Marine Historical Society of Detroit

The Ball Brothers (Tomlinson Fleet-left) and the Sparkman D. Foster (Browning Lines-right) laid up near the foot of Rivard Street in Detroit. Date not noted but likely the late 1950's. Gordon Bugbee photo/MHSD collection.

The building near the center of the photo labeled "Hughes Bros. Machinist" still exists and now houses Steve's Soul Food on Franklin Street.

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock's tug William C. Gaynor towing spoils barges in June 1964. Location not noted. Peter J. Botzko photos from the Wendell Wilke/MHSD collection.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publication "Transportation Lines on the Great Lakes System 1964" lists 152 vessels what were being operated by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock from operating bases in Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, New Orleans and New York City.

Seasonal tanker layup. Location not noted, but it appears to be just north of downtown Sarnia (between George Street and London Road). One view is dated 1955, the other is undated but seems to be taken the same day or at least season. Robert Zeleznik collection/MHSD.

The John Irwin was owned and operated by Canadian Oil. The remainder of the vessels were all operated by Imperial Oil.

A double rainbow seen of the stern of Cleveland Cliff's Champlain in 1957. Arthur Pocotte photo. Bob Pocotte/MHSD collection.

VERY SAD NEWS: Long-time Marine Historical Society of Detroit Treasurer Robert T. “Bob” Pocotte, age 91, passed away peacefully Dec. 3 after a stroke. In January 2022, Bob was presented with a plaque for his years of distinguished service to the MHSD, serving as treasurer for 37 years. Retired from Wyandotte Chemicals, he was a member of our group for more than 50 years. His wife, Peggy, passed away a few months ago. Bob grew up in a Great Lakes family as his father was a captain for Cleveland Cliffs and Great Lakes Towing. He will be remembered as a kind man who remained active and interested in Great Lakes shipping history up until the end. According to his daughter Susan, he was found with the MHSD 2024 calender in his lap, which he had just received in the mail. We at the MHSD will miss his friendship and wise counsel.

The Donegal and another Gaelic Towing tug assist the Sylvania. Date not noted. William (Bill) Hoey collection/MHSD.

American Steamship's self unloader Sinaloa (which in 1960 became the Stonefax). Robert Zeleznik collection/MHSD.

A series of three photos from the 1955 tugboat race in the Detroit River. Robert Zeleznik collection/MHSD

An unidentified tug (correction: The bunkering tanker Cemico) and a Coast Guard patrol boat look on as Great Lakes Towing's Oklahoma assists the J.H. Sheadle (2) through the Erie Railroad draw span in the Cuyahoga River. American Steel and Wire's Central Furnace looms large in the background. Date not noted, but circa 1955. Captain William Taylor collection/MHSD.

Pyke Salvage and Navigation Company's P.S. Barge No. 1 seen in Valleyfield in this undated photo from the Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

The former canaller was built in Scotland in 1923 as the Edwin T. Douglass. It was reduced to a salvage barge/lighter after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened and was scrapped in Quebec City in 2000.

These were shared with me by Jim Luke, Bill Luke's son. Bill was long-time treasurer of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit and a two-time president of the organization, was honored as Historian of the Year in 1980. It was an honor he cherished until he passed away in 1997.

A single seagull soars over the river as National Steel's George M. Humphrey unloads at Zug Island under a pall of thick smoke. October 1969 photo by Emory Massman/MHSD collection.

An aerial view of the Knudsen Brothers Ship Building Company in Superior, Wisconsin in 1947. Alex Clark photo - Wendell Wilke /MHSD collection.

The shipyard became Fraser Shipyards in 1955.

U.S. Steel's William A. McGonagle passes Mission Point in the St. Marys River. Date not noted. Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

Merritt-Chapman and Scott's tug Sherman H. Serre seen near Port Huron in this undated photo. Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

The Serre was one of several US Army small (ST) tugs (ST-500) that were used in commercial service on the Lakes after World War II. The vessel now operates as the William C. Selvick for Great Lakes Towing (formerly Sarter Marine Towing).

