Great Lakes Ships as breakwaters

[Wheelsman]

A-ha. Thanks to the 2 who posted the additional info on the Homer. The validation is appreciated. I knew I wasn't crazy, least not yet.

[BigB]

I have an article from the Toronto Star, from July 1987 (the actual date has been cut off the top of the clipping) which mentions steel from the Arthur B. Homer was being used to create "protection walls and as piers." "The three-quarter-inch-thick steel plates of the hull are cut into pieces 20 feet long and 8 1/2 feet high and sell for $100.00 a linear foot." The docks were made from three sheets with girders forming a three-sided box. The mid 80s was a time of high water levels on the Great Lakes and Lake Erie property owners were using the boxes, along with single sheets to reduce shore erosion.

[John Dunlap]

Homer's hatch covers were used as erosion barriers by private landowners along Lake Erie. Other parts of the hull must have been used also.

[Wheelsman]

I wish I can find a picture I saw several years ago that shows what appears to be a portion of the Arthur B. Homer's starboard forward lower hull plating being used as a bulkhead on a river, presumably near Colbourne somewhere. It was actually a picture of a ship, but in the background I noticed what looked like a bow thruster opening, and a hull-strengthening strap to the left running right to left out of the picture. There were no other remains of the Homer showing, and it didn't appear to be a scrapyard shot. (I do have another photo of the Homer's pilothouse sitting ashore at the scrapyard.) I later found a good picture of the Homer's starboard bow and lo and behold, the features matched up. A couple people I mentioned this to thought I was crazy. Whether it's actually the Homer or not, I still think there was a piece of a ship there, wherever it was.

[RTNerd]

I remember the scrap yard in Port Colborne offering short sections of deck and upper side shell cut from Lakers being srapped for use as small breakwalls. Were any of these sections sold? Are any still in existance?

[John Dunlap]

the David Z Norton was scrapped in Italy in 1964. The hulk of the E. W. Oglebay were moved to Drummond Island in 1942 for use as a dock and are still in place

[William Lafferty]

Here is a list I have compiled of vessels used as breakwaters or docks around the lakes.

The Lachinedoc and Queenston at Bob-Lo are the same vessel, the Queenston having been the first Lachinedoc until 1947.

[Guest]

Here is a list I have compiled of vessels used as breakwaters or docks around the lakes. This is by no means a complete listing of all vessels that have been used for this purpose.

Adrian Iselin - Pier - LuedtkeEngineering, Frankfort, MI | Algomah - Dock - Shepler Ferry, Mackinaw City, MI | Amasa Stone - Breakwater - St. Mary's Cement - Charlevoix, MI | Bryn Barge - Breakwater - Lakeview Generating Station, Mississauga, ON | Charles S. Hebard - Breakwater - St. Mary's Cement, Charlevoix, MI | D.Z. Norton - Dock - Drummond Island, MI | Douglass Houghton - Breakwater - Ontario Place, Toronto, ON | Grovedale - Breakwater - Steel Mill, Hamilton, ON | Henry R. Platt Jr. - Breakwater - Steel Mill, Hamilton, ON | Howard L. Shaw - Breakwater - Ontario Place, Toronto, ON | James J. Hill - Breakwater - Foot of 72nd Street, Cleveland OH | John Fritz - Breakwater - Lakeview Generating Station, Mississauga, ON | John Robeling - Breakwater - Lakeview Generating Station, Mississauga, ON | Lachinedoc - Dock - Boblo Island, Amherstburg, ON | Queenston - Dock - Boblo Island, Amherstburg, ON | Rapids Queen - 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 - Sault Ste Marie, ON | Sidney E. Smith - Dock - Sarnia, ON | Tampico - Pier - Luedtke Engineering, Frankfort, MI | Victorious - Breakwater - Ontario Place, Toronto, ON | White Star - Breakwater - Brockville, ON | William Edenborn - Breakwater - Foot of 72nd Street, Cleveland, OH

DCN

[TWilush]

There are 3 hulls sunk in front of the old Lakeview Generating Plant,Etobicoke,Ont [visible on Google Earth].Not sure of the names.
There was also the S.M.Douglas [a sandsucker], which was used as a breakwater for the Brockville Yacht Club [Ontario].She has since been raised,removed and resunk off Kingston.

They are the old US steel (later ULS) barges John Fritz, Bryn Barge, and John Roebling.

[jswilson]

There were 1 or 2 canaler size hulls that were used as docks at the Dunbar and Sulivan dredging base in the detroit river. Don't have any idea of the names.

[Russ]

The Lackawanna (2) was used as a temporary breakwater in 1970 during the construction of the Ontario Power Plant at Nantacoke, Ont. She was refloated in 1973, towed down the Seaway in July 1974, and then towed to Europe for scrapping.

[Brent]

The hull used at Bob-Lo was the Lachinedoc. There is also the Sidney E. Smith in Sarnia Bay.

[William Lafferty]

In August 1968 I visited the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant which was under construction about 5 miles South of South Haven, MI. There were four vessels being used as breakwall. See the attached photo. The only one that I can identify is what I believe is the remains of the Ann Arbor No. 5. That is the vessel with the forward cabins and pilot house still in tact. I believe that all of those vessels were removed after the power plant construction was completed.

The vessel off the stern of the ferry is the Chembarge No. 3, formerly the canaller Cartierdoc. The vessel off the bow is the Imperial Hamilton (formerly the Sarnolite and Imperial Sarnia). Both had been intended for use at the Medusa plant at Charlevoix, but were deemed too small after acquisition. Both were broken up in situ by Bultema in 1970, as was the forward section of the Ann Arbor No. 5. Bultema attempted to tow the stern section to Holland, but it sank just after the tow began in 160 feet southwest of South Haven.

[Ron]

Another hull was sunk to create a dock for BobLo Island in the Detroit River, but I dont remember the name

Yes, Randy is correct. It was a small vessel or barge that ended life as a barge with the name of Barge Nr. 101 or a number close to this.

[Randy S]

Another hull was sunk to create a dock for BobLo Island in the Detroit River, but I dont remember the name

[1000islander]

There are 3 hulls sunk in front of the old Lakeview Generating Plant,Etobicoke,Ont [visible on Google Earth].Not sure of the names.
There was also the S.M.Douglas [a sandsucker], which was used as a breakwater for the Brockville Yacht Club [Ontario].She has since been raised,removed and resunk off Kingston.

[William Lafferty]

I forgot the James J.Hill and William Edenborn off Gordon Park, Cleveland, as permanent breakwaters.

[William Lafferty]

I think there are one or two also used as break walls in Charlevoix. Can someone confirm this?

These are the Amasa Stone and Charles E. Hebard. The Tampico and Adrian Islelin have recently been discussed, I think, as Luedtke's west dock on Betsie Lake at Frankfort. The canaller Queenston is a dock facing on the Canadian side of Bob-Lo Island (and, since she is the former Lachinedoc, was humorously referred to as "Boblodoc"). The Sidney E. Smith has recently been discussed here, too.

Temporary breakwaters include the Princeton at Milwaukee in, I think, the summer of 1963, the Ann Arbor No. 5 off the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant near South Haven, Michigan in 1967 (she was scuttled offshore afterwards), the canaller Saskatoon off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in 1967, and the Charles Hubbard at Burns Harbor in 1967. There were other vessels used at Burns Harbor, but I can't recall off the top of my head which. I've heard that one remains as part of the northerly breakwall, but I've seen no evidence of that, especially after sailing into Burns Harbor. I would be interested if anyone knows those other Burns Harbor vessels used as breakwaters and what happened to them. I believe an Algoma vessel was involved, perhaps the Algosteel.

[Dick Sheehy]

In August 1968 I visited the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant which was under construction about 5 miles South of South Haven, MI. There were four vessels being used as breakwall. See the attached photo. The only one that I can identify is what I believe is the remains of the Ann Arbor No. 5. That is the vessel with the forward cabins and pilot house still in tact. I believe that all of those vessels were removed after the power plant construction was completed.

[John Dunlap]

Charlevoix- Charles S. Hebard & Amasa Stone