By Suzette Lopez
On February 19, 1936, the steel carferry PERE MARQUETTE 22 got stuck in an ice field about two miles west of Ludington, Mich., along with the CITY OF FLINT 32. PERE MARQUETTE 18 was stuck about nine miles out in Lake Michigan and the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 about 23 miles out.
The Coast Guard cutter ESCANABA, which was equipped for ice breaking, had just returned to Frankfort from delivering a half ton of provisions to the ice-locked 50 residents of South Manitou Island and set out to assist those stuck at Ludington.
The Benton Harbor newspaper noted their temperatures were around 12 above zero but Ludington was reporting 12 below zero. The Manitowoc newspaper reported there was practically no open water between them and Ludington. Mother Nature was not being kind to shipping.
The next day, the PERE MARQUETTE 22 and the CITY OF FLINT 32 succeeded in freeing themselves and proceeded to Kewaunee, Wis. The ESCANABA had freed the CITY OF SAGINAW 31 and the PERE MARQUETTE 18 and opened the way to Ludington, then proceeded south to Muskegon. There steamships NEVADA and MISSOURI were caught in the ice about nine miles out along with the carferry GRAND RAPIDS.
This was such a picturesque event it was made into souvenir post cards.
In July 1924, more than 10,000 people witnessed the PERE MARQUETTE 22 slide into the water at the Manitowoc Ship Building Company yard. She made the total of carferries for the Pere Marquette Railway Company seven. Measuring 360 feet over all and a beam of 56 feet, she could carry twenty-six 42 foot loaded freight cars.
She had a long career but by 1973, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway was looking for scrap bids for the 21 and 22. The 22 was sold that July to the Construction Aggregates Corporation of Chicago for non-transportation use. She was partially cut down and converted to a general cargo use barge and taken to Kingston, Jamaica. In 1980, she was reported to be seen in Castries Harbor, Saint Lucia in the Caribbean as a derrick scow.
—————————————————
Suzette Lopez is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
Photo at top of page: PERE MARQUETTE 22 stuck in ice field off Ludington, February 1936.
Other photos:
PHOTO CREDIT: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
