Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 28, no. 6 (March 1996), p. 5

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Ship of the Month - cont'd. the "Detroit Free Press" of October 23, 1888, reported that the MORLEY was loading her maiden cargo at Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday, October 20th. Her name appears in the vessel passages for the rest of the 1888 season. The shipyard may well have run the ship not so much to make money with her but to show her around in the hope that a buyer would be found for her, and if that was the intent, it certainly proved successful. The "Port Huron Daily Times" on January 4th, 1889, reported that "the big steam barge W. B. MORLEY (sic), which was launched at Marine City late in the season, has been sold to Cleveland parties for $100, 000". (She had been valued at $130, 000 in the 1889 issue of the Inland Lloyd's Vessel Register. ) The buyers, of course, were the Corrigan interests of Cleveland, and in our original feature, we described the history of the Corrigan fleet. The notes of the late marine historian William A. McDonald, of Detroit, showed the sale as actually having taken place on March 21, 1889, while the enrollment (no. 74) was made at Cleveland on April 3rd, 1889. The ship was enrolled under the new name (b) CALEDONIA, and her owners were shown as James Corri gan and John Huntington. The CALEDONIA was mentioned in a number of press reports during the years she ran for the Corrigan fleet. The "Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin" of August 22nd, 1890, carried a report from Sault Ste. Marie regarding an acci dent involving CALEDONIA that had occurred that morning, at about 7:00, in the Lake George Channel of the St. Mary's River (those being the days before Little Rapids Cut was opened to vessel traffic on the other side of Sugar Island). The downbound steamer J. H. WADE, a new steel freighter just built in 1890 and owned by William Chisholm and the Cleveland Rolling Mills Com pany, collided with the Corrigan schooner-barge TASMANIA, which at the time was in tow of the CALEDONIA. "The accident occurred below the elbow in the narrowest part of the cut. Owing to the TASMANIA being (upbound) in ballast, and having but 500 tons of coal, the WADE being fully laden with ore, the latter cut through the for mer's port bow, opening up her rail, deck frames and planking as far as the garboard strake (the first plank of the outside hull next to the keel -Ed. ). The force of the shock was so severe that TASMANIA'S decks and butts were opened up to the mainmast. In a few minutes, she sank in twenty feet of water. "The WADE grounded after the collision on the opposite bank, and was re leased by the steamer MANOLA, which brought up the TASMANIA'S crew. The TAS MANIA lies in bad shape for navigation. Her stern is one-third in the chan nel leading from the Red Stake... "The accident is attributed to several tows meeting in this narrow cut, and too much speed and sheering on the part of the WADE. Both bows of the WADE are badly damaged above the water line. The TASMANIA is owned by Corrigan and others, of Cleveland, and is valued at $30, 000. " (The wooden TASMANIA had been built in 1871 at Port Huron as [a] JAMES COUCH [U.S. 75598]. At the time of her construction, she was said to be the largest sailing vessel on the Great Lakes, 223. 7 x 34. 0 x 14. 5, 843. 84 Gross and 801. 65 Net. She had a number of owners, eventually entering the Corrigan fleet, which renamed her (b) TASMANIA in 1890. She survived the collision with the WADE, being repaired at Bay City, Michigan, and she lasted until October 18, 1905, when she foundered in the Pelee Passage of Lake Erie. At the time, she and fleetmate schooner-barge ASHLAND were in tandem tow behind the Corrigan steamer BULGARIA. ) The next press item concerning CALEDONIA was a report from Cleveland which appeared in the "Buffalo Enquirer" of October 21, 1891: "The prop. CALEDONIA and consort NORTHWEST left port last night coal laden. The steamer did not attempt to pass a line to the schooner until they were outside, and then in

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