Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 34, no. 1 (October 2001), p. 7

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7. Ship of the Month - cont'd. At the Canadian Lakehead, it was usual that when FORT HENRY was at either the C. P. R. or the C. N. R. dock, loading and unloading operations took place simultaneously. The only exception to that was when FORT HENRY was to move to one of the elevators to load grain. We have mentioned FORT HENRY's speed and the wake she threw up behind her when running fast. Although vessel speed was not controlled as stringently back in the 1950s as it would be later, FORT HENRY found herself in trouble with the authorities on a number of occasions, particularly in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. She frequently would get speeding "tickets", so the va­ rious officers would take turns taking the blame. On her last upbound trip of the 1956 season, FORT HENRY came extremely close to being lost on Lake Superior. It was early in December and FORT HENRY was bound for the Canadian Lakehead with package freight. Harry Moore was second mate and stood the 12 to 4 watch. Earl McKnight was third mate, while George Johnson was first mate and Tommy Good was on the wheel. It was just about daylight and Harry had stayed up to watch the radar as they approached the Canoe Rocks, off the northeastern end of Isle Royale, and sailed through the channel between the Rocks and Passage Island. They were taking bearings on the Passage Island Light, situated on the southwestern end of Passage Island, 3. 5 miles off Blake Point, the northeasternmost tip of Isle Royale. Capt. Anderson also was in the pilothouse and was giving the helm orders. Just as they were passing the Canoe Rocks, the master ordered a turn of just five degrees "to keep her clear", and then she hit. FORT HENRY was travel­ ling at a speed of 18 knots, and three extremely heavy bumps were experien­ ced, the force of the impacts throwing the men about the pilothouse. Harry Moore had the rubber hood of the radar screen shoved right over his head and down to his chin. The wheelsman had the hub of the wheel shoved into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and he collapsed onto the deck. First Mate Johnson had the edge of the chart table driven into his stomach, and he also had the wind knocked out of him. A sliding door slammed shut on Capt. Anderson's fingers. FORT HENRY's starboard double bottom filled with water so rapidly that it surged right up through the vent pipes and onto the main deck. She listed to starboard as the engineroom was being called to see if she was taking water there. The Chief answered that she was alright there, so at that point Capt. Anderson said "Give her all you can as we are going to make a run for Fort William! ". Harry watched as the shaft R. P. M. gauge ran higher and higher. It went to its maximum reading of 180 revolutions and beyond. There was a metal peg with which the indicator needle made contact and then started to bend. Then the needle broke off! Meanwhile, action was taken to trim the ship. Water was pumped into the port side double bottom. A crew was quickly assembled to check the lower cargo hold. They went below into the forepeak and then through the watertight door in the collision bulkhead and onto the forward 'tween deck. Then they ga­ thered in the freight elevator and lowered themselves down into lower No. 1 hold, not knowing what was there to greet them. Fortunately, they found eve­ rything dry. FORT HENRY maintained her flat-out run to Fort William. They radioed ahead to the C. S. L. agent to let him know of their problems. The ship was full of freight and had to be unloaded immediately upon arrival. It was normal to unload all of the C. P. R. freight at one dock, and then proceed to the C. N. R. dock to complete unloading. In this case, she got to the wharf where all of the C. P. and C. N. stevedores were waiting for her. They worked non-stop all night until all of the cargo was unloaded. At about 3: 00 p. m. the next day, FORT HENRY cleared the freight shed to move to the Port Arthur Shipyards. She was placed on the dock immediately and the pumping down of the drydock was begun. It was about 1: 00 a. m. the following day that the officers got to take a look underneath their ship. There was a

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