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      FORTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO. - The following vessels passed Detroit August 10, 1820 , which we find recorded in the log book kept aboard the schooner Elizabeth ,

    FORTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO. - The following vessels passed Detroit August 10, 1820 , which we find recorded in the log book kept aboard the schooner Elizabeth ,

Maritime History of the Great Lakes

      Launched in 1862, the scow-schooner SARAH CLOW was no backyard sailboat - she was a significant vessel of 192 tons. The SARAH CLOW was driven ashore and destroyed by a storm in the fall of 1869. Thanks to Brendon Baillod for providing some of the information used in these notes. …

      Column 2

      TIDAL WAVE AT GRAND HAVEN - A tidal wave rushed up the Grand River from the lake on the 1st instant, raising the water about thirty inches in a few seconds. A large number of logs were swept from the boom of Messrs. Storr & Co., and Wyman & Burnell, …

      Technically not a tidal wave, this was probably what limnologists call a "seiche." It is usually caused in one part of the lake by high atmospheric pressure or high winds on another part of the lake. However, this is the first time I've ever heard of a seiche occurring on …

      Column 6 Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the 1852 wreck of the ATLANTIC, near the center of the lake, was visible from the surface! The ARCTURUS was later recovered. She had only been there since the previous fall.

      The Congress was lost in October of the same year. It is not known whether she was using the oil-burning apparatus at the time. This concept was indeed revolutionary in an era when many steamers had not yet changed from wood fuel to coal.

      Anyone who has read the Tom Clancy book "The Hunt For Red October" will recognize the basic idea of this propulsion system. The original Toledo Blade article has an error in it, which is corrected in a followup article.

      Whether this was ever resolved or not, the VICTORIA was still listed as both a Canadian vessel and an American vessel when she was wrecked at Oswego, three years later.

      LAKE TRAFFIC IN THE OLDEN TIME. -The Cleveland Herald of the 29th published an interesting letter from Usher Parsons , one of the four surviving heroes of

    LAKE TRAFFIC IN THE OLDEN TIME. -The Cleveland Herald of the 29th published an interesting letter from Usher Parsons , one of the four surviving heroes of Maritime History of the Great Lakes

      Unfortunately, the microfilm of this interesting article on a famous laker was printed in the gutter of the paper and was sewn into a bound volume, which was later microfilmed. As a result, the end of each line is missing. Some words are extrapolated, but anything that is not easily …

      The travails of the ANNIE VOUGHT and R. G. WINSLOW were among the incidents cited in the appeal to the government to build a light station on Spectacle Reef. The reef lies a few feet below the surface just about dead center in the eastern approach to the Straits of …

      "Tower's Light" on Lake Huron probably referes to TAWAS light. Most - but not all - of these projects were completed during 1868. More information can be obtained on many of the lights mentioned at: http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/ltsum.htm

      Secretary McCulloch writes the following to the owner of the propeller Dictator , which is applicable as well to other vessels over fifty tons burden: Sir - In reply to ...

      THE LOSS OF THE SCHOONER JAMES NAVAGH . - The last number of the Manitowoc Pilot contains the following highly interesting particulars of the loss of the schooner James ...

      IMPORTANT TO VESSEL OWNERS - EVERY AMERICAN VELSEL [sic] TO BE NUMBERED BY THE FIRST OF JULY - The Act of Congress approved July 24, 1856, chapter 268, section 13, requires that "The Director of the Bureau of Statistics shall prepare an annual statement of vessels registered, enrolled ...

      EARLY LAKE HISTORY - According to early marine record, which of late has fallen into our possession, we are enabled to present to the readers of our marine column, much matter pertaining to the early navigation of the lakes, which will be of great importance for future reference. A ...

      EARLY LAKE HISTORY - On Lake Ontario previous to 1799, and during that year, the following vessels were engaged in the commerce of the lake: The schooner Fair American, Captain Theophilus Pease. This vessel was owned by Mathew M. Man, of Oswego. Schooner Lark, Captain J. Goodwin. ...

      *now part of Ecorse, MI

      NOTE: This is a translation of a portion of the Nouveau voyage d’un pais plus grand que l’Europe (Utrecht, 1698) a published description of the very early exploration of the Great Lakes region by French adventurers by the Belgian Recollet missionary father Louis Hennepin. It describes the building and short …