Every
ship has a story. Men wrap their lives about it, and women their loves,
and in so doing it makes fiction appear dull in comparison.
---Dana
Thomas Bowen,
Lore of the Lakes, 1940
Shipping
on the Great Lakes began in 1679 when the first ship to sail the upper
lakes, the Griffon, was launched. By the mid-19th century, the bulk
shipping industry had begun on the Great Lakes with the transport of
iron ore, wheat and coal. The late 19th century was the Golden Age of
Great Lakes shipping when the lines of ships moving up and down the
lakes were similar to the bumper-to-bumper traffic of today's urban
roadways. Since then, the number of ships on the Great Lakes has declined,
but U.S. and Canadian ships as well as dozens of international vessels
still regularly travel through the lakes during the typical 10-month
shipping season.
"The
history of the Great Lakes is an interesting theme. It directly concerns
many people -- those who sail the waters of the lakes, those interested
in their tributary resources, those who dwell in their populous cities.
Few, indeed, are the residents of America to whom there have not come
benefits, direct or indirect, from the masterful influences radiating
from their shores. A picturesque charm pervades the scenes of early
traffic and adventure. The transformations from time to time in the
size and construction of the lake craft, the forces that created fleets,
the invincible spirit of enterprise that developed the tremendous
resources of the region, the energies both of government and individuals
put forth to overcome the obstacles to a more extended and efficient
navigation of the lakes, a chronological review of the important marine
incidents, sketches of the individuals whose lives have been devoted
to the building of the lake marine; these and many other features
teem with interest and come within the purview of this work."
Reprinted
form the original document: J.
B. Mansfield, ed., History of the Great Lakes. Volume I, Chicago: J.
H. Beers & Co., 1899
Four
Welland Canals have been built to connect Lake Erie and Lake Ontario
and by-pass the raging Niagara Falls. The first had forty wooden locks
and was opened to navigation on November 9, 1829. The second Welland
Canal, with 27 stone locks, was opened in 1850 while the third, with
26 larger stone locks, was completed in 1887.
The
building of the present Welland Canal got underway in 1913 but was halted
due to World War One. Construction resumed in the 1920’s and the
project was officially opened to navigation on August 6, 1932. Canada’s
largest freighter, the LEMOYNE, made the first official transit. Actual
service had begun earlier and it was the GEORGIAN that was the first
trader through the new waterway on April 21, 1930.
First
vessel, S.S. "GEORGIAN", to enter Lock No. 1, April 21, 1930
S.S.
"GEORGIAN" leaving Lock No. 1, April 21, 1930
At
the time, the GEORGIAN was part of the North West Transportation Company
and was used to carry package freight between Toronto and Fort William
while upbound and the deliver grain from the Canadian Lakehead ports
on the downbound run. The 258-foot long vessel had an adventurous year
in 1930 and survived two accidents before being the final ship down
the Welland Canal for the 1930 season.
Originally
named FORDONIAN, she was built in 1912 at Port Glasgow, Scotland, by
the Clyde Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. She was given a length
of 250'0, a beam of 42'0 and a depth of 23'6, these measurements producing
tonnage of 2368 Gross and 1905 Net. FORDONIAN was equipped with side
ports and 'tween decks for the package freight trade. She was powered
by Swedish "hot bulb" diesel engines, 18 1/2" x 32 1/4".
FORDONIAN
entered service for the Canadian Interlake Line (Merchants Mutual Steamship
Co. Ltd.), Montreal, and operated in the package freight and grain trades,
Canadian Interlake Line became part of Canada Steamship Lines Ltd.,
Montreal, in December 1913 and for the next two seasons FORDONIAN continued
operating on the lakes, but under C.S.L. colours.
In
1915 she was taken to salt water due to the urgent need for tonnage
created by the hostilities of the Great War. C.S.L. continued operating
her after she was released from government service in 1918 but she remained
on salt water and in 1921 was sold to the American Mediterranean Line
of New York.
In
May 1923, a Buffalo attorney, William M. Connelly became manager of
FORDONIAN on her return to the lakes. Ownership appears to have remained
with American Mediterranean. From 1923 until 1925, Connelly chartered
the ship to the Canada Atlantic Transit Co., which operated a package
freight service from Chicago and various Lake Michigan ports to Depot
Harbour, Ontario, in conjunction with the Canadian National Railway
Co.
Paterson Steamships Ltd., Fort William, took over the ship in August
of 1926. They named her (b) YUKONDOC in honour of the most westerly
of Canada's northern territories. This is one of the few names that
has not been repeated by the company since the sale of the vessel. Paterson
employed the ship in the grain trade, mostly on the upper lakes. YUKONDOC
was an odd ship for Paterson, most of whose canallers were of standard
design. She was, firstly, the only diesel canaller the company owned
at the time.
Paterson
sold to the Northwest Transportation Co. Ltd. which was formed by Capt.
A. A. Hudson and Capt. D'Alton Hudson in 1929, she was renamed (c) GEORGIAN.
James Playfair of Midland would appear to have had some interest in
this venture because she was painted in his distinctive colours, grey
hull, white forecastle and cabins, and crimson stack with a black smokeband.
The white paint was stripped off the pilothouse and it was given a coat
of varnish.
GEORGIAN
operated mainly carrying package freight from Toronto to the Lakehead
and on the return trip she usually had grain for Toronto Elevators Ltd.
As previously mentioned, she made the news in 1930 when, on the 21st
of April, she officially opened Lock One of the new Welland Canal, passing
upbound and being the first ship to use the new facility. The entire
canal was not, of course, operational until 1931 and, in fact, the system
was not officially opened for traffic until August 6th, 1932.
GEORGIAN
was not, however, destined to spend many years on her new route, for
she was driven ashore on Lake Superior's Keweenaw Point on December
12, 1932, while downbound on her last trip of the season. Her owners
abandoned her to the underwriters.
Salvaged
in 1933 by Sin-Mac Lines Ltd., and their upper lake subsidiary United
Towing & Salvage Co. Ltd., she became a unit of the Sin-Mac fleet,
the intention apparently being to use her as a salvage lighter. She
reverted to her original name at this time and thus became (d) FORDONIAN.
Sin-Mac
sold her in 1934 to the Federal Motorship Corp., Buffalo and she was
taken to the Ogdensburg, New York, yard of the St. Lawrence Marine Repair
Dock Corp., where she was rebuilt as a barge canal type motorship (sometimes
referred to as a "bridge skimmer"). Her depth was reduced
to 16'7 and her tonnage dropped to 1540 Gross and 1118 Net. Her original
diesel was removed and she was fitted with a smaller six-cylinder diesel
18" x 22" built by the Bessemer Gas Engine Co., of Grove City,
Pennsylvania. She returned to service as (e) BADGER STATE and along
with two newer vessels built for the trade, BUCKEYE STATE and EMPIRE
STATE, she operated on the lakes and the Erie Canal.
Starting
in 1942 and continuing for the duration of the Second War, all three
motorships were chartered to the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Co.
Ltd., for the movement of newsprint from the mill at Baie Comeau, Quebec,
to New York City via the relatively safe inland waterways of the St.
Lawrence River, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River. Shipments of this
nature were banned from the open east coast routes which were subject
to enemy interference. On the return trip, the canal boats carried bauxite
ore to Port Alfred, Quebec.
The
end of her career came, unfortunately, in a violent manner. On January
14, while operating in the Gulf of Mexico, she struck a submerged object,
possibly a wreck, and tore her bottom so severely that she foundered
soon afterwards. And so ended the life of a ship that seemed unable
to settle down to any lengthy period of operation in a given trade.
The
Fourth Welland Canal continues to provide the link between Lake Ontario
and Lake Erie and when it came to the first transit , they let GEORGIAN
do it.
The
Author E.B. ‘Skip’ Gillham is a well respected and honoured
marine historian whose articles are published regularly in a number
of publications. He resides in Vineland, Ontario.