Bultema Dock and Dredge's deck barge Maitland No. 1 seen in Muskegon in 1980. Skip Meier photo/MHSD collection.

The Maitland No. 1 was built as a (railroad) car ferry for the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Navigation Company in 1916. It was reduced to a barge in 1942 and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Rockland, Maine in 1981.

Canada Steamship Lines Coverdale. Date and location not noted. Skip Meier photo/MHSD collection.

Thanksgiving dinner on the J.E. Upson, probably early in the vessels career. Also onboard photos including some of the crew, and a 1967 photo of the vessel in Ashtabula. Thomas Manse collection/shared with MHSD via Know Your Ships.

The vessel was built in 1908 and was towed to Spain for scrapping in 1969.

Great Lakes Towing's tug Arizona assists Algoma's Algosteel (2) up the Rouge River in this undated photo by Skip Meier/MHSD collection.

The Arizona still operates on the Great Lakes for Great Lakes Towing, but the Algosteel was towed to Turkey for scrapping in 2018.

With its black hull paint wearing through, revealing the vessel’s former U.S. Coast Guard “racing stripe”, the Canonie Transportation tug Karen Andrie catches some sun with its fleet mates at their main dock in Muskegon on March 28, 1986. While not positively identified on the photo, they are believed to be (R to L) the South Haven, the Muskegon, and the John Purves. Wendell Wilke photo/MHSD collection.

The Karen Andrie was built in 1939 as the US Coast Guard ice-breaking tug Arundel. It became the Karen Andrie in 1983 and currently sails as the Erika Kobasic for Basic Towing of Escanaba.

The final fate of the South Haven is unknown, while the Muskegon now operates as the Elizabeth Anne for McCulley Marine out of Fort Pierce, Floridia and the John Purves is now a museum vessel at the Door County Maritime Museum.

Brief histories of all four tugs can be read here: https://gltugs.wordpress.com/canonie-transportation/

Docked near the foot of Third Ave (now Steve Yzerman Drive) in Detroit, the Detroit and Cleveland's passenger steamer Eastern States looks rather forlorn stripped of her pilot house and other components. Laid up in 1950, the vessel was towed to Lake St. Clair in December of 1956 and intentionally set on fire to quickly remove most of the once elegant cabins and woodwork. The steel hull was then towed to Hamilton Ontario to be scrapped. Undated 1950's photo, Gordon Bugbee collection/MHSD.

National Steel Corp's George M. Humphrey. Date and location not noted. Robert (Bob) Pocotte collection/MHSD.

Seaway Towing's tug Seaway No. 1 tied up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Date not noted, but the 1900-built vessel carried that name from 1970 to 1981. Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

The building in the background was the old Soo Brewing Company brewery in the 900 block of East Portage Ave.

American Oil Company's tanker Amoco Indiana seen in the St. Marys River. Date not noted. Peter Worden collection/MHSD.

The vessel was shortened and converted into a bulk cement carrying barge in 1986-87 and operates today as the St. Marys Conquest.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Williams seen on Lake St. Clair on September 22, 1960. Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

The tug was built in 1944 for the U.S. Army as a large tug (LT-0456). From 1948 to 1961 the tug was assigned to the Corps of Engineers on the Great Lakes. In 1962 the vessel was sold to the Pakistani Navy. Deposition unknown.

Erie Sand Steamship's dredge Niagara seen in the St. Clair River, 1976. John Coulter photo/MHSD.

Arnold Line's Mackinac Island boat Algomah II laid up in Cheboygan in 1961. Gordon Bugbee photo/MHSD

Built in Maine as the Bainbridge in 1922, the vessel vessel was renamed as the Algomah II in 1936 and served as a ferry to Mackinac Island for many years. In 1962 it was renamed Erie Queen and converted into a charter yacht. By 1969 it was retired from active use and was towed to New York City were it was used for several years as a floating restaurant.

