Passenger ships

The history of commercial passenger shipping on the Great Lakes is long but uneven. It reached its zenith between the mid-19th century and the 1950s. As early as 1844, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes. By 1900, fleets of relatively luxurious passenger steamers plied the waters of the lower lakes, especially the major industrial centres of Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto.

Passenger Ships on Lake Ontario

The great water system of the St. Lawrence and the lakes is accessible to a vast population, but no part of that population is situated more advantageously than the dwellers of Toronto. A two hours' run carries one to Niagara. The beauties of the Thousand Islands and the glories of the rapids are to be reached at little expense of time and money.

With the increased demand for excursion facilities new steamers appeared in Toronto harbor in great numbers,

A popular excursioncompany of the time was the Niagara River Line. Travelling between Toronto and Niagara was one of the earliest steam routes, if not actually the earliest, on Lake Ontario.

As early as 1827 CANADA , a British steam packet, make regular trips between York (Toronto) and Niagara Town in the short space of 4 1/2 hours. This was marvellously good time in those days, for steam navigation. Then came the new CITY OF TORONTO

The Niagara Navigation Company sailed this route with the CHICORA and the CIBOLA, two well-known and popular vessels. The CHICORA, which was put on the route in 1880, a splendid side-wheeler, built by Laird, of Liverpool, builder of the famous ALABAMA. She was 233 feet long, and authorized to carry 800 passengers.

The Northern Navigation steamboat CIBOLA in the Niagar River off Lewiston N.Y.

The splendid accommodation afforded by the CHICORA made her a favorite of thousands and was an important factor in making the Niagara route one of the most popular, claiming the favor of the citizens of Toronto. In 1888 her "big sister" the CIBOLA, was launched. This magnificent vessel was designed by Morton, designer of the celebrated passenger vessels on the Clyde. She is licenced to carry 1,200 passengers and rivals the CHICORA in speed, steadiness and sea-going qualities.

For an interesting story about the "CHICORA" go to: http://www.portmemories.com/chicora.htm

Passenger Ships on the other Great Lakes

The history of commercial passenger shipping on the Great Lakes is long but uneven. It reached its zenith between the mid-19th century and the 1950s. As early as 1844, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes. By 1900, fleets of relatively luxurious passenger steamers plied the waters of the lower lakes, especially the major industrial centres of Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto.

The first steamboat on the Great Lakes was the passenger carrying WALK-ON-THE-WATER, built in 1818 to navigate Lake Erie. It was a success and more vessels like it followed. Steamboats on the lakes grew in size and number, and additional decks were built on the superstructure to allow more capacity. This inexpensive method of adding capacity was adapted from river steamboats and successfully applied to lake-going craft.

The first steamboat was the passenger ship WALK-ON-THE-WATER, built in 1818 to navigate Lake Erie.

The screw propeller was introduced to the Great Lakes by Vandalia in 1842 and allowed the building of a new class of combination passenger and freight carrier. The first of these "package and passenger freighters," Hercules, was built in Buffalo, New York, in 1843. Hercules displayed all the features that defined the type, a screw propelled the vessel, passengers were accommodated in staterooms on the upper deck, and package freight below on the large main deck and in the holds.

Engines developed as well. Compound engines, in which steam was expanded twice for greater efficiency, were first used on the Great Lakes in 1869. Triple-expansion engines, for even greater efficiency, were introduced in 1887 and quadruple-expansion engines, the ultimate type of reciprocating engine for speed, power and efficiency, appeared on the lakes in 1894.

Steamboat lines were established by railroads on the Great lakes to join railheads in the 1850s. This service carried goods and passengers from railroads in the East across the length of the lakes to railroads for the journey West. Railroads bought and built steamship lines to compliment railroad services. One such railroad-owned steamship line was formed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1865 to connect their terminals at Buffalo, to those of the Great Northern Railroad at Duluth, Minnesota. This new line, owned by the Erie and Western Transportation Co., became the well-known Anchor Line.

A significant industry in leisure cruising arose beginning in the late 19th century, often providing large passenger vessels for charter for day trips. Infamous among these are the Eastland, which capsized in the Chicago River in 1914 with the loss of hundreds of lives, and the Noronic, which burned at the wharf in Toronto in September 1949 with the loss of 119 lives. While the ship had been known as the 'Queen of the Great Lakes' it is now also a symbol of the end of passenger cruises on the Great Lakes.

