboat U.S.S. Yantic from the coast as a training peace at hand, the Chase seems to have stayed on salt ship before winter set in. water. The Johnson was the last more-or-less active Now, more than thirty years later, the old Andy survivor of a class of four sidewheel sister revenue Johnson was on her way to a reunion with the spirits of cutters which the Treasury Department had ordered her sidewheel Lake sisters at Detroit. Only a few weeks from Lake shipyards back in March, 1865. A fifth before, the old John A. Dix had been towed over to sister paddler built at New York City, the S.P. Chase, Detroit from Lake Michigan where she had spent fifteen was also intended for Lake service. These steam years or so made over into an excursion steamer. The cutters were about 175 feet long and carried ocean- Dix was waiting to offer up her beam engine for a new style paddle boxes without any cabins on guards to Canadian steamer planned for the run from Windsor to embrace them. The new ships were in par an answer the Soo. Anchored out on station in the Detroit River to hysteria that arose in unprotected Lake ports the was the iron revenue cutter William P. Fessenden. Her previous autumn after a thwarted Confederate hull had been built at Buffalo in 1884 around the attempt to seize the gunboat U.S.S. Michigan in Lake machinery of the old wooden Fessenden. The last and TELESCOPE Page 42
most illustrious of the spirits joined the gathering after Line and the Hudson River Day Line on the East dark when the Frank E. Kirby returned from her daily Coast. After the Sherman's coming, all the beam run to Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands. The engine engines for D & C and C & B steamers were Fletcher which gave the Kirby the title of "Flyer of the Lakes" engines with one exception, an old engine Fletcher was that from the old John Sherman. John P. Clark had rebuilt and placed in City of Cleveland of 1880. Other acquired that engine for his wooden Sandusky steamer repeat business in the Great Lakes region came from Alaska of 1878. When Alaska burned in 1889, the engine John P. Clark of Detroit, who ordered new Fletcher was salvaged for the new steel hull of the Kirby. The engines for his Sandusky and Put-in-Bay steamers Sherman's hull finished its days as a lumber schooner, Jay Cooke and Pearl. He understood the value of the and on that July evening in 1897 it lay submerged and Sherman s engine when it became available for his abandoned upriver at Port Huron. Alaska. The famous race between Tashmoo and City The walking beam engines of these sisters came o f Erie in 1901 was also meant to show that a Fletcher from several builders, but had the same dimensions: beam engine could beat the more sophisticated Bore of forty-eight inches and stroke of nine feet. That inclined engine of Tashmoo that was locally built. from the Sherman was Engine Number 48 from the New City of Erie proved her point, but only by forty-five York firm of Fletcher, Harrison and Company. By seconds in a hundred mile course. No more new something like a week's head start on the engine of the Fletcher engines were sold for Great Lakes steamers Fessenden (Fletcher engine number 47) it was the first after that, anyway. of many Fletcher beam engines to propel the proudest The hulls of John Sherman and William P. of Great Lakes steamers. Back in 1849, however, the Fessenden were built by E.M. Peck and Stephen R. engine of the Michigan Central steamer M ay Flower Kirby at Cleveland in 1865. In a few more years, had come from the predecessor firm of Hogg and Captain Peck built R.J. Hackett, the prototype of Lake Delameter. In later days the company was known as W. ore carriers, and Captain Kirby organized the Detroit & A. Fletcher Company, and its engines made fine Dry Dock Company from the old Campbell and reputations in the elegant sidewheeelers of the Fall River Owen shipyard. From the yards of that company later McDonald McDonald Collection/Dossin Museum
WILLIAM P. FESSENDEN of 1884, built around the engine (and cabins?) of the original wooden FESSENDEN. MARCH - APRIL, 1999 Page 43 Dossin Dossin Museum Collection
Engine of the FRANK E. KIRBY, originally from the JOHN SHERMAN, much modified here with steel A-frame and feathering paddle wheels.
came the largest sidewheelers in the world from year. Her hull became one of Captain Andrew Hackett's designs of Captain Kirby's son, Frank E. Kirby. For lighters, and her engine replaced the one in the Canadian about three years after 1880 the affiliated Dry Dock steamer Flora. Rebuilt and renamed Urania, this old Engine Works at Detroit employed a young machinist wooden ship went on the Cleveland and Port Stanley named Henry Ford. Years later, with a fortune from route across Lake Erie in the spring of 1899. his automobiles, Ford established the museum that By then, the hull of John A. Dix had been burned bears his name at Dearborn, Michigan. For this to simplify dismantling after its engine had been collection Ford bought the Sherman's engine from removed. Plans for the engine had changed, however. the hilk of the D over, the former Frank E. Kirby, It was installed in Pennsylvania, which Kirby designed which had burned in layup at Ecorse in 1932. Ford for day service between Erie and Buffalo. Something erected the engine temporarily at the River Rouge of a look-alike to the Kirby, Pennsylvania soon became auto plant, but after his death in 1974 the engine was more familiar as Owana of the White Star Line. She broken up, unfortunately. spent much of her career on the Detroit and Toledo run When Frank E. Kirby gathered with her elders until the White Star Line gave up that route after the at Detroit that night in 1897, she must have told them season of 1924. For a short time. Captain Nicholson that life was good in the excursion trade crossing Lake paired Owana with the Kirby under new names of Erie Erie. Sooner or later, all four of these beam engines and D over, respectively, linking their namesake ports ended their days in that occupation. First went Andy (the Kirby had previously served this route as the Silver Johnson; her sailors tired of her and sold her after a Spray). Erie burned in winter quarters at Ecorse early TELESCOPE Page 44
in 1929 and became the Canadian barge T. A. Ivey. Back in the spring of 1854 he persuaded the well- The Fessenden was the last of the four to sample known steamboat promoter Arthur Edwards to try this the Lake Erie excursion trade, and she was the last to invention in his steamer B altic of 1847, another leave it. The Arnold Line at the Straits of Mackinac former Chicago boat. In place of her paddle wheels bought her from the Government about 1909 and rebuilt went a propeller thirteen feet in diameter on each side her for service to Sault Ste. Marie as their Chippewa. of the hull. Each propeller was driven by a high- In the mid-twenties she was sold to serve the Lake Erie pressure engine of 26 inch bore and 36 inch stroke. Islands from Sandusky, continuing through the season Doubling of freight capacity and increasing of speed of 1938. at half the fuel consumption were claimed for Baltic There must have been a mooring left vacant among with her side screws. Speedy she was indeed when the old paddlers convening at Detroit in 1897. Only a running light, but any sort of cargo slowed her way month before, an old excursion boat laid up at Toledo down. After several seasons, Baltic was laid up for caught fire and burned to the water's edge. This was four or five years, and then she returned to service Periwinkle, a twin-screw wooden steamer which most intermittently as a grain carrier after the fall of 1860. recently had carried picknickers on all-day outings to In the fall of 1884 her engines were dismantled, and Monroe from Toledo. "Periwinkle" was a name that Baltic became a lumber barge. teased the dignity of her original name, "Commodore In the meantime, Captain Whittaker had placed Perry." She, too, had been a revenue cutter from the his patent side-screws and his patent vertical tubular Class of 1865, with a hull much like the others. But boilers in the Hudson River steamer Eureka, which she started life with a radically new propulsion system. was completed in 1858 as Charlotte Vanderbilt. But Commodore Perry had been the dream of old she had the same reluctance to move very fast when Captain Harry Whittaker, once master of A.D. Patchen loaded. After three years, her engines were replaced and other crack Chicago boats out of Buffalo. Captain by a 25-year-old walking beam engine from Robert Whittaker boasted of having sailed on the Walk-in-the- L. Stevens. Water, the first steamboat on Lake Erie, and he was an By the end of 1864, no Whittaker patent side- uncle of Albert E. Goodrich of Goodrich Line fame. propeller engines were still in use, probably since such But Captain Whittaker was best known for his patent propellers proved so sensitive to the draft to which a side-propeller engines for steamers. vessel was loaded. When the Treasury Department McDonald McDonald Collection/Dossin Museum
CHIPPEWA of the Arnold Line, formerly the iron FESSENDEN MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 45 proposed its lake fleet of revenue cutters that winter, her side propellers to assure her speed. Housed out on Captain Whittaker beheld a chance to vindicate his each gunwale where a paddle box would have been invention. After all, the cargo of a revenue cutter is were a pair of cylinders of 18 inch bore and 22 inch negligible. Captain Whittaker built C om m odore stroke. Through slots in the deck, their connecting rods Perry at Buffalo with two engines driving each of were toker to the 13 foot propeller below with right- Dossin Dossin Museum Collection
JOHN A. DIX at Milwaukee as a passenger steamer. TELESCOPE Page 46 McDonald McDonald Collection/Dossin Museum
ANDREW JOHNSON, with a Canadian Pacific liner astern of her.
angle cranks like locomotive drivers. There were two John Morrison has quoted one of the P erry's Whittaker patent boilers to furnish 120 pounds or more engineers as saying, "When any sea was on, one of steam pressure. could not stand watch in the engine room on account Commodore Perry went out on an extended of the seas washing over everything in the room, builder's trial trip up the Lakes in mid-July, 1865 ...two coming in by way of the holes left for the cylinders months before any of her paddlewheel sisters were and running out the lattice floor. Our ordinary ready. At Detroit Commodore Perry kicked up her heels cruising speed was nine knots, yet I have driven her and walked away from the river steamer Reindeer, at a rate of fourteen knots and sixteen knots, but at which normally "carried the broom" locally. The win the expense of a large consumption of fuel ...The was at the cost of a man overboard who lost his life. In vessel was thought only fit for a mill pond, as the a return match in September, when the Perry was operation of the engines was anything but crippled with reduced steam pressure owing to a broken comfortable." Morrison reports that Commodore feed pipe, the lead see-sawed between P erry and Perry was taken out of commission about 1880. Reindeer all the way to Algonac. Presumably after that, she exchanged her Whittaker These successes were in calm water however. A engines for conventional propellers and settled down revenue cutter's work of helping vessels in distress to the easy life of the Lake Erie excursion boat usually occured in the roughest of seas. The historian Periwinkle.
