Boatnerd Discussion Forum

The Gordon Park use of the James J. Hill and William Edenborn proved somewhat of a debacle, at least initially. The latter was put in place 16 November 1962, the former two days later. They were intended to protect the proposed Gordon Park Marina. The city dredged the site but there resulted a cavity under the Hill that became progressively deeper with each storm until the vessel broke in two in December 1963. Afterwards, the Cleveland populace deemed the vessels a municipal eyesore and the hulls attracted quite a bit of controversy. Cleveland City Council was asked for $175.000 to build a breakwater around the Hill's stern, to no avail. To stabilize the hulls the Midland Prince poured stone over the hulls in October 1964 but to little effect, especially aesthetically. In June Cleveland City Council was asked to approve $1.6 million to build a breakwater around the breakwater, and you can imagine its reaction. Finally, in 1968 the city did undertake a major reconfiguration at Gordon Park, and the vessels were covered with crushed autos topped with excavation debris, and a fishing pier and promenade created, completed the following year. The photographs in the links previously posted show this operation.

And, for what it's worth, the engine room gauge board from the James J. Hill, and maybe another artifact or two are at the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse museum, several miles east of Gordon Park.

Old Sailor, I saw the process of the sinking and filling-in of the area at Gordon, driving by on the freeway to downtown from the east side back then. I don't recall seeing anything in the way of household garbage being used there, mostly landfill-type stuff, and it appears they did work from the shore to the ships as the ships were not really settled in yet. The ship farthest west, the Hill, I think, broke her back in the process as seen from one of the photos submitted in an earlier post. That post was appreciated, by the way; brought back a memory, and was the genesis of my obsession with oreboats at a young age.

I love the links to photographs below. Can anyone else submit photographs, either recent or historical, of the various sunken hulks? Thanks ahead of time!

Please, someone correct me if I am wrong, as I was pretty young, but I recall the two vessels sunk in Gordon Park were back filled with garbage from landward working towards the boats. No one in the early 60's thought much about environmental consequences then.

So nice to see this topic as a new feature on the News Channel. Great job Skip!

Some others that were sunk and then refloated would include C.S. Band, (former Owendoc), Pinedale, Alfred Krupp, Imperial Hamilton and Chembarge No. 3 (former Cartierdoc)

The hull of Erie, the former T.A. Ivey and earlier Owana, is reported still visible east of Port Burwell, and Charles W. Johnson, former Imperial Kingston, is a dock facing at Sault Ste. Marie.

What became of the hulls sunk at Burn's Harbor in 1966? Were they filled in after being sunk or broken up as the work was completed? That would include at least Algosteel (i), Bayton and the barge Pillsbury, formerly the Henry R. Platt Jr. (i)

You can add the Charles Hubbard to that list, too.

This is a good question. There is no visible evidence whatsoever on Bing or Google maps that anything resembling a hull remains at Burns Harbor. Supposedly the Bayton broke in two there in 1967, while the Pillsbury became part of a dock. When I came into Burns Harbor in the '70s on trips on Captain Barnaby's tugs, I never saw anything resembling hulls around the breakwater or elsewhere in the harbor. The vessels were repeatedly sunk and raised, moving farther out into the lake, as construction of the breakwater advanced (built by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company). My suspicion has always been that they were broken up in situ when no longer needed. I've never been able to verify this, though.

Ron wrote:The air view of Port Credit Ontario shows the Ridgetown as a breakwall but also shows three more hulls to the east of the Ridgetown. They do not seem to appear on the list of hulls in the above post. Does anybody know what vessles were?
Thanks
Ron

The long list shows
John Fritz - Breakwater - Former Lakeview Generating Station - Mississauga, ON
John Roebling - Breakwater - Former Lakeview Generating Station - Mississauga, ON. The former Lakeview is just east of Port Credit.

The three to the east of Ridgetown at Port Credit are the former consort barges Brynbarge, John A. Roebling and John Fritz. They were sunk to protect the Lakeview Generating Station.

What became of the hulls sunk at Burn's Harbor in 1966? Were they filled in after being sunk or broken up as the work was completed? That would include at least Algosteel (i), Bayton and the barge Pillsbury, formerly the Henry R. Platt Jr. (i)

There are 1 or 2 old hulls at the old Dunbar and Sullivan site in the Detroit river at Stony island. Does anybody know a name or any history on what is there?

The air view of Port Credit Ontario shows the Ridgetown as a breakwall but also shows three more hulls to the east of the Ridgetown. They do not seem to appear on the list of hulls in the above post. Does anybody know what vessles were?
Thanks
Ron

Wiarton (ii) - Hamilton Stelco with Henry R. Platt Jr. and Grovedale since Nov. 1972.

Hulls going in at Gordon Park Cleveland.

http://clevelandhistorical.org/files/or ... 2505fd.jpg

http://clevelandhistorical.org/files/or ... fed4be.jpg

Chembarge no.2 North Slip Sarnia as a breakwall

The iron sandsucker Algonac was sunk as a breakwater in 1974 at Lakeside, Ohio. It fronts the property of Lakeside Fishing Equipment off Euclid Beach Road.

During the construction of the Ontario Power Plant at Nanticoke, the Ridgetown, Lackawanna (2), and Kinsman Venture were loaded with stone and intentionally sunk to create a temporary breakwall. The Ridgetown was raised in 1973 and sunk again as a breakwater at the entrance of Port Credit Harbour in 1974. The other two boats at Nanticoke, the Lackawanna (2) and the Kinsman Venture, were raised in 1973, passed down the Seaway in 1974, and then formed a double tow to Europe for scrapping.

Here's a list, probably incomplete:

Adrian Iselin - Dock - Luedtke Engineering - Frankfort, MI
Algomah - Dock - Shepler Ferry - Mackinaw City, MI
Amasa Stone - Breakwater - St. Mary's Cement - Charlevoix, MI
Bryn Barge - Breakwater - Former Lakeview Generating Station - Mississauga, ON
Charles S. Hebard - Breakwater - St. Mary's Cement - Charlevoix, MI
David Z. Norton - Dock - Drummond Island Stone Dock - Drummond Island, MI
Douglass Houghton - Breakwater - Ontario Place - Toronto, ON
Grovedale - Breakwater - Steel Mill (not sure which) - Hamilton, ON
Henry R. Platt Jr. - Breakwater - Steel Mill (not sure which) - Hamilton, ON
Howard L. Shaw - Breakwater - Ontario Place - Toronto, ON
James J. Hill - Breakwater - Foot of 72nd Street - Cleveland, OH
John Fritz - Breakwater - Former Lakeview Generating Station - Mississauga, ON
John Roebling - Breakwater - Former Lakeview Generating Station - Mississauga, ON
Lachinedoc - Dock - Former Boblo Island Amusement Park - Amhersburg, ON
Queenston - Dock - Former Boblo Island Amusement Park - Amhersburg, ON
Rapids Queen - Floating Breakwater - Queen City Yacht Club - Toronto, ON
Ridgetown - Breakwater - Port Credit, ON
Roosevelt - Breakwater - Brockville, ON
S.M. Douglass - Breakwater - Brockville, ON
Sewell Avery - Dock - Essar Algoma Steel - Sault Ste Marie, ON
Sydney E. Smith - Dock - Sarnia, ON
Tampico - Dock - Luedtke Engineering - Frankfort, MI
Victorious - Breakwater - Ontario Place - Toronto, ON
White Star - Breakwater - Brockville, ON
William Edenborn - Breakwater - Foot of 72nd Street, Cleveland, ON

DCN

There's also one sunk outside Ontario place. Not sure what her name was.

The James J. Hill and William Edenborn hulls still exist entombed in stone off the E. 72 park in Cleveland. Sunk there in 1961.