As o 1915 railroads were prohibited, under most circumstances, from owning steamships. As a result, railroad-owned company fleets were sold to buyers with no ownership interest in railways because under the new law railroads had to divest themselves of their marine divisions on the lakes. Under this divestiture law, The Milwaukee Clipper, for instance, was sold by the Anchor Line along with four other railroad-owned company fleets to the newly formed Great Lakes Transit Corporation. Under this flag, the Clipper carried passengers along her old route until retired in 1970.

Before trains and, later, cars became prevalent, summer vacation areas in more remote areas around the Great Lakes were accessible primarily only by steamer. Northern Michigan's tourist and resort areas began to grow in this manner in the late 1890s.

In the late 19th century, many early tourists arrived at Northern Michigan resort areas via a Lake Michigan steamship. Chicago to Harbor Springs, Michigan, was a popular trip for many passengers. An elegant ship named the Manitou would make the trip in 24 hours. In 1898, the fare was $5.00, with meals and berth extra. Another popular but less elegant ship was the North Land (Northland). Two other popular ships were the Petoskey and the Charlevoix; their time to Harbor Springs was 40 hours. The cost to take these boats in 1898 was $7.00, with meals and berth included. Early steamships stopped at Harbor Springs due to its naturally protected and very deep harbor; later, they added a stop in Petoskey.

During the period between 1910 and 1931, crowds would gather at the Glen Haven docks on Saturdays and Sundays. Motorcoaches awaited newly arriving resort guests while many summer home residents rode to the docks to meet husbands or fathers arriving from the Chicago area. "They leave Chicago Friday night," explained a tourist publication, "and get here the next morning; first stop. They're with their families until Sunday night when the boat takes 'em back again, ready for the job. Great for 'em!"

Major lines on the Great Lakes included the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company in the U.S., and in Canada, the Northern Navigation Company (later absorbed by Canada Steamship Lines). Some were affiliated with railway companies such as the Ann Arbor Railroad, the Grand Trunk Railway, and the Pere Marquette Railway (absorbed in 1947 into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway). On Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, the ships of the Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited have shuttled passengers since 1921.

The Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Co. inaugurated regular overnight passenger service between Detroit and Cleveland in 1869. It lasted until 1951. The huge sidewheel steamers were a familiar and popular sight, first as they docked near the old Main St. bridge over the Cuyahoga River, and later at the elaborate terminal constructed on the lakefront at E. 9th St. The CLEVELAND & BUFFALO TRANSIT CO., incorporated in 1892, also operated sidewheelers--to Buffalo, Toledo, the Lake Erie islands, and Cedar Point until it ceased operations in 1939, the victim of the automobile.

Since the 1950s, leisure cruises have given way to ferry services on the Great Lakes, transporting people and vehicles to and from various islands. These include Isle Royale, Pelée Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Bois Blanc Island (Michigan), Bois Blanc Island (Ontario), Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, the Toronto Islands. Well-known among these is the Chi-Cheemaun linking Tobermory (Ontario) with the largest freshwater island in the world, Manitoulin Island.

Car ferry services also link Ludington, Michigan with Manitowoc, Wisconsin and a high-speed catamaran running between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Muskegon, Michigan.

ALABAMA

NORONIC

Georgian Bay Line

Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Duluth, Georgian Bay, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, and sometimes intermediate ports. In the 1940s the two ships were briefly joined by a third vessel, SS Alabama, a refugee from the bankrupt Goodrich Transit Company. The three ships tied up at the foot of 16th Street in Holland, Michigan, for each winter and until they were permanently assigned elsewhere.

Up until World War II vessels like those operated by the Georgian Bay Line were an essential part of the transportation infrastructure of the Great Lakes. The line sold large quantities of point-to-point tickets to revenue passengers who paid publicly tariffed rates to be moved from one port to another. After the war, with increasingly inexpensive motor fuel and reliable, paved roads, point-to-point passenger volume declined and the Georgian Bay Line shifted its emphasis to the cruise ship trade.