A fleet list of Great Lakes Ships of the U.S. Revenue Marine by Father Dowling appeared on page 172 of Telescope for August, 1962. A list of Fletcher engines prepared by Ed Clark many years ago, a copy of which is now in the Museum collection, offered information on the distribution of such engines among Lake ships. John Morrison's History of American Steam Navigation described Whittaker propellers at some length. Other information came from contemporary issues of the The Detroit Free Press. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 47
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
Those who have contributed to the News Editor: James Morris Section in this issue are: 22919 Alger Jim Bearman Ron LaDue Ray Oset St. Clair Shores, MI 48080 Rene Beauchamp M.B. MacKay Dale Pohto Rod Burdick Alan Mann Greg Rudnick Seaway N ews Editor: Skip Gillham Steve Elve Dan McCormick John Saarinen Ken Hillyer Dolores Monroe Jim Sprunt Dan Kaminski Gary Morris John Vournakis Jerry Walter
May 1 ... A hearing has been scheduled for June 29 in Benzie County District Court to decide an eviction lawsuit against The Society for the Preservation of the CITY OF MILWAUKEE. Village officials in Elberta, MI want the carferry CITY OF MILWAUKEE moved so they can go forward with a park and condominium project.
... The Great Lakes Towing Co.'s tug OHIO towed the former Detroit River carferry LANSDOWNE from Lorain to Buffalo.
May 2 ... McKeil Marine's newly acquired tug ESCORT PROTECTOR departed Hamilton with the barge OCEAN HAULER for Amherstburg on her first trip for McKeil.
May 4 ... The McKeil tugs FLORENCE MCKEIL & ARGUE MARTIN towed the bow section of Upperlakes CANADIAN TRANSFER (Ex - HAMILTON TRANSFER) from Hamilton to Port Weller Photo by Jim Photo by Jim Bearman
CANADIAN TRANSFER, FLORENCE MCKEIL & ARGUE MARTIN below Lock #1 - Welland Canal Photo by J. R. Hoffman Dry Docks on the Welland Canal. After positioning the TRANSFER in the drydock in front of the of front in drydock inthe TRANSFER the positioning WellandCanal.the After on Docks Dry RA LKS SAA NEWS SEAWAY & LAKES GREAT • CANADIAN EXPLORER and FLORENCE MCKEIL below Lock #1 - Welland Canal Welland - #1 Lock below MCKEIL FLORENCE and EXPLORER CANADIAN TELESCOPE Page 48 Page CANADIAN TRANSFER being put on drydock on put being TRANSFER CANADIAN at Pt. Weller by the FLORENCE MCKEIL & MCKEIL FLORENCE the by atPt.Weller LOAT- pon eln aa My 1998 May, - Canal Welland upbound - ALGOEAST JAMES F. MCGRATH. JAMES
MARTIN below Lock #1 - Welland Canal. Welland - #1 Lock below MARTIN CANADIAN EXPLORER and ARGUE and EXPLORER CANADIAN new paint scheme. paint new 12in her May on departed She colors. Canal to be repainted in Algoma Algoma in repainted be to Canal Te eln Dc) n h Welland the on #10 Dock) Welland Wharf (The at up tied ALGOEAST a .. loa Tanker's Algoma ... 5 May was tied up at Wharf #8. at Wharf up tied was section bow the Hamilton in arrived towed it over to Hamilton. Once they Once Hamilton. to over it towed EXPLORER from the fitout wall and wall fitout the from EXPLORER bow section of CANADIAN CANADIAN of section bow old the up picked they EXPLORER, stern section of CANADIAN CANADIAN of section stern
Photos by Jim Bearman MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 49
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
PUMPER laid-up at Pt. Weller below Lock #1, April 10, 1998, Welland Canal
May 7 ... Upperlake's CANADIAN ENTERPRISE set a record for loading salt at Goderich when she departed with 32,366 tons of rock salt for Milwaukee. This surpasses the previous record set by Algoma's ALGOSOO of 32,292 tons set on May 24, 1985.
... Niagara Steamship's small ferry PUMPER departed her lay-up berth at Port Weller below Lock #1 and proceeded to her dock on the Niagara River to start her season.
May 8 ... The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. announced that ocean vessel traffic through the Montreal to Lake Ontario section of the Seaway was up 43% to 109 ships through April 30. Photo by Jim Photo by Jim Morris Photo by Jim Morris
FEDERAL BERGEN downbound at Bridge #5, May 12, 1998, the Welland Canal TELESCOPE Page 50
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
... The salty FEDERAL BERGEN arrived at the former McLouth Steel Plant in Trenton with steel coils. She is the first salty to dock at the new Detroit Steel Co. facility. She departed on May 11 and headed downbound.
... The salty GRANT CARRIER suffered an engine failure while in Lock #4 on the Welland Canal. She departed the next morning after completing repairs.
May 9 ... The United States Coast Guard Cutter MARCUS HANNA (WLM 554) was commissioned at her homeport of Portland, Maine. She was built at Marinette Marine in Marinette, WI.
May 13 ... The 47220 a new 47 ft motor launch built for the United States Coast Guard passed upbound by Detroit on her delivery trip. She arrived at her station in Dollar Bay, MI on May 15. She is the first of seven that will be assigned to the Great Lakes. She can travel at 27 knots and replaces a launch that only went 11 knots. She also has the ability to handle 30 ft seas and can right herself if she capsizes. Her power comes from two 6V92TA Detroit Diesels. She is 1 of 120 sisterships that are being built by Textron Marine Systems of New Orleans. She was trucked from New Orleans to Lasalle, MI where she was launched into Lake Erie.
... Upperlake's CANADIAN NAVIGATOR made her first visit ever to the Port of Grand Haven. She was assisted to the Meekhof Dock by Great Lakes Towing tugs CALIFORNIA & SUPERIOR.
... Canada Steamship Lines TADOUSSAC suffered an engine failure while at Thunder Bay. After repairs were made she finally departed on May 18.
... Interlake's tug/barge JOYCE VAN ENKEVORT/ PATHFINDER made their first trip into Fairport with stone for LTV Lime.
May 14 ... A $30,000 study has been launched by a committee that includes Algoma Steel, United Steel Workers of America, Algoma Central Railway, Purves Marine, Avery Construction, Traders Metal and The Community Development Corp. to see if its viable to build a rail-truck-ship transfer facility at the Canadian Soo. The Study is expected to be completed by the end of July.
... The oil drilling ship TELESIS (Ex - CONISCLIFFE HALL) was observed at Port Maitland, Ontario with a new name - LOUIS J. GOULET.
May 15 ... The Canadian Federal Government announced that it has sold the Government Dock at the Soo to Purves Marine Ltd.. Owner Jack Purves stated the wharf located at Pirn St. is to be cleaned up and will continue its current operations, which is mainly bringing petroleum into the Soo.
