Marine Historical Society of Detroit

Marine Historical Society of Detroit Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Great Lakes shipping past and present for future gene James M. Schoonmaker and William G.

The Marine Historical Society of Detroit, a non-profit organization founded in 1944, provides a focal point for individuals and organizations interested in and concerned with the history of the Great Lakes and its maritime heritage. Membership includes our monthly publication The Detroit Marine Historian, which offers a variety of articles exploring Great Lakes shipping past and present. Features

include Great Lakes Ships to be Remembered, a look at Marine News from 100 Years Ago, and The Log, a digest of current news concerning Great Lakes shipping. Membership also includes an annual, full-color calendar featuring superb, often rare, photos of Great Lakes ships of the past. In keeping with the Society’s objective to further interest and preservation of Great Lakes history, we have published several quality books, including three volumes of Great Lakes Ships We Remember, two volumes of Ahoy & Farewell, GLEW (an illustrated history of the Great Lakes Engineering Works shipyard) and The Nicholson Fleets and Their Captains. Many of the photographs used in these publications are not available elsewhere. In keeping with the Society’s objective
to further interest and preservation of Great Lakes history, we have also provided financial support to worthy projects around the Great Lakes, among them the Lightship Huron museum, the Col. Mather museum ships, the Great Lakes Maritime Institute’s William Clay Ford pilothouse and Edmund Fitzgerald anchor-raising projects. The society has also given scholarship support to The Great Lakes Maritime Academy at Traverse City. Our archival collection has been donated to The Historical Collections of the Great Lakes at Bowling Green, Ohio. The MHSD has members in the United States, Canada and around the world. We would be pleased to have you join us.

Reiss Steamship's William K. Field. Captain Taylor photo taken at Mission Point, St. Marys River 1924-1934 timeframe. P...
05/31/2026

Reiss Steamship's William K. Field. Captain Taylor photo taken at Mission Point, St. Marys River 1924-1934 timeframe. Peter Worden collection/MHSD.

Osborne Material's sand sucker F.M. Osborne. St. Clair River, unknown date. Jim Hoffman photo/MHSD.
05/30/2026

Osborne Material's sand sucker F.M. Osborne. St. Clair River, unknown date. Jim Hoffman photo/MHSD.

The Imperial Lachine seen in October 1990. Location not identified. Willem Van Mannen collection/MHSD.One of two motori...
05/29/2026

The Imperial Lachine seen in October 1990. Location not identified. Willem Van Mannen collection/MHSD.

One of two motorized barges built in 1963 for bunkering vessels at Montreal. It was operating on the Pacific coast of Mexico as the Petroil II as of 2024. Current status unknown.

Great Lakes Lumber and Shipping, Ltd's Oscar Lehtinen. Fort William (now Thunder Bay). Unknown photographer, unknown dat...
05/28/2026

Great Lakes Lumber and Shipping, Ltd's Oscar Lehtinen. Fort William (now Thunder Bay). Unknown photographer, unknown date, but 1948-1957 timeframe. Edward Morris collection/MHSD.

The Great Lakes Towing Company tugs Oregon and Maine beside the salty Ionic Breeze, 1966. Rouge River, Detroit. Hal Jac...
05/27/2026

The Great Lakes Towing Company tugs Oregon and Maine beside the salty Ionic Breeze, 1966. Rouge River, Detroit. Hal Jackson/MHSD.

According to René Beauchamp's "55 YEARS of SEAWAY SALTIES 1959 to 2013", the Liberian -flagged Ionic Breeze (5,188 GT) was built in 1948 and first visited the Great Lakes in 1966. So this may have been its first trip to the lakes.

The Walkerville and Detroit Ferry Company's ferry Wayne approaches Windsor. Unknown photographer and date. Father Dowlin...
05/26/2026

The Walkerville and Detroit Ferry Company's ferry Wayne approaches Windsor. Unknown photographer and date. Father Dowling collection/MHSD.

The Matthew Andrews being assisted by two unidentified Great Lakes Towing Company tugs, one converted to diesel, and the...
05/25/2026

The Matthew Andrews being assisted by two unidentified Great Lakes Towing Company tugs, one converted to diesel, and the second still steam powered. Unknown date and location. Thomas Basore photo/MHSD.

Sparrows Point upbound at the Soo, June 1963. Scott B. Worden, photo/MHSD.
05/23/2026

Sparrows Point upbound at the Soo, June 1963. Scott B. Worden, photo/MHSD.

Upper Lakes' Douglas Houghton towing the barge John Fritz, 1961. Location unknown. Dave Glick photo/MHSD.
05/23/2026

Upper Lakes' Douglas Houghton towing the barge John Fritz, 1961. Location unknown. Dave Glick photo/MHSD.

Damaged stern of the E.M. Peck after it suffered a boiler explosion while docked in Racine, WI on June 11, 1913. Photo p...
05/22/2026

Damaged stern of the E.M. Peck after it suffered a boiler explosion while docked in Racine, WI on June 11, 1913. Photo postcard published by Fred L. Wright, Racine. Boatnerd postcard collection/shared with MHSD.

Seven people were killed in the incident, and the Peck's second 11' diameter by 11' long Scotch boiler wound up damaging the adjacent coal wharf after the explosion ejected it from the vessel's hull.

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Detroit, MI

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