Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 16, 1888 CGS (Canadian Government Ship) Stanley, which is widely considered to be Canada’s first fully functional icebreaker, was launched at the shipyard of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (Fairfields) in the burgh of Govan (now part of Glasgow) in Scotland. This steamship was named after Frederick Arthur Stanley (1841-1908), 16h Earl of Derby,... Continue Reading →
May 23, 1891 In the Wisconsin city of Superior (at the western end of Lake Superior), the whaleback freighter SS Charles W. Wetmore was launched at the shipyard of entrepreneur and Great Lakes captain Alexander McDougall’s American Steel Barge Company. This vessel was the latest of the whaleback freighters originally conceived by McDougall. These cargo... Continue Reading →
January 15, 1884 A steamship built for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) was launched in the ward of Williamsburg in the city of Brooklyn (now one of New York City’s five boroughs). This late-morning ceremony specifically took place at the shipyard of James D. Leary (1837-1902). The design for the ship has been... Continue Reading →
February 16, 1979 In the Great Lakes region, a lake freighter (also known as a laker) made her first voyage. This was the first voyage of that type of vessel in mid-winter, and it took place on the mostly ice-covered waters of both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. This lake freighter was constructed by Bay... Continue Reading →
February 16, 1882 The iron-hulled Great Lakes freighter SS Onoko was launched from the shipyard of Globe Iron Works in Cleveland. The steam-powered Onoko, which measured 302.6 feet (92.2 meters) in length and 24.8 feet (7.6 meters) in height, was the first large commercial ship on the Great Lakes to be made of iron. Globe... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 