The tug Lynda Hindman with an unidentified pulpwood barge. Date and location not noted, but likely circa 1965 at the former paper mill in Detroit. Peter Vander Linden collection/MHSD.

The tug was built in 1908 as the fire tug William A McGonagle for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. It was rebuilt in 1938 into an open lake towing tug. A brief history can be viewed here: https://gltugs.wordpress.com/lynda-hindman/

The Cliffs Victory at Duluth August 27, 1972. Richard (Dick) Wicklund photo/MHSD.

The craneship Mindemoya seen in July 1940. Captain William Taylor photo/MHSD collection.

MHSD published a brief history of the vessel in the October 1971 edition of The Detroit Marine Historian. A much more detailed history was published by the Toronto Marine Historical Society in their April 1988 edition of The Scanner: https://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca//Documents/Scanner/20/07/default.asp?ID=c4

Great Lakes Steamship's Smith Thompson. Date and location not noted, but taken prior to the vessels sale to Wilson Marine Transit in 1957. Skip Meier collection/MHSD.

This is for MHSD members who have not yet renewed their membership. We'd appreciate if you took care of that at MHSD.org, or at least let us know why you have elected to drop your membership. Please email me at [email protected] – Roger LeLievre, President

Interlake's Henry G. Dalton sits, relatively untouched, at the Dwor Metals (Marine Salvage) scrapyard at Ramey's Bend in Port Colborne in April 1973. The vessel suffered from a fire on the aft end while laid up in Buffalo in March 1972, which ended its working career. The hull was resold to Italian ship breakers and would leave for the long tow across the Atlantic within a month. John Coulter collection/MHSD.

The tug is believed to be McAllister Towing's Yvon Dupre Jr. and the hull to the right is likely the remains of Erie Sand Steamship's (nee Wyandotte Chemical's) Alpena.

W.L. Emery Company's sand dredge John R. Emery unloads sand in downtown Detroit in 1957. Gordon Bugbee photo/MHSD.

Many commercial dredges once plied the Great Lakes, not primarily to deepen navigation channels, but to provide sand and gravel to sell commercially. The J.S. St. John, which works for Carmeuse in Erie, PA, is believed to be the last vessel remaining in this trade on the Great Lakes.

The John R. Emery was cut up for scrap in 2006 at Perth Amboy, NJ.

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock's tugs Marion and Andrew H. Green tied up. Date and location not noted, but possibly Buffalo, NY. Peter Vander Linden collection//MHSD.

Now based in Houston, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock is one of the largest US-based dredging companies and does dredging and marine construction worldwide. However, they do little work on the Great Lanes anymore.

Cleveland-Cliff's Michigan is seen rafted alongside another vessel in Duluth/Superior on August 24, 1954. Jim Bartke collection/MHSD.

The wonderful lighting, the vivid colors and the cleanliness of the 69 year old color slide seem to make up for the less than perfect framing and focus.

Gaelic Tugboat Company's tugs Kinsale, William A. Whitney, Shannon and Great Lakes Towing's Maryland assist American Steamship's grounded Sharon in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River. The Sharon grounded on May 5 1980. William (Bill) Hoey collection/MHSD.

The Canadian-flagged canaller Drumahoe. Date and location not noted but it appears to be when the vessel was operated by the Carter Wood Lines, which would date it to between 1924, when it was built in Ireland, and 1934 when the vessel started a long career under the management of Scott Misener. The vessel was later named Frank H. Brown and was scrapped in the early 1960's. Photo from the John Poole collection/MHSD.

The vessel has an interesting water-deflecting plate attached by cables to the hull; possibly to keep water from being pumped onto lock walls.

North American Towing Company's tugs Cherokee and Wabash docked in the Calumet River, May 1984. Jim Bartke collection/MHSD.