... Lake Michigan Carferry Service Inc. of Ludington started their season when the BADGER departed for Manitowoc. Over the winter, the BADGER had extensive remodeling done. It included a new paint job inside and out and redecorated staterooms. The docks in Ludington also received extensive improvements. Photo by J.R. Hoffman McDonough at Beaver Island. Mary is the island’s oldest resident. island’s oldest the is Mary Island. Beaver at McDonough the hull will look very similar to the Canadian Coast Guard Vessels. Guard Coast Canadian the to similar very look will hull the The escorting. was she vessels the completed MI. to When at in by berth her crew her Cheboygan, thehull willhull bedone of work repainting white her with snow or Fog in invisible almost become POLAR STAR & POLAR SEA. Safety concerns played a role in the switch, as MACKINAW would a role in switch, as MACKINAW played the concerns Safety SEA. STAR &POLAR POLAR Icebreakers theClass Arctic match to hull ared with up painted be will 83) - (WAGB MACKINAW May 24 ... The United States Coast Guard announced that starting this week the icebreaker icebreaker the week this starting that announced Guard Coast States United The ... 24 May logo. hull & May 22 ... Essroc's STEPHEN B. ROMAN passed passed up the ... Welland B. ROMAN Essroc's Canal STEPHEN sporting new stack 22 markings May TITANIC. the than deeper mile a water, of ft 16,650 in upright resting She's out. May 18 ... USS’s CALCITE II arrived in Cleveland, Ohio on her first trip of the season after fittingafter season of the trip first her on Ohio Cleveland, in arrived II ...USS’s CALCITE 18 May II aircraft carrier YORKTOWN. The YORKTOWN was lost on June 7,1942 in the was Battle lost of on 7,1942 June Midway. YORKTOWN The II aircraft YORKTOWN. carrier the the found of wreck TITANIC, the discovered who World man the ... Ballard, War Robert 19 May and proceeded to the DM&IR ore dock to load.to dock ore DM&IR the to proceeded and May 17 ... The ferry ISLAND ROCKET I passed up the Welland Canal bound for Sandusky,Ohio. bound the Canal up Welland passed I ROCKET ISLAND ... ferry The 17 May at up tied night the spending After secured to it truck on and were was loaded the the they barge, departed the while generator #2, Wharf Newfoundland. Comerbrook, for bound Canal Welland the of et morning. next . Te evr sad ot o fry MRL IL ws eiae b Mr "Bert" Mary by dedicated was ISLE EMERALD ferry Co. Boat Island Beaver The ...... The EDWARD L. RYERSON arrived in Duluth/Superior for the first years time in many inDuluth/Superior arrived L.RYERSON ... EDWARD The ... McKeil's tug/barge WYATT MCKEIL/ OC 183 loaded a large generator below Lock #1Lock below generator a large 183 loaded OC WYATT MCKEIL/ tug/barge ...McKeil's ALGOSAR downbound Welland Canal. Welland downbound ALGOSAR GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEW S • S NEW SEAWAY & LAKES GREAT ae Twn tugs Towing Lakes P.M. with the help of Great Great of help the with P.M. was freed at about 10:00 10:00 about at freed was Park atP.M..7:00 Park about She River just south of Chene Chene of south just River May 25 ... Algoma's Algoma's on aground ran ALGOSOO ... 25 May a mud bank in the Detroit Detroit the in bank mud a 30 in her new paint scheme. paint in 30new her colors. She ondeparted May to repainted in Algoma Algoma in repainted to Dock) Dock) on the Welland Canal Wharf #10 (The Welland Welland (The #10 Wharf ALGOSAR tied up at at up tied ALGOSAR AC •ARL 1999 APRIL, • MARCH Algoma Tanker's Tanker's Algoma ae 51 Page TELESCOPE Page 52
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
ILLINOIS, WYOMING & PENNSYLVANIA and suffered no apparent damage.
... The former United States Navy tug UNDAUNTED departed Ludington bound for Escanaba to receive the final touches before beginning service with the barge PERE MARQUETTE 41 (Ex - City of Midland 41).
May 27 ... Algoma Tanker's ALGOFAX (Ex - IMPERIAL BEDFORD) passed up the Welland Canal for the first time under this name bound for Nanticoke.
... The Empire Sandy returned up the St. Lawrence Seaway bound for Toronto after spending the winter in Nassau.
May 28 ... Paterson's MANTADOC departed her Port Colborne on her first trip of the season and proceeded upbound.
May 29 ... Hydrofoil Lake Jet Lines started service across Lake Ontario between Toronto and Queenston with the hydrofoils Sea Flight I (Ex - Katran IV) & Sea Flight II (Ex - Katran I).
May 31 ... The Roen Salvage tug STEPHAN M. ASHER sank in Lake Michigan near White lake, MI in a severe storm. She was working on a breakwall project when she was caught, the two crewmen jumped to safety on her barge. The tug was later raised and towed into Sturgeon Bay for repairs on June 8.
... Uss's GEORGE A. SLOAN made a rare trip into Escanaba and loaded siliceous ore for Lorain.
GEORGE A. SLOAN loading siliceous ore - Escanaba, May 31,1998 MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 53
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
JUNE, 1998
Jun 1 ... Waterways Transportation Services aluminum hulled catamaran WATERWAYS I started ferry service across Lake Ontario from Toronto to Jordan Harbour, which is west of St. Catherines.
... The EDWARD L. RYERSON went into a scheduled month long lay up at Sturgeon Bay.
... The Lake Carriers Association reported the stone trade on the Great Lakes totaled 5.2 million tons for the month of May, a new monthly record. Photo Photo by Rod Burdick
RYERSON's last trip before June lay-up. Escanaba view May 31, 1998
Jun 2 ... Inland Lake’s J. A. W. IGLEHART flattened a gazebo structure behind Tiffany’s in the Flats while maneuvering to the Lafarge Cement Dock in Cleveland. She was being assisted by a Great Lakes Towing tug when the accident occurred. No injuries were reported.
Jun 3 ... The Marine News, Journal of the World Ship Society reported the small Danish salty SEA STAR sank in the Caribbean after a collision with the Japanese tuna boat MASA YOSHI MARU NO.8. Two crewmen were reported missing. She was on a trip from Barranquilla, Columbia to Port Au Prince, Haiti with 2,000 tons of bagged cement. She was a lakes visitor earlier this season, she was upbound in the Welland Canal bound for Cleveland with steel on April 10.
Jun 5 ... Shaker Cruise Lines added the hydrofoil SUNRISE V to their service across Lake Ontario from Toronto to Port Dalhousie. TELESCOPE Page 54
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS Photo by Jim Photo by Jim Morris
SEA STAR leaving Lock #7 upbound the Welland Canal, April 10, 1998
Jun 6 ... Upper Lakes Towing’s CUYAHOGA ran aground in the Saginaw River while inbound with stone. After lightering approximately 700 tons of stone she was freed with the help of the tug GREGORY J. BUSCH later that day.
Jun 7 ... Kinsman’s KINSMAN INDEPENDENT went into a short term lay-up in Buffalo due to a lack of grain cargos.
Jun 9 ... Algoma’s ALGOCEN anchored off Carlton Island in the St. Lawrence Seaway to have a crewmen removed after he fell in the engineroom.
... The floating drydock GENERAL GEORGE D. VANICE formerly used at Montreal & Levis arrived in Halifax under tow.
Jun 10 ... An unidentified shipwreck of a schooner was discovered in Long Point Bay off Lake Erie. The 90 ft long wreck will be examined over the summer.
... The United States Geological Survey announced that a $2.8 million contract has been awarded to Patti Shipyard of Pensacola, FL to build a new fisheries research vessel. The new ship is to be 110 ft and will replace the SISCOWET ON WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. She is scheduled to be delivered in the fall of 1999. She will be stationed at the Lake Superior Biological Station near Bayfield, WI.
Jun 11 ... American Steamship's ST. CLAIR had a diesel fuel spill of about 600 gallons while in Escanaba. The spill was about a mile and a quarter long before being contained. The spill occurred when fuel mixed with ballast water and was pumped out.
... The salty GRANT CARRIER ran aground near the Beauharnois Lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway while upbound. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 55
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
Jun 12 ... Upbound in the St. Lawrence Seaway were the McKeil tugs JARRETT MCKEIL & LAC VANCOUVER towing the small carferry KATHERINE bound for Hamilton.
... The salty REGINA OLDENDORFF suffered an engine problem while entering the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway. She delayed traffic a couple hours while an engine valve was changed.
... Shaker Cruise Lines Hydrofoil SUNRISE V is temporarily running out of Port Weller due to damage to her dock in Port Dalhousie.
Jun 13 ... Oglebay Norton’s JOSEPH H. FRANTZ loaded the first ore tailings cargo out of Escanaba this season and took it to Alpena. She returned on June 24 for another trip.
Jun 15 ... The McKeil tug ATOMIC towed the former Detroit River pusher tug MANCO down the Welland Canal for Hamilton. The MANCO had been in Port Maitland since August 1997. She was going to be used as an office in Port Maitland.
... The tall ship MATTHEW ran aground east of Cornwall in the St. Lawrence Seaway when she passed on the wrong side of a buoy in the rain. She was released a few hours later with the help of a Canadian Coast Guard auxiliary vessel.
Jun 16 ... The small drydock at the American Soo has a new owner. Twin City Drydock & Marine sold out to MCM Marine, Inc..
... The salty APTMARINER ran aground in the St. Lawrence Seaway west of Montreal after her steering failed while upbound with steel for Cleveland. She was released on June 18 with the aid of tugs and allowed to proceed on her trip. She is scheduled to be drydocked after unloading.
... The Canadian Coast Guard announced plans to send a remote controlled submarine down to study the bow section of the salty FLARE, which broke in half in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in January.
Jun 17 ... The saltwater tanker MOUNTAIN BLOSSOM hit the approach wall above the Eisenhower Lock while downbound. She received a small crack in her hull resulting in approximately 50 gallons of Xylene spilling into the lock. The surrounding area was evacuated as a precaution and the spill was contained in the lock. She was allowed to proceed after repairs were made several hours later. ... A second hydrofoil has been added to the Shaker Cruise Line fleet. The SUNRISE VI passed down the Welland Canal for Port Dalhousie.
Jun 18 ... Oglebay Norton’s 1000 ft OGLEBAY NORTON made a rare trip to Escanaba too load taconite.
... The tug/barge UNDAUNTED/ PERE MARQUETTE NO. 41 were christened in a ceremony at Ludington. TELESCOPE Page 56
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS Photo Photo by Rod Burdick
OGLEBAY NORtON waiting to load taconite. Rare Escanaba visit June 18, 1998.
... The remains of the ferry PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND sank overnight at the east end of Toronto Harbor.
... The salty MUNKSUND loaded 4,000 tons of newsprint at Erie for overseas. This is the first export of newsprint in over 20 years.
