Great lake boats, a good video

[ning]

June 1909, at the Canadian Lock on the St. Marys River, Soo Michigan, they experienced a free flow through the lock after an upbound freighter breeched the lower operating gates. A photographer trapped on the south side of the lock captured this image. As you can see, a free flow through a lock creates a rapids within the chamber making it impossible to navigate.

Found this: Day of the Soo Locks Disaster — 1909’s Maritime Meltdown at Sault Ste. Marie
Between this and various other articles it sounds like there is some controversy about the ultimate cause of the breach.

 

[ArlyA]

Algoma Central Corporation​

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Happy Fourth of July to our southern neighbors!

As Canadians, we value our long-standing trading partnership with the United States in driving the North American economy forward. Our binational marine operations across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway supports thousands of jobs and enables the safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation of essential commodities.

From ship to shore, we’re proud to be part of a resilient, reliable marine network serving both sides of the border, keeping critical industries moving and supply chains strong.

Wishing our American customers and colleagues a safe and joyful Independence Day!

 

[ArlyA]

From a Corps post. Yesterday, one of the Soo Locks Park Rangers snapped this photo of the 1,004 foot long Mesabi Miner entering the Poe Lock on her way to Toledo, Ohio. The turbulance visible on the left side is caused by her bow thrusters. This propellor in the bow assists in steering the massive ship.
Footer captains like to come in "zero and five" with the hull hugging the north wall of the lock chamber while keeping five feet of clearance on the south side, allowing the water being pushed ahead of the ship a way to work its way around the vessel when it rebounds off the lock gates. Thanks to bow thrusters, the movement of water and the skill and experience of the captains and crews, this process is safetly completed at the #SooLocks daily.

 

[MossRoad]

Amazing how little side clearance they have in those locks.

 

[ArlyA]

The dynamics of the water while pushing a boat up a channel that has minimal clearance compared your hull is quite interesting. In the rock cut seen below, they found that larger boats (1000 footers) if they pushed ice ahead of themselves, they turned up the rocks off the bottom creating "windrows" and following boats would strike since the depth had effectively been made shallower. The footers see about 3ft of clearance at times.

 

[ArlyA]

Who remembers these two Navy vessels coming to Ashland, Wisconsin, in 1959, the PCE-877 HAVRE tying up at the Soo Line ore dock and the DD-823 SAMUEL B. ROBERTS anchoring in the Ashland harbor? (Thanks to Larry Wassgren for some of the photos).
The USS HAVRE (PCE‑877) was a PCE‑842‑class Patrol Craft Escort built during World War II.
Origins & Construction:
Laid down: 6 May 1943 at Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon
Launched: 11 August 1943 (sponsored by Miss Marjory Wooton).
Commissioned: 14 February 1944 under Lt. Coleman H. Smith, USNR.
WWII Service: Pacific Theater
Completed shakedown off San Diego, then shifted to Pearl Harbor in September 1944 for conversion to an amphibious control vessel (PCE(C)), equipping her to direct landing craft.
Iwo Jima (Feb–Mar 1945): Arrived with invasion force, directed landing craft, carried out patrols, and performed rescue and salvage operations.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Okinawa (Apr–May 1945): Served as control vessel under frequent air attack; helped repel suicide planes and rescued survivors from LCS‑119. Earned two battle stars for her WWII service. Present in Tokyo Bay for the formal Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945.
Post-War Career & Reserve Duty
Returned to the U.S. early 1946, arriving Charleston, SC in February. From 1946 to April 1954, operated with Amphibious Control Squadron 2 in the North Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay, and Caribbean
Naval History and Heritage Command.
Reassigned in April 1954 to Lake Michigan as a Naval Reserve Training Ship at the Great Lakes Naval Station.
Reclassified back to PCE‑877 on 27 October 1955, and formally named HAVRE on 15 February 1956, honoring Havre, Montana.
Conducted two-week reservist cruises on the Great Lakes, training in ASW and gunnery, through the 1950s and 60s.
Decommissioning & Fate
Struck from the Naval Vessel Register: 1 July 1970. Her final disposition remains unclear. She was never sold overseas nor converted like many sister ships. Instead, she remained U.S. Navy property until her name removal.
In summary, USS HAVRE began as a general escort vessel, played a significant role in two major Pacific invasions as a landing control ship, earned two battle stars, then transitioned into a long-serving reserve training ship on the Great Lakes before being retired in 1970. Her final fate beyond decommissioning remains a mystery, as unlike her sister ships she wasn't sold or scrapped.
************
The USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DD-823) was a Gearing‑class destroyer named in honor of Navy Coxswain Samuel B. Roberts Jr., who earned the Navy Cross at Guadalcanal in 1942.
Construction & Commissioning
Keel laid: 27 Jun 1945 at Consolidated Steel, Orange, Texas.
Launched: 30 Nov 1945, sponsored by Roberts’s mother.
Commissioned: 22 Dec 1946 under Commander C. T. Doss
Operational Timeline - 1947–1957: Atlantic, Mediterranean & Around the World. Shakedown at Guantánamo Bay (Feb 1947); joined Atlantic Fleet.
Multiple Mediterranean cruises with 6th Fleet, North Europe deployments, and NATO’s Operation Mainbrace (1952)
Global cruise Aug 1954–Mar 1955: Pacific (Japan, Philippines), across Indian Ocean, via Suez, ending at Newport.
Persian Gulf service Oct–Mar 1956–57; last warship southbound before Suez Canal closure
Late 1950s: Crises & Ceremonies
Venezuelan uprising response during Nixon’s visit (May 1958).
Provided gunfire support off Lebanon (1958).
Participated in St. Lawrence Seaway opening and naval transit into the Great Lakes (1959) .
1960s: Overhaul & Vietnam
Underwent FRAM modernization (1962).
Joined blockade during Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).
Operated off Nova Scotia in search for USS Thresher (1963).
Vietnam deployment with 7th Fleet late 1965 to early 1966: Naval gunfire engagement earned two battle stars
Western Atlantic, Caribbean, Mediterranean deployments, including Black Sea transit (1969–70).
Decommissioning & Fate: Declared unfit in August 1970; decommissioned and struck from Navy List on 2 Nov 1970.
Held in reserve at Philadelphia until sunk as a target off Puerto Rico on 14 Nov 1971, resting at 3,000 fathoms depth.

 

[ArlyA]

Asian Spirit arriving with wind turbine blades at the Duluth harbor MN and then to South Dakota.

 

[ArlyA]

USS Sable (IX-81) moored in the icy waters of Lake Michigan at the Chicago Navy Pier in 1945.
USS Sable and USS Wolverine (IX-64) were Great Lakes sidewheel steamers converted into training carriers. They trained scores of naval aviators in carrier takeoffs and landings operating in the Great Lakes.

 

[MossRoad]

Lots of sunken WWII aircraft in Lake Michigan.

 

[MossRoad]

Lots of sunken WWII aircraft in Lake Michigan.

A good read on the subject....

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology/sites-and-projects/aircraft-wrecksites/aircraft-wrecks-in-lake-michigan.html