Both vessels advertised weeklong cruises through the upper Great Lakes, with the South American traditionally visiting Lake Superior and the North American taking the Lake Michigan run. Mackinac Island, in the Straits of Mackinac, was the division point where the Y-shaped arms of the Georgian Bay Line's service territory came together.

The Georgian Bay Line's long-term viability was compromised by the seasonal nature of Great Lakes cruise trade. The boats were traditionally fitted out each spring in May and mothballed each fall in late September. After the invention of the passenger jet airplane in the 1950s, North American tourists found themselves able to fly to ports in locations, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, where twelve-month cruising was possible. In addition, cruise ships operating in international waters could hire crews from the Third World and did not have to obey U.S. or Canadian labor laws.

The Georgian Bay Line lost money in the 1960s. In 1963, after the GBL retired the North American, the South American and the Greene Line's Delta Queen were the last two long-distance cruise ships sailing under the U.S. flag. Neither vessel could meet modern fire-safety standards. In 1966, citing the danger to passengers of a catastrophic fire, Congress passed a law ordering both passenger vessels to tie up to the docks permanently. A series of temporary exceptions were carved out for the Delta Queen, but not for the South American. In 1967, the final Georgian Bay Line boat made its last trip.

The North American sank while under tow to what would have been a new life as part of a merchant marine academy, and the South American was scrapped in 1992. The Alabama was cut down to a barge in 1946 and was still afloat as of 2005.

 

NORTH AMERICAN

SS North American was a Great Lakes steamboat built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan in 1913 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company. The vessel was launched on January 16, 1913 and was the oldest of two sister ships, the newer one being the SS South American.

The North American was 280 feet (85 m) in length, had a 47-foot (14 m) beam, and drew 17 feet 6 inches (5.3 m) She was equipped with a 2,200 indicated horsepower quadruple expansion steam engine and three coal-burning Scotch boilers. In 1923 the boilers were converted to burn oil.

In 1963 the North American was sold to the Canadian Holiday Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania. The company used her in cross-lake service between Erie, Pennsylvania and Port Dover, Ontario for one year until she was retired in 1964. After being retired from service the North American was involved with purchasing deals of uncertain nature, and was finally sold at public auction to the Seafarers International Union in 1967 and she was to be used as a training ship at Piney Point, Maryland.

While the North American was on the North Atlantic being towed to Piney Point, she unexpectedly sank on September 4, 1967. The location was 25 miles (40 km) northeast from Nantucket Light, where the bottom is at 400 feet (120 m). The wreck still remains at this location.

The SS North American has been found. In July 2006, a research team aboard Quest Marine’s R/V Quest located the ship close to the edge of the continental shelf, approximately 140 miles (230 km) off the New England coast in 250 feet (76 m) of water.

 

CAYUGA

The Niagara Navigation Co. contracted the Canadian Ship Building Co., of Toronto, to build a steamer 377 feet long, 36 feet beam, 4,300 horse-power to carry 2,500 passengers. The steamer was successfully launched in the company's yards at the foot of Bathurst street, Toronto, on the 3rd of March, 1906.

To name the new ship requests were made for suggestions, and "Book Tickets" were offered as a prize to those who might send in the name which might be accepted. Two hundred and thirty-three names beginning with "C" and ending with "A" were contributed by letters and through the public press. Out of these names the name CAYUGA was selected in recognition of the Indian tribes on the south shore of Lake Ontario, the district of the inner American lakes, in the State of New York, one of which bears the name of Lake Cayuga.

The CAYUGA in the Niagara River T

The steamer was placed in regular service, for the run between Toronto and Charlotte, and return, a distance of ninety-four miles each way, at an average speed of 21 ½ miles per hour. An additional route was to make a thirty-mile run, being the distance, between Toronto and Niagara, at a maintained speed of 22 ½ miles per hour.

CAYUGA at dock in Toronto.

CAYUGA cruising up the Niagara River

The CAYUGA was placed on a Toronto to Lewistion N.Y. route in 1908 when Niagara Navigation Co. purchased the docking facilities at Lewiston.

The CAYUGA at the Lewiston docks

The CAYUGA Deck

The smoking room

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