Jun 19 ... The salty APJ ANGLI suffered an engine failure along the approach wall above Lock #2 of the Welland Canal. She was towed down to Wharf #2 below Lock #1 on June 21. She finally departed downbound on June 25 after completing repairs.
Jun 20 ... A ceremony was held in Port Dalhousie to dedicate a memorial to the old Muir Bros, shipyard.
... McKeil Marine’s small passenger ship MACASSA BAY arrived in Port Dalhousie where she will run charter cruises.
Jun 22 ... The guided missile frigate USS SAMUEL ELLIOT MORRISON (FFG - 13) entered the St. Lawrence Seaway on a goodwill tour of the Great Lakes.
Jun 23 ...The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority’s ferry DRUMMOND ISLANDER was drydocked at the MCM Marine yard at the Soo. The ferry had developed a handful of pinhole leaks. A 24-inch square portion of the ferry’s bottom had to be repaired. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 57
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
Jun 25 ... Lake Shipping’s LEE A. TREGURTHA stopped at the old Carbide Dock at the Soo with boiler problems. She departed the next day about 24 hours later after completing repairs.
Jun 27 ... The Great Tugboat Race at the Soo was run with the following winners - Over 500 HP Class ANGLIAN LADY - 200 to 500 Class DECELLES - 0 to 200 Class SHELIA P - Gator Class WHITNEY III and M & K in the fish tug category.
... The USS SAMUEL ELLIOT MORRISON’s captain caused a flap when he refused to fly the Canadian Flag while upbound in the Welland Canal.
... The annual tugboat race on the Detroit River was held with the following winners - First Overall KAREN ANDRIE, Over 1300 hp SHANNON, 750 to 1300 hp DOVER, 400 to 750 hp VIDA C 200 to 400 hp JULIE ANNE, 0 to 200 hp BIRMCO.
Jun 29 ... Gravel & Lake Service’s WOLF RIVER departed Thunder Bay for Duluth on her first Trip with pulpwood. The cargo’s final destination is Haywood, WI. Unloading was finally completed on July 7.
... A district judge refused to take action on the eviction lawsuit brought by village officials of Elberta against the carferry CITY OF MILWAUKEE. The judge stated the required 30 day notice had not been provided.
JULY, 1998
Jul 1 ... The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society’s Museum at Whitefish Point kicked off a campaign to raise $4 million to expand the museum. A new memorial wing is to be added to honor the 6,000 ships that have sunk and the crewmen who lost their lives.
... The EDWARD L. RYERSON returned to service departing from Sturgeon Bay for Escanaba to load taconite for Indiana Harbor. This was the first of several trips on this run.
... The sailing ship TRUE NORTH passed up the Welland Canal on her way to Chicago.
... The ALISON LAKE, the former United States Coast Guard tug SAUK departed Toronto on her first excursion since her reconstruction into a sailing ship.
Jul 2 ... The downbound salty HANDYMARINER struck the wall at Lock #8 on the Welland Canal. She proceeded to Wharf #12 (The Stone Dock) below Lock #8 for repairs. She moved to Wharf #10 (The Welland Dock) the next day to free up Wharf #12 for the CUYAHOGA. Repairs were completed on July 5 and she continued on downbound.
... Algoma's ALGOWEST was floated out of the drydock at Port Weller and was assisted by the Mckeil tugs GLENSIDE & ARGUE MARTIN and the shipyard tug JAMES E. MCGRATH to the fit out wall. TELESCOPE Page 58
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
Jul 5 ... Algoma’s ALGONTARIO stopped at Wharf #10 on the Welland Canal to have her bowthruster removed for repairs.
... Malcolm Marine’s Tug MALCOLM was downbound in the Welland Canal on her way out of the Lakes. She has been sold to Beyel Bros. Crane & Rigging of Cocoa Beach, Florida.
... The Michigan Limestone operation in Rogers City suffered a fire at the processing facilities. Damaged in the fire was one of the feed conveyors, the top floor of the mill and the primary screening station. The plant and quarry were forced to shut down until repairs can be completed. The ships can still be loaded from storage piles in the meantime.
Jul 6 ... The Salty APTMARINER was placed on the drydock at Port Weller Dry Dock with the assistance of the tugs GLENSIDE, ARGUE MARTIN & JAMES E. MCGRATH. Port Weller was awarded the $600,000 contract for repairs from her grounding on June 16. She had finished unloading the last of her steel cargo in Detroit on July 3. She departed the drydock on August 12.
... A dock worker at the Morterm Terminal in Windsor was seriously injured when a cable unloading a 23 ton steel coil snapped aboard the salty GUNAY-A and fell back in the cargo hold.
... The National Park service announced that Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay has been awarded a $1.8 million contract to rehabilitate their ferry RANGER III. The work is to be done this fall and be completed by the end of the year.
Jul 7 ... The GEORGIAN CLIPPER a 18 passenger cruise ship began seven day cruises around Georgian Bay. She is scheduled to stop in Little Current every Wednesday.
Jul 8 ... Upperlake’s MONTREALAIS departed Toronto on her first trip of the season, she headed for Clarkson where she loaded a cargo of cement Duluth.
Jul 9 ... Canada Steamship Lines TADOUSSAC ran aground in lower Lake St. Clair above buoy two while upbound with coal for the Lambton Generating Plant on the St. Clair River. After lightering some of her cargo into the Gaelic barge GTB 2, she was pulled free by the Gaelic tugs SHANNON & PATRICIA HOEY and Great Lakes Towing tugs ILLINOIS, WYOMING & PENNSYLVANIA.
... Upperlake’s CANADIAN PROGRESS stopped off at Wharf #10 on the Welland Canal for repairs to her unloading boom. Repairs were completed on July 16 and she departed.
Jul 10 ... Algoma’s ALGOWEST was rededicated in a ceremony held at Port Weller Dry Docks following her conversion to a seIf-unloader. She departed the shipyard and proceeded downbound into Lake Ontario on July 14. She developed engine trouble a short time later and headed to Hamilton for repairs.
Jul 11 ... The National Lighthouse Museum that Mackinac City was in the running for, was awarded to Staten Island, NY. Backers of the Mackinac City bid now plan to build a Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum in Mackinac City instead. Their plan is to begin raising the $20 million needed for the project this fall. They hope to have the museum open in the summer of 2001. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 59
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
ALGOWEST upbound at Port Colborne on September 26, 1998
... The United States Coast Guard Cutter ELM (WLB 204) arrived in Green Bay on a goodwill tour. She was just delivered to the Coast Guard from Marinette Marine and is on her way out of the lakes.
... Upperlake’s CANADIAN VENTURE went into lay-up in the north slip at Sarnia with engine problems.
Jul 12 ... Upperlake’s JAMES NORRIS made a rare trip into Marquette and loaded taconite for Algoma Steel in the Canadian Soo. This was her first visit to Marquette since August 1995.
... The casino ship NORTHERN BELLE was closed in Windsor due to the permanent casino’s grand opening scheduled in a couple of days.
... The Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse which is located in Golden Hill State Park, NY on Lake Ontario was relit in a ceremony today. The lighthouse had been extinguished forty years ago by the United States Coast Guard and replaced by a light atop a steel tower located nearby. The steel tower light was decommissioned by the Coast Guard at a solemn ceremony on July 11 at 8 p.m.. The relighting was made possible by a volunteer group, The Friends of Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse. The group started a fund raising effort in 1995 to restore the lighthouse. The Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse has been labeled a class II lighthouse and will be fully automated. It will be owned by the New York State Park System and be opened for tours on Saturday & Sunday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor day. TELESCOPE Page 60
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Jul 13 ... The salty ARABELLA loaded a cargo of special pipe (44 inch opening by 60 foot lengths) for a gold mine in Indonesia at the Duluth Port Terminal. Bend Tec Inc., a custom pipe fabricator made the pipe for Newmont Mining of Denver. The pipe will carry tailings from the mine.
... The downbound salty LITA hit the bullnose while entering the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway. This caused a delay of traffic for a couple of hours. After inspection she was allowed to proceed, however she suffered an engine failure while approaching the Snell Lock causing another delay.
Jul 14 ... The Canadian Lock at the Soo was officially reopened after a $ 10.3 million reconstruction project. The excursion ship CHIEF SHINGWAUK had the honor of being the first ship through the Lock. The lock has been closed since 1987 when a crack was found in the lock wall. The lock will be used for recreational traffic only.
Jul 15 ... Paterson’s MANTADOC arrived at Pascol Shipyard in Thunder Bay for her five year survey. ... The Greek salty TRIENA arrived in Duluth with 10,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. Also onboard was an Iraqi stowaway who was turned over to immigration officials. On July 17 the captain of the TRIENA committed suicide in what appears to be an unrelated incident.
Jul 17 ... American Steamship’s ST. CLAIR had trouble with her unloading boom while at Recor Point on the St. Clair River. They couldn’t get the boom in after unloading. After about 10 hours it was finally back in place and she proceeded upbound. The delay forced Interlake’s PAUL R. TREGURTHA and American Steamship’s WALTER J. MCCARTHY JR. to go anchor and wait.
Jul 18 ... Algoma’s ALGOLAKE made an uncommon visit to Marquette to load taconite for Algoma Steel at the Soo.
