Nov 13, 2008 · For the last 12 years, it was moored at Lafarge’s plant in Carrollton Township, Mich., and used as a storage vessel — until Tuesday, when a tug arrived to tow the ship to the Purvis Marine...

On Christmas Eve (12/24) in 1979, the cement carrier E.M. FORD was ripped from her moorings in slip one of Milwaukee’s outer harbor and battered against dock walls during a storm. With a hole punched in her bow and loaded with 7,000 tons of cement, she slowly sank in the slip.

Renamed E.M. Ford, the ship returned to work on April 19, 1956, only to lose steering on the trial run and collide with the self-unloader A.M. Byers in the St. Clair River near Algonac, Michigan. Both ships received significