Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Scenes for the Sidney E Smith Jr Wreck - Part 1

Within days of the Smith laying on the bottom of the St Clair River ( sunk June 5, 1972), the 8-10 mph current scoured away the sand supporting the bow section. Now unsupported the bow containing the forward cabins, A-Frame/Unloading boom and what was left of the coal cargo caused a break in the hull. In a little over 2 weeks the bow section completely separated from the stern and slid into a deeper hole in the river bottom. Now the daunting challenge for the salvage team was to remove 2 independent pieces of the Smith from the swift waters of the St Clair River, one of the busiest and congested waterways in the Great Lakes System.

All photos taken by Jon Paul and Paul Michaels

Apparently the 1952 season opener for Two Harbors, with A.H. Ferbert arriving with assistance from the tug Edna G., which was a DMIR tug stationed in that port to help boats maneuver in the fairly small harbor. Looks like the crew has some painting to do over the side as the word "Company" has been painted out on the billboard lettering and must be replaced with "Division."

As an engineer at heart and knowledge digger, I really miss Brent's input on this board. Jon Paul and Firemedic, my thoughts are still with you.
Great pix Jon Paul!

Spring Convoy Duty on Whitefish Bay - 1994

In memory of my brother LTCMDR Brent Michaels who passed over the bar for the last time in January 2014.
In honor of his being the longest serving EO on the old Mackinaw, the new Mackinaw took aboard his ashes in the Spring of 2014 and spread them over Whitefish Bay. He had spent many years of service breaking out the lakers not only on the Mackinaw but on several of the old 180's in the St Clair River.

Thanks CooksKid...great stuff, thanks for sharing!!

would like to post some pictures that go along with the bruised battered and on the bottom theme. The first two are of the Sidney E smith taken by my father from the the deck of the Joe S Morrow. No. 3 is of the B F Jones after collision with the Cason J Calloway. Nos. 4 and 5 are of the car ferry Ashtabula on the bottom of Ashtabula Harbor after collision with the Ben Moreell in 1958, taken from the deck of the Thomas Wilson

Departing Duluth on April 5, 1970

Jared, you sure got guts diving like you do! You're explanation of holding on like a flag gives chills!

Back when the Lake Superior Marine Museum Assoc has a Twin CIties chapter in the Mid-1980s, I remember they did a showing of a documentary film of the Sidney Smith sinking and salvage. The name of the film is long gone out of my brain and I've never been able to find and reference to this film. Haven't had any luck with youtube.

I remember the film had a lot of footage of classic oreboats passing the scene, including some footage that generated much debate at the meeting about whether or not it was the Fitzgerald passing the scene.

Anyone know if this film is still out there somewhere?

standuffer wrote:

ML wrote:

Guest wrote:This is home video the morning after the wreck..

http://youtu.be/mfvGWoPuGv4

I enjoyed the video. In the background you can see the USS/GLF August Ziesing slide by. I was on her as a deckwatch and was standing at the rail with some of the boys..

ML.
Did you sail on the Ziesing in 1973 also?

No John, I sailed on the Horace Johnson. I recollect you fit out and sailed the Ziesing out of Sturgeon Bay in '73, and I left her in top shape for ya!! Mike

Diving the river quite a bit, one see's the massive unloading boom lying on the bottom. They must have kept the A Frame on the ship when they scrapped her seeing that they never bothered to repair her and put her back into service. Hanging on to the boom is like being a flag in high wind because you can only hang on for a minute before your hands let free.

ML wrote:

Guest wrote:This is home video the morning after the wreck..

http://youtu.be/mfvGWoPuGv4

I enjoyed the video. In the background you can see the USS/GLF August Ziesing slide by. I was on her as a deckwatch and was standing at the rail with some of the boys..

ML.
Did you sail on the Ziesing in 1973 also?

Passing the wreck on the Smith, I would have been more nervous of getting anywhere near the Evans! She must have had a mind of her own or a gunsight on the steering pole!!

Bumps, Bruises and on the Bottom - Part 2

An interesting note is the Parker Evans which sank the Sidney E Smith Jr (in the background of the Smith photo in my last photo submission) also sank the Henry Steinbrenner in the St Marys River on Dec 5, 1909 as the Harry A Berwind and then sank George F Rand as the Harvey H Brown not far from where later it hit the Smith.
Not to be outdone, the Evans on its first trip out the shipyard after the Smith sinking hit the saltie Anna Katrin Fritzen in Lake Huron,10 miles north of Port Huron. Luckily this time damage was minimal to both vessels.

Guest wrote:This is home video the morning after the wreck...

http://youtu.be/mfvGWoPuGv4

I enjoyed the video. In the background you can see the USS/GLF August Ziesing slide by. I was on her as a deckwatch and was standing at the rail with some of the boys.. We were one of the first boats down bound after the collision as they let some upbounders through first. We heard about it coming down Huron and we went to anchor awaiting our turn. This was the beginning of the end for 2 way traffic there and it caused a logjam of boats for a good while. When we got down to Westcott's we all bought a Free Press and I've got it in my photo album to this day. My personal recollection, coming from a sailing family, was a "cold shiver" seeing that boat submerged and the current leaving a wake. We were all pretty quiet as we slid by. Thanks for the video, that's a keeper.............

I have lived within walking distance of the bridges all of my life and I can remember trotting down to the river almost daily as a kid just to see what was going on with the Smith. Good times.....

Guest wrote:This is home video the morning after the wreck...

http://youtu.be/mfvGWoPuGv4

My brother was stationed with the USCG at St. Clair Flats when he heard the call about the Smith/Evans collision early morning June 5, 1972. He called us at home in Flint, MI to let dad and I know what was going on. We loaded our camera equipment, a cooler with sandwiches and soda and headed for Port Huron. We arrived to find what was recorded in the photo I posted. During the following months my father and I took over 500 photos of the subsequent breaking in two of the hull and the daunting challenge of salvaging the Smith from the swift waters of the St.Clair River.
My fathers dream was to write a book about the collision and salvage of the Smith but in the 1970's before the advent of MS Publisher and other type software...it was but a dream.
In 2007, 7 years after my dads passing, I felt the need to put the story to print, in memory of the man who had inspired his 2 boys to sail the Inland Seas. With the help of my late brother, LTCMDR Brent Michaels, USCG, retired, and many wonderful friends like Skip Gillham ,Ron Beaupre, Jay Bascom, Ken Neimi, Greg Rudnick and original cover artwork from Paul LaMarre Jr we got the job done and published COLLISION UNDER THE BRIDGE in 2008.

garbear wrote:That Homer collision was like 2-3 days before the Clarke ran aground down bound on the Seaway near Clayton, NY with a load of corn from Toledo to Montreal. When I got home my parents had all the articles cut out of the Manistee and Detroit papers about the Homer accident.

After we unloaded we went into Canadian Vickers shipyard in Montreal. Almost the entire port bottom was either mangled or had huge dents. The estimate on damage was roughly $1,000,000. A lot for 1972. After we were paid off, our 3 wheelsman and me went to the airport. Couldn't get a flight, so we drove from Montreal to the Soo. The wheelsman were from the U.P. and I think Cheboygan and me from Arcadia. Couldn't find any great connections home, so my Dad took a day off from work and drove up and picked me up.

This is home video the morning after the wreck........

http://youtu.be/mfvGWoPuGv4

In Response To: I was just 18 and shipping out for the first time on the Wm G Mather in June 1967. Our first trip was up to Marquette and the crew was still talking about the Nordmeer and Morrell sinking previous Fall. We steamed past the Sylvania sunk at the dock and I started thinking "I thought these boats were pretty strong, but look at all these casualties . what have I gotten myself in to?"

I first shipped out the Fall of 1972. It was October and that SS Sidney E Smith Jr. was still lying upside down in the St. Clair River. The same thoughts you had crossed my mind. I also remember the Nordmeer was still pretty high in the water, and a small salty at the top of Lake Michigan could be partially seen.