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Page 89 TANKER, ORE BOAT CRASH IN ST. CLAIR Detroit Free Press May 4,1964 A giant lake freighter and an oil tanker collided early today in Lake St. Clair at the mouth of the St. Clair River. No one was injured, but lake traffic slowed for several hours as the two ships limped out of the main channel. The vessels are the 690-foot ore carrier ERNEST T. WEIR and the 390-foot tanker MERCURY, both from Cleveland. approximately three miles southeast of Harsens Island. Witnesses said her bow looked "as though she'd hit a brick wall." Damage was confined to empty forward compartments. The oil tanks were not ruptured. Another tanker, the MARTHA E. ALLEN, was dispatched from Toledo to unload some of the MERCURY'S cargo so that she could be floated. Coastguardsmen, using canvas from the ERNEST T. WEIR now sails as STR. COURTNEY BURTON The collision occured at the St. Clair Cutoff shortly after 1:30 a.m. The WEIR, southbound, was carrying iron ore. The northbound MERCURY was loaded with jet aircraft fuel. Both ships had hull damage and were taking on water. The MERCURY, damaged extensively, was intentionally beached by its captain, R.B. Robbins, off the St. Clair Flats Channel, WEIR, made a makeshift "collision mat" to cover the gaping hole while the ship's pumps were run to hold down the flooding. The WEIR remained anchored in the middle of the lake, near the St. Clair Light. Her master is Capt. F.N. Lindsay. Coast Guard marine inspectors boarded both ships to examine the damage. Neither ship may proceed until the inspectors determine that Photo from Dossin Museum Collection