... The new Groupe Ocean tug OCEAN INTREPIDE was launched at Ile Aux Coudres, Quebec.
Jul 19 ... Interlake’s tug/barge JOYCE VAN ENKEVORT/ PATHFINDER made her first visit ever to the port of Grand Haven with coal for the Sims 2 Power Plant.
Jul 20 ... Michigan Limestone resumed operation in Rogers City using some portable equipment until permanent repairs can be made.
Jul 23 ... The remote controlled submarine, sent down to the bow section of the FLARE by the Canadian Coast Guard, revealed signs of brittle fractures.
Jul 24 ... The casino ship NORTHERN BELLE was towed from her dock in downtown Windsor down the Detroit River to the Morterm Dock.
Jul 26 ... The Port Dalhousie built tug BERT VERGE which has been laid up in Hamilton for approximately 20 years was sold to Nadro Marine of Port Dover recently. She passed up the Welland Canal in tow of the LOIS T. bound for Port Dover. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 61
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS • Photo Photo by Rod Burdick
ALGOLAKE waiting to load taconite in Marquette, July 18, 1998.
Jul 31 ... The recently renamed Doug McKeil (Ex- GAELIC CHALLENGER) passed up the Welland Canal for the first time. She was with the barge OCEAN HAULER in route for Fairport with construction trucks.
... The Marinette built United States Coast Guard Keeper class cutter ABBIE BURGESS (WLM 553) was commissioned in a ceremony at Rockland, Maine.
AUGUST, 1998
Aug 1 ... Oglebay Norton’s EARL W. OGLEBAY made a rare visit to Escanaba to load taconite tailings for Lafarge in Alpena.
Aug 2 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN TRANSFER is floated out of the drydock at Port Weller with the aid of the tugs ARGUE MARTIN, GLENBROOK & JAMES E. MCGRATH and moved to the fit out wall.
... The tug/barge UNDAUNTED/PERE MARQUETTE 41 made her initial trip by Detroit on her way to Cleveland.
Aug 3 ... Canada Steamship Lines NANTICOKE while upbound in the St. Lawrence Seaway had one of her engines fail while in ballast for Ashtabula. She continued on her voyage on one engine. TELESCOPE Page 62
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Aug 4 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN TRANSFER was rededicated in a ceremony at Port Weller Dry Docks.
Aug 5 ... The Danish salty MARKBORG hit the ship arrester in the Snell Lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The cause of the accident was a faulty remote hand held propulsion control box. The accident forced the closure of the seaway for approximately 15 hours. The ship was allowed to proceed the next day. Photo Photo by J.R. Hoffman
CANADIAN TRANSFER'S Christening Day at Port Weller drydocks, August 4, 1998.
Aug 6 ... The Crown Assets Distribution Center of the Canadian Government listed the mine sweeper THUNDER for sale. She was built by Port Arthur Shipbuilding and was launched on October 27, 1956 and was delivered on October 3, 1957. She has been based at Esquimalt, British Columbia.
Aug 7 ... The tug ROSA M. arrived in Port Colborne and ties up to have repairs to her engine. She is the former CARL WILLIAM SELVICK and has been sold for off lakes use. She finally departed and was down in the Welland Canal on Aug. 10. She was built in 1943 as ATA - 172, was renamed TABOGA in 1947 DARYL C. HANNAH in 1975, DARYL C. in 1984 and CARL WILLIAM SELVICK in 1988.
... Reports are received by the United States Coast Guard that there is a small oil slick in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Alexander Bay, NY. The Coast Guard sent divers down to the Algoma’s ROY A. JODREY which sank on November 21, 1974 to investigate what is believed to be the source. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 63
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Aug 8 ... Marinette Marine launched the United States Coast Guard Cutter JOSHUA APPLEBY (WLM 556) at Marinette, WI.
Aug 9 ... A new tour boat SPIRIT OF ALEX BAY with a 150 passenger capacity is giving tours in the Thousand Islands area. She formerly sailed on Lake Champlain & Seneca Lake before being brought to the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
... The United States Coast Guard Cutter ELM (WLB 204) passed down the Welland Canal on her delivery trip out of the lakes.
Aug 11 ... Canada Steamship Lines JEAN PARISEAN unloaded 27,000 metric tons of iron ore concentrates at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal. This is the first cargo for Iron Dynamics Inc. and is destined for their plant in Butler, Indiana. She was followed by C.S.L.’s TADOUSSAC on Aug. 16.
... The WILFRED SYKES ran aground at Grand Haven, she managed to free herself a short time later. ... The 1997 launched salty SAILER JUPITER passed up the Welland Canal bound for Cleveland on her first trip into the lakes. While in the lakes she was renamed ENCHANTER.
... Kinsman’s KINSMAN INDEPENDENT departed Buffalo after her approximate two month lay-up and headed for Sarnia to load.
... The MEDUSA CHALLENGER had her Medusa Cement billboards on the sides of hull painted out while in Manitowoc.
Aug 14 ... The source of the oil leaking into the St. Lawrence Seaway was 8 drums containing machine & lubricating oil that were in a rack on the stem of the wreck of the ROY A. JODREY. Salvage of the drums was wrapped up today.
Aug 15 ... USS’s CASON J. CALLAWAY departed Fraser Shipyard in Superior after repairs to her unloading system.
Aug 16 ... The 95 ft auto ferry M. BOURBONNAIS VI which was built at Masson, Quebec earlier this year, past up the Welland Canal bound for Amherstburg. Bought recently by John Oram owner of Bob-Lo Island to run from Amherstburg to Bob-Lo Island. On August 21 she was renamed COURTNEY-O in a christening ceremony held in Amherstburg.
Aug 17 ... The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation announced that salty traffic through Montreal to Lake Ontario section was up 31%, with a total of 580 transits.
Aug 18 ... Shaker Cruise Lines hydrofoil SUNRISE VI suffered a broken windshield when hit by large waves while on a trip from Toronto to Port Dalhousie. Two other cross lake ferries the WATERWAYS I and LAKE RUNNER stood by as the hydrofoil limped into Port Dalhousie. She was returned to service on August 20 after completing repairs.
... Upperlake’s CANADIAN TRANSFER departed Port Weller Shipyard and proceeded down through Lock #1 and out into Lake Ontario for her sea trails. TELESCOPE Page 64
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Aug 19 ... The CANADIAN TRANSFER loaded a cargo of grain in Hamilton for delivery to Buffalo for her first trip. She arrived in Buffalo on the next day and unloaded into the idle Kinsman Enterprise
... Canada Steamship line’s NANTICOKE arrived at Port Colborne and tied up at Wharf #16 for repairs to her engine. She departed on August 25.
Aug 21 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN LEADER while downbound with grain for Baie Comeau suffered a steering failure in the lower St. Mary’s River. She swung hard to port and struck an area of large boulders off Drummond Island. Her hull was damaged in the forepeak and #2 starboard ballast tank. The Purvis Marine tugs ANGLIAN LADY, AVENGER IV and WILFRED COHEN and the tug NANCY K pulled her off on Aug. 23 and towed her to the Trout Isalnd anchorage for inspection. The next day after temporary repairs were completed she was allowed to continue her trip, after unloading she will go to a shipyard for repairs.
Aug 22 ... Paterson’s PATERSON loaded a record cargo of grain at Goderich when she loaded 28,580 metric tons. The previous record was in 1995 with 28,060 metric tons.
Aug 23 ... Shaker Cruise Lines hydrofoil SUNRISE V grounded off Niagara-on-the-Lake and suffered some damage. There were no passengers on board at the time of the grounding. After her release she was towed back to Toronto by the Shaker Cruise Line ferry LAKE RUNNER and was taken out of service.
Aug 24 ... The passenger ship C. COLUMBUS arrived in Montreal to begin her second year of cruising on the Great Lakes. She is scheduled to do five cruises, the first departs from Montreal, two will depart from Chicago on 9-3 & 9-24, one from Port Colborne on 9-15 and the final one from Detroit on 10-3. She departed Montreal the next day and was up in Welland Canal on August 28.
... United States Immigration & Naturalization agents were waiting when the salty NST CHALLENGE tied up at Nicholson Terminal & Dock in Detroit with 22 stowaways aboard. The next day six teenagers were returned to their parents in the Dominican Republic via commercial airlines. Two men remained in custody, one for an outstanding warrant in New York on drug charges, the other a Cuban seeking asylum. The remaining 14 were to remain on the ship, which is to take them back to the Dominican Republic where they originally boarded on August 8. She was downbound in the Welland Canal on September 2.
Aug 25 ... A new tax system instituted by the Ontario Provincial Government will almost double the property taxes on the grain elevator in Owen Sound. It has the owners thinking of closing the elevator.
Aug 26 ... The ferry service across the western end of Lake Ontario has heated up with Shaker Cruise lines and their rival Waterways Transportation trading accusations about each other in the local newspapers.
Aug 29 ... Hydrofoil Lake Jet Line’s hydrofoil SEAFLIGHT I while inbound the Niagara River for Queenston suffered a steering failure off Youngstown, NY. She then veered into a sailboat anchorage where she sank one unoccupied sailboat. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 65
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
Aug 30 ... The Beaver Islander made an experimental trip to Manistique to explore the feasibility of future service between Beaver Island and Manistique.
Aug 31 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN LEADER arrived at Port Weller Dry Dock for repairs to her hull from the grounding on August 21. Instead of going to Baie Comeau with her grain cargo she unloaded in Montreal.
... Captain Frederick W. "Fritz" Korn, 68, of Sarasota, FL died on August 19, 1998 following a year and a half bout with cancer. Fritz came up through the hawser pipe (deckhand to master) and sailed the Lakes for some 30 years. He is best remembered for his efforts as trial pilot for Litton Industries, Erie Marine Division - for it was Fritz who brought "STUBBY" / "CUT ALONG THE DOTTED LINE" (the bow and stem sections for the M/ V STEWART J. CORT) up to the Erie yard from the Ingalls yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi in June of 1970; Fritz subsequently became the first captain to master a 1,000 footer on the Great Lakes after the Erie, PA built midbody was attached to the bow and stem sections. Captain Kom left the lakes soon after the CORT was delivered to Bethlehem Steel taking a Chief Marine Pilot position with the Hess Oil Corp. and primarily worked the St. Croix Harbor in the Virgin Islands which averages approximately 2,500 harbor moves a year (1982 stats) including the very large crude carriers (VLCC) which were his responsibility. Eight months after his retirement Fritz wrote Jim Michael, saying "I miss handling the ships but that feeling will stay with me for quite a while I’m sure."
MISC: ... The salty HANDY LAKER was renamed MOOR LAKER while in Chicago near the end of June.
... The Marine News, Journal of The World Ship Society reported the following items:
... The tug FLORIDA SEAHORSE sank in the Gulf of Mexico in about 30 ft of water on February 26, 1998. The crew of five were rescued. She is the former NIPIGON which sailed for the Abitibi Paper Co.. She was owned by A & J Towing of Panama at the time of her sinking. She had been renamed in 1996.
... The W. M. VACY ASH was sold by Apollo Nav. Inc. to Cooke Nav. Ltd. of Panama and renamed ELTOKAWEEN in 1997. She sailed for Soconav until they went out of business.
... The former Paterson KINGDOC was sold by Cargoazucar S.A. of Panama to Coral Black Shipping of Panama in 1997. She was named CAROLINA F. at the time of the sale and was renamed BLUE MOON. She left the lakes in 1988 as NORSTAR, was renamed LUCKY STAR in 1990 and CAROLINA F. in 1995.
... The former seaway salty ZAKOPANE was sold for scrap as PEARL I and arrived in Alang, India on December 5, 1997. She had been renamed PEARL I in 1993. Photo by Dan Hutchens February 27, 1998 has been sold to Tunisia along with the cutter WHITE HEATH (WLM 545). (WLM HEATH WHITE cutter the with along soldto Tunisia 1998 been has 27, February The Marine News, Journal of the World Ship Society reported the following items: following the reported Society Shiptheof World Journal News, Marine The crew will remain their employees. willremain crew the and Steel Inland to charter time a on Indiana areships fleet.theThe affiliate, operate will Co. An IL. Steamship Harbor Elmhurst, of Co. Shipping Central to sold was RYERSON L. EDWARD United States Company. The fleet which consists of the JOSEPH L. BLOCK, WILFRED SYKES & SYKES WILFRED StatesUnited Company.BLOCK, L.fleet whichconsistsof The the JOSEPH Fleet hadtosold beto a the Jones Act, the Inland to Due Steel. Inland of purchase its completed International NEWS SEAWAY & LAKES GREAT • temkr Ispat Steelmaker COLINETTE. ft 65 UHS V n the and V DUCHESS the of time the at tugs ae te 8 ft 48 the sale, Waterman Toronto. Services owned two two owned Services Services Firm of of Firm Services Waterman the acquired Marine Mckeil summer Page 66 Page TELESCOPE DADL YRO "hnigteclr" nin abr u. '98 Harbor, Aug. Indiana colors", the "changing RYERSON L. EDWARD ... The United States Coast Guard Cutter WHITE LUPINE (WLM 546) decommissioned decommissioned 546) (WLM LUPINE WHITE Cutter Guard Coast States United ...The ... The Dutch Dutch The ... . Drn the During ...
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Photo by J. R. Hoffman MARCH - APRIL, 1999 Page 67
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
... In 1997 the MOBY DICK was sold by Beluga Greenpeace E.V., Germany to Jan Benelander & Co. Inc., Canada and renamed CURVE OF TIME. She was in the Great Lakes in 1995.
... The former seaway visitor RIGHTEOUS renamed AFSAR - 86 and MARIA A - 91 now owned by Rosehouse Shipping Co. Ltd., Cypress. Suffered heavy damage and some flooding in the #1 hold while on a passage from Necochea to Aqaba with 25,200 tons of wheat. She arrived at Paranagua on March 21, 1998, some repairs were made but as of May 13, 1998 she was still at anchor in the outer roads.
... The Canadian Icebreaker HENRY LARSON suffered an engine room fire while at the Coast Guard Wharf in St. Johns on June 22, 1998. Repairs were expected to take two months.
... The salty DYNAMIC SPIRIT (Ex - LATO - 92, EGLANTINE - 88) was sold by Freya Nav. Ltd. (Aurora Shipping S. A.), Panama to Pakistan Breakers and arrived at Gadani Beach May 6, 1998. She was built in 1968 and was seaway visitor in the 1970’s as EGLANTINE.
SEPTEMBER, 1998
Sept. 1 ... The board of directors of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority authorized the purchase of 15 acres on the old river bed, south of the Cargill Salt Mine. The land is being purchased from the Plain Dealer Publishing Co. which bought the land in 1964. The port will lease six acres to the property’s current tenant. Great Lakes Towing Co. for the next 25 years. With the new lease Great Lakes Towing is going to expand and modernize its shipyard by installing additional ship repair facilities over the next one to three years.
... The United States Coast Guard stopped tours on the cutter BRAMBLE (WLB - 392) and at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron. The tours were stopped due to heightened security precautions since the Aug. 20 missile attacks on Sudan & Afghanistan.
Sept. 3 ... The EDWARD L. RYERSON was laid up in Sturgeon Bay for the second time this season. She is expected back in service in about a month. Her Inland Steel billboards were painted over in August.
... Dominion Bridge, owner of the Davie Shipyard in Levis, Quebec filed for bankruptcy protection. The shipyard was forced to close putting over 1,000 employees out of work.
Sept. 4 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN TRANSFER suffered rudder damage when she backed into the river bank on the Saginaw River. Her rudder was placed in a brace and held mid-ship by chain falls in preparation for a tow to a shipyard. She departed behind Purves Marine’s AVENGER IV bound for the Pascol Shipyard in Thunder Bay on Sept. 7. The tow was assisted out of the Saginaw River by Great Lakes Towing’s WISCONSIN. The tow was up through the Soo the next day assisted by W.I. SCOTT PURVES and arrived in Thunder Bay on Sept. 10. TELESCOPE Page 68
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
CANADIAN TRANSFER "waiting for a tow", Saginaw, September 5, 1998
Sept. 5 ... The stone dock leased by the Edwin C. Levy Co. at the old Detroit Marine Terminal facility on the Rouge River collapsed sending a portion of some 90,000 tons of stone into the river. The Army Corps of Engineers reported the channel depth had been reduced by 3 to 4 ft on the southern side and 10 to 12 ft on the northern side. The Coast Guard closed the river to vessels with drafts greater than 21 ft. As a result several shipments of iron ore to Rouge Steel had to be cancelled. Faust Marine was hired to dredge the channel and expected the project to be completed in 30 days.
... The AMBASSADOR (Ex - CANADIAN AMBASSADOR - 85) which sails for Upperlakes subsidiary ULS Marbulk departed the floating drydock at the Halifax Shipyard following a refit. She has been in deep sea service for several years.
... Algoma Central Marine announced it has awarded a $5.3 million contract to Port Weller Dry Dock to refit the ACAWA CANYON over the coming winter. Scheduled to be done - a new gate system, major components of the cargo hold to be replaced, hydraulic systems in the tunnels to be renewed, fixed frame rollers installed and she will be fitted with wash water holding tanks. She is scheduled to arrive at the yard in Dec. with completion to be in April 1999.
... Upperlake’s CANADIAN VENTURE departed the North Slip in Sarnia after completion of repairs to her engine. She had been laid up since July 11.
Sept. 6 ... The Canadian Coast Guard Hovercraft SIYAY was downbound in the Welland Canal on her delivery trip. She is the second hovercraft built by Hike Metal of Wheatley, Ontario this year for the Coast Guard. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 69
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS • Photo Photo by Rod Burdick
Rare Marquette visit by the ACAWA CANYON, August 15, 1998
... Paterson’s PATERSON made an unusual stop at Wharf #6 in Thorold along the Welland Canal with bauxite.
Sept. 7 ... The salty KASLA passed up the Welland Canal on her first trip to the upper lakes since being renamed. She had sailed on the upper Great Lakes as KIISLA from the mid-eighties to the early nineties.
Sept. 10 ... American Steamship had several unusual trips into Algoma Steel at the Canadian Soo with taconite. The CHARLES E. WILSON & H. LEE WHITE were in today, The WHITE returned on Sept. 11, Oct. 11 & Oct. 21. The AMERICAN MARINER was in on Sept. 17.
... Hull #77, the keel for the new forebody of Canada Steamship Lines J. W. MCGIFFIN was laid at Port Weller Dry Docks.
... Paterson’s CARTIERDOC departed Montreal on her first trip of the season and headed downbound for Pointe Noire.
... The tugs WELLAND & JEANETTE M. towed the oil rig MR. CHRIS down through Lock #8 of the Welland Canal and placed her in the drydock at Marsh Engineering located at Ramey’s Bend.
Sept. 11 ... The United States Corps of Engineers tug OWEN M. FREDERICK was placed on the MCM Dry Dock at the Soo. TELESCOPE Page 70
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
... Shaker Cruise Lines LAKE RUNNER had her evening trip across Lake Ontario to Port Dalhousie cancelled stranding her commuters in Toronto.
Sept. 14 ... The Canadian Coast Guard Cutter SIMCOE returned to service after her summer lay-up. Photo Photo by Gary Morris
SIMCOE leaving Lock #7 on Welland Canal, September 23, 1998 Sept. 15 ... The small passenger ferry CITY OF SANDUSKY departed Sandusky for the last time. She passed down the Welland Canal the next day bound for the southern United States. Their she is to be converted to a luxury dive boat scheduled to work in the waters off Honduras.
... At the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Bill S-2390 (Which would repeal the Jones Act s U.S. ownership & construction requirement for ships carrying cargo between U.S.ports) Interlake’s James R. Barker spoke for the Maritime Cabotage Task force on behalf of the Jones Act. He was joined be speakers from the shipbuilding Industry and representatives from the inland tug/ barge industry. The anti Jones Act speakers included Rob Quartel who stated that the U.S. Flag Fleet is shrinking and now consists mostly of tankers. A Murphy Farms representative who stated that five years of effort have yet to produce a U.S. flag vessel to move Great Lakes grain to North Carolina. Mr. Barker told senators his Company has met twice with Murphy Farms and offered its services.
Sept. 16 ... Paterson’s MANTADOC spotted a signal fire and four men waving at about 10:30 P.M. on Chene Island which is south-east of Gros Cap in Canadian waters. She was a couple of miles away at the time and signaled with her spot light and radioed the U.S. Coast Guard. They relayed the message to the Ontario Provincial Police Marine Unit who rescued the men about 1:30 A.M.. The men stated that their 15 foot boat developed engine trouble and was swamped at about 7:30 P.M.. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 71
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
... Interlake accepted delivery of the hull of their new tug DOROTHY ANN built at Bay Shipbuilding as hull #743. The hull was delivered with her two EMD 20 cylinder 645E7B main engines and two Ulstein Model TCN 105/M-240 Compass Thrusters (Z-Drive) installed. The hull departed Sturgeon Bay in tow of the Selvick tugs JIMMY L & SHARON M. SELVICK bound for the C. Reiss Dock in Escanaba for final fitout. She is to be paired with the barge PATHFINDER next season.
Sept. 17 ... The LA BARONESSA the largest all aluminum yacht in the world at 195 ft was unveiled in a ceremony at Sturgeon Bay by builder Palmer Johnson.
Sept. 18 ... The United States Coast Guard Cutter JAMES RANKIN (WLM 555) departed the Marinette Marine Shipyard on her delivery trip. She will make a goodwill tour through the Great Lakes on her way out.
Sept. 20 ... Algoma’s ALGONTARIO tied up at Wharf #10 (The Welland Dock) on the Welland Canal to have her repaired bow thruster reinstalled. She returned to service on Sept. 28.
... The ferry BEAVER ISLANDER made her second experimental trip from Beaver Island to Manistique.
Sept. 24 ... Algoma’s ALGOISLE departed Hamilton on her first trip of the season and proceeded upbound headed for Duluth. Photo Photo by Gary Morris
ALGONTARIO at Welland Dock on Welland Canal, September 24, 1998 TELESCOPE Page 72
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Sept. 28 ... The Detroit River mailboat J. W. WESTCOTT II answered a distress call from the dinner ship AURORA BOREALIS about a man overboard. The man was found nearly unconscious and was pulled from the water. He was rushed to shore where an ambulance was waiting and taken to the hospital.
... Upperlake’s SEAWAY QUEEN departed Toronto on her first trip of the season. She proceeded upbound headed for Thunder Bay.
... The Buffalo fireboat EDWARD M. COTTER was downbound in the Welland Canal bound for the Port Weller Dry Dock for her survey. She was back up in the canal on Oct. 11 headed back to Buffalo.
Sept. 30 ... The United States Coast Guard cutter JAMES RANKIN (WLM 555) stopped off at the Port Huron Seaway Terminal on a one day visit on her goodwill tour.
OCTOBER, 1998
Oct. 1 ... After a five hour hearing, Beulah District Court Judge Brent Danielson ruled that Elberta can evict the carferry CITY OF MILWAUKEE in 10 days if it has not been removed from the village waterfront. However, village attorney Joseph Quandt stated the village won’t pursue removing the vessel until a federal court lawsuit filed in July by the Society for the Preservation of theSS City of Milwaukee is resolved.
... Albert S. Jacquez was nominated to head the U.S. St. Lawrence Development Corp.. On the Canadian side Guy Veronneau was named president of the newly created St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp..
Oct. 2 ... In a ceremony held in St. Catherines, operation of the Canadian section of the St. Lawrence Seaway was officially transferred from the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority to St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.. The new Corp. which is made up of nine companies that use the waterway was set up as not for profit. The Canadian Government will retain ownership of all seaway assets and has a 20 year agreement with the new corp. to run the seaway.
Oct. 3 ... USS s CALCITE II made a rare visit to Gladstone, MI with salt loaded in Cleveland.
... The salty INANC struck the wall above Lock #7 on the Welland Canal after departing the lock upbound. After hitting the wall she ended up sideways across the canal for a short time before getting straightened out and continuing up.
Oct. 4 ... The United States Coast Guard announced plans to shed responsibility for a least 124 lighthouses on the Great Lakes. Because commercial ships now use sophisticated radar and global positioning systems to guide them, the lights are deemed no longer necessary and a burden to taxpayers. The fate of the structures is not settled at this time. Several Preservation Groups are hoping to save the lighthouses. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 73
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS • Photo Photo by Rod Burdick
CALCITE II unloading salt, docked in Gladstone, MI, October 3, 1998
Oct. 7 ... Indiana Harbor Steamships EDWARD L. RYERSON departed Sturgeon Bay for Escanaba after her short lay-up and loaded taconite for Indiana Harbor.
Oct. 8 ... The HMCS SHAWINIGAN passed up the Welland Canal on a goodwill tour. She came back down on Oct. 14.
Oct. 9 ... The Canadian Lock at the Soo was closed for the season. The closing came one week earlier than scheduled because of problems with the anchors on the upper gates moving. The lock will be drained and winterized as engineers investigate and decide how best to fix the problem. Next years tentative opening date is May 15.
... The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter JAMES RANKIN (WLM 555) passed down the Welland Canal on her delivery trip out of the Lakes.
Oct. 11 ... The passenger ship C. COLUMBUS passed down the Welland Canal on her final trip on the Great Lakes this year.
... The Lake Michigan Carferry BADGER ended her season and laid up in Ludington.
... The Great Lakes Towing tug OHIO passed upbound for Duluth towing the tugs NORTH DAKOTA & KENTUCKY. She returned back down on Oct. 22 towing the tugs KANSAS & VERMONT bound for Cleveland. TELESCOPE Page 74
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
Oct. 13 ... The U.S. Corps of Engineers announced that Durocher Dredge & Dock Inc. of Cheboygan was the successful bidder on the Poe Lock repair project. The $3.6 million contract will involve construction of coffer dams around the lock’s stop logs to permit repair on the recess area and for joint repairs. The project will be completed over the next three winters.
... Canada Steamship Lines NANTICOKE stopped at Wharf #10 (The Welland Dock) on the Welland Canal for engine repairs. She departed upbound on Oct. 24.
... Algoma Tankers ALGONOVA was put on the Heddle Drydock in Hamilton for her five year survey. She departed on Oct. 25 and proceeded upbound.
... The Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker DES GROSEILLIERS got underway after being frozen in the Arctic Ocean for one year and eleven days as part of a scientific study. While frozen the Port Weller built icebreaker drifted over 500 miles.
Oct. 14 ... The Buffalo fireboat EDWARD M. COTTER was back downbound in the Welland Canal headed for Port Weller Dry Docks. Leaks were discovered in her hull upon her return to Buffalo. After completion of repairs she departed upbound on Oct. 16 back to Buffalo.
... Algoma’s ALGOLAKE ran aground approximately three miles off Nanticoke while inbound with coal for the Ontario Hydro Plant. The next day Upperlake’s Canadian Transport came alongside and lightered some of her cargo. She was freed and after unloading proceeded to Wharf #16 in Port Colborne for inspection and repairs to some minor flooding which occurred.
... The saltwater tanker JO SPIRIT was upbound in the St. Lawrence Seaway bound for Hamilton with a cargo of rum. While under construction at Valendia, Spain on July 3, 1997 she had a flash fire onboard which killed 18 shipyard workers and injured more.
Oct. 15 ... Upper Lakes Towing’s tug/barge OLIVE L. MOORE/MCKEE SONS ran aground between the Liberty & Veteran bridges while inbound the Saginaw River. They were bound for the Bay Aggregates Dock with stone when they ran aground about 2,000 ft from the dock. Oglebay Norton’s JOSEPH H. FRANTZ was at the nearby Wirt Stone Dock and came alongside and after lightering approximately 9,000 tons of cargo the pair floated free the next day.
... The tug WELLAND arrived at the Marsh Engineering drydock at Ramey’s Bend on the Welland Canal with the oil rig MISS LIBBY. The tug removed the oil rig MR. CHRIS from the drydock and placed the MISS LIBBY on the drydock. Then the WELLAND with the MR. CHRIS departed upbound.
... Mckeil’s tug DOUG MCKEIL with the barge SALTY DOG NO. 1 arrived at Port Weller Dry Dock. The barge was placed on the drydock to check out bottom damage from a grounding on Oct. 1 on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She was removed from the drydock on Oct. 17 and placed at the fitout wall. The pair finally departed upbound on Oct. 20.
Oct. 16 ... Shaker Cruise Lines LAKE RUNNER made her last crossing of the season between Port Dalhousie & Toronto and laid up in the latter port. MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 75
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
Oct. 17 ... The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron honored its 5,000th visitor in 1998, Taylor Weber a first grader at Garfield Elementary School. He received a plaque with a lighthouse attached. This is the highest total ever.
... McKeil Marine’s small passenger ferry MACASSA BAY suffered an arson fire while docked at her berth in Hamilton. The damaged was estimated at $200,000. The former sandsucker NIAGARA II in tow of the tug MISEFORD stopped off at the Government Dock in Sarnia to wait for better weather while enroute from Port Maitland to Owen Sound. She is to be sunk off Tobermory as a diving attraction next spring. She finally departed on Oct. 24.
Oct. 18 ... The salty PANY R. suffered a generator fire in her engineroom while downbound at the Iroquois Lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway. Seaway traffic was held up for several hours.
Oct. 19 ... Ontario Northland’s ferry CHI-CHEEMAUN laid up at Owen Sound completing her season.
Oct. 21 ... The Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority announced it has received a $7.2 million federal grant for a commercial dock. They are currently working with City of Detroit officials to find the right piece of city owned property for the dock. Tentative plans call for a passenger terminal and restaurant. Besides cruise ships, high speed ferries to carry commuters downtown from upriver & downriver areas are also in the planning stages.
Oct. 22 ... Canada Steamship Lines ATLANTIC ERIE passed up the Welland Canal with the new red hull and a new billboard painted on her hull. Instead of Canada Staemship Lines she had WWW.CSL.CA, the company website.
Oct. 23 ... The barge NO. 140 loaded with 1200 tons of stone capsized on Lake Erie near Conneaut while in tow of the tug CAPT. BARNABY. The barge remained afloat but upside down and was towed into Erie before it could sink.
Oct. 24 ... Upperlake’s CANADIAN NAVIGATOR arrived at Port Weller Dry Dock and was assisted into the drydock by the tugs GLENBROOK & JAMES E. MCGRATH for repairs to her propeller. She departed on Oct. 30.
... American Steamship’s AMERICAN MARINER made her first trip of the season down the Welland Canal bound for Hamilton with iron ore.
Oct. 25 ... At the old Collingwood Shipyard one of the main buildings is being tom down.
... The small passenger ferry RIVER QUEEN (Ex - STAR OF CHARLEVOIX) which is designed as a double paddlewheeler passed down the Welland Canal on her way out of the lakes. She was last used in Cleveland and is on her way to Jacksonville, FI where she is to be pulled from the water and transported to Cypress Gardens.
Oct. 26 ... As part of the fund raising drive for the Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum in Mackinaw City, a Dearborn Company Keepers of the Light Trading Cards will donate a part of the proceeds TELESCOPE Page 76
• GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS
from a series of trading cards featuring Great Lakes Lighthouses. The cards have been distributed to 20 stores in coastal towns around Michigan. As of this date 45 different lighthouses have been done with more in the planning stages.
... The Port Huron & Sarnia Tugboat Co.’s tug KODIAK (Ex - C & O 452) departed Port Huron for the last time bound for Detroit. Their she was loaded on the Mammoet Shipping heavy lift ship HAPPY ROVER for transport to her new owners Compagnie Ligerienne De Transport in Nantes, France. She will be used to push coal barges across the Loire River. The pair departed Detroit on Nov. 1 with the KODIAK secured on the deck. They were down in the Welland Canal the next day and stopped at the E.S. Fox Dock in Port Robinson. The KODIAK was unloaded while refinery parts destined for Quatar in the Persian Gulf were loaded. After loading was completed the KODIAK was placed back on the deck and the pair departed downbound on Nov. 9.
... The National Park Service ferry RANGER III arrived at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay for a $1.8 million refit. Scheduled work includes replacing her Kahlenberg engines with twin 3508 B caterpillar engines rated at 850 hp each. Installation of a hydraulic 250 hp - 36" diameter bow thruster. All four passenger bathrooms will be completely renovated. The emergency generator panel in the stack area will be removed and replaced. Three propeller blades will be replaced. The ship will be given her five year survey and will be repainted. The work is scheduled to be completed between Dec. 15 and Dec. 24.
Oct. 28 ... $5.3 million was approved by the U.S. House & Senate in next years budget to continue design work on a replacement for icebreaker MACKINAW (WAGB -83).
... A 20 by 40 ft section of scaffolding fell approximately 100 ft into the south approach canal at the Soo. It was being lowered after completing a painting project on the International Bridge about 3:00 p.m.. The Corps of Engineers tug OWEN M. FREDERICK and crane barge HARVEY removed the wreckage in about 90 minutes. Traffic was halted in the area, the only vessel delayed was Bethlehem’s STEWART J. CORT which was held in the Poe Lock.
Oct. 29 ... The salty GULF STAR had to go anchor just above Port Huron with engine problems. After cleaning the secondary main diesel engine fuel filters she was allowed to proceed on her upbound trip.
Oct 30 .. Ontario Northland’s idle ferry NINDAWAYMA had her mooring cables released by vandals and she floated out in Owen Sounds harbor. Fortunately the weather was calm and no damage was reported to her or the nearby CHI-CHEEMAUN. tu c a-,PurV1S' Manne’s WILFRED M. COHEN was put on the drydock at the MCM Shipyard at h r WaS GrCat LakeS T°Wing’S MISS0URI with steering gear problems. The U.S Fish & Wildlife research vessel CISCO which will be taken out of the water and put in a cradle for the winter. ' MARCH • APRIL, 1999 Page 77
GREAT LAKES & SEAWAY NEWS •
MISC: ... Inland Bulk Inc. (Kellstone) has awarded a contract to C & G Boat Works in Bayou La Batre, Alabama to build a tugboat. The tug is to be 110 x 34 x 16 and be powered by two cummins wartsila 16vl70 engines - generating 2,467 hp at 1600 rpm. She will be equipped with four flanking rudders for notch pushing in rivers. She was designed by Frank Basile of Entech & Assoc, in Houma, LA and is a sistership to the CHEVRON RICHMOND stationed in San Francisco.
... The Fairport Harbor Historical Society has repainted the wheelhouse of the FRONTENAC in Cleveland Cliffs green. It had been painted white with red trim for several decades.
... The Marine News, Journal of the World Ship Society reported the following items in their Sept. - Oct. issues:
... The salty HERCEGOVINA built 1977 was sold by Atlantic Conbulk Shg Co., Croatia to Alliance Mar. Corp., Liberia and renamed ADIMON in 1998.
... The tug IRVING MAPLE built 1966 has been renamed ATLANTIC MAPLE by Universal Sales Ltd., Canada
... The tug IRVING BEECH built 1969 has been renamed ATLANTIC BEECH by New Brunswick Publishing Co. Ltd. & Moncton Publishing Co. Ltd., Canada
... The icebreaker/cable layer repair ship JOHN CABOT built 1965 was sold by McDermott Submarine Cable Systems Ltd., Canada to ElettraT.L.C. S.P.A., Italy and renamed CERTAMEN in 1997. ... The saltwater tanker KAPITAN RADIONOV built 1981 (Ex - ARBITRATOR - 88, MARMARA - 87) was sold by “Ukrtanker” Ukraine to Ocean Fidelity Ltd. Inc., St. Vincent and renamed REBECCA in 1998.
... The salty XING LI built 1971 (Ex - ANA -93, HANA MAUI -92, EVER HONOR - 84) was sold by Vega Shipping Co. Ltd., St. Vincent to Pakistan breakers and arrived at Gadani Beach June 6, 1998.
... The PLATANA (Ex - PRINDOC) was broken up by Dortel Gemi Sokum San Ve Tic at Alang, India - scrapping began on August 1, 1997.
... The tanker MORGAN TRADEr built 1958 ( Ex - RECOVERY VIII-94, ENERCHEM LAKER - 90, ISLAND TRANSPORT - 86, ROCKCLIFFE HALL - 72) was sold by Maritime Enviromental Ser., Panama to Anna Shg Co. S.A., Honduras and renamed ANNA II.
... The tanker UNITY built 1966 ( Ex - ALADEWE - 90, NAESBORG - 83, SEA TRANSPORT - 77, OLAU MARK - 71) was sold by Petro-Med oils Ltd., Nigeria to unspecified owners Nigeria in 1997.
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