Adventures of the Blackgang
Thalassophilia, Nautical History, Culture, and Art
-
-
North Star at Henkel’s Elevator on the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, circa 1905
-
On this day we remember the tragedy of the SS Eastland disaster. The S.S. Eastland, known as the “Speed Queen of the Great Lakes,” was part of a fleet of five excursion boats assigned to take Western Electric employees, families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for a day of fun. But the trip quickly turned tragic and resulted in the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
The Eastland, docked at the Clark Street Bridge, never left the Chicago River. Tragedy struck on July 24, 1915 when the ship rolled over into the river at the wharf’s edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families.
For more detailed information visit http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/
Images from the Eastland Disaster Historical Society.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Tn4k_gAdR/?igshid=p70nnc5j7x8b -
-
Ships of the former Upper Lakes Group
bc whaleback steamer
-
-
Superior Pics of the Lake Superior Region
The American Victory, formerly the Middletown, is one of the oldest and most historic boats on the Great Lakes. She was built as the Marquette in 1942 at Sparrows Point, Maryland. Later that same year, she became the Neshanic. During the Second World War the ship saw duty on both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean as a tanker.
She is credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft and was also hit by a Japanese bomber while refueling a destroyer in the Pacific.
In 1947, she was renamed the Gulfoil when she was purchased by the Gulf Oil Company. In 1958, she was in a collision with another tanker and lost many of her crew members.Although heavily damaged, she was repaired, and converted to a Great Lakes bulk carrier called the Pioneer Challenger. In 1962, her name was changed to the hometown of the Armco Steel Company, Middletown, Ohio. In 2006, she was sold by Oglebay Norton to American Steamship and became the American Victory. –Duluth Shipping News
-
The Whaleback Bay State underway. From the Peter B. Worden Collection/MHSD - Marine Historical Society of Detroit
-
The Irving S. Olds on a Winter Run, Upper Lake Huron, January 2, 1976
Photograph by Rus Hurt / Lake Boats No Longer With Us -
The Great White Liner “South American” owned by Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Co. in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1915-1930. Caption reads: “The World’s Finest Vacation on your Own Great Lakes”
-
-
steel whaleback barge “Sagamore” built 1892 Superior, Wisconsin
Sunk July, 1901 after being struck by the Stmr. “Northern Queen” in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, while carrying iron ore from Duluth, Minnesota to Lake Erie
-
-
SS Meteor Museum Ship, World’s Last Whaleback 8/17/16. 200 Marina Drive, Superior, WI 54880 https://goo.gl/QmcZrH https://goo.gl/QEPCGy
(Source: facebook.com, via malousum)
-
Duluth, Minnesota; Passenger Steamer SS Noronic under Aerial Lift Bridge leaving Superior Harbor
SS Noronic was launched June 2, 1913 in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada.[4] She was built by the Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company for the Northern Navigation Company, an operating division of Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), to perform passenger and package freight service on the Great Lakes.
She had five decks, was 362 feet (110 m) in length, and measured 6,095 gross register tons. At maximum capacity, she could hold 600 passengers and 200 crew. One of the largest and most beautiful passenger ships in Canada at the time, she was nicknamed “The Queen of the Lakes.“
Destroyed by fire, September 17, 1949 with the loss of at least 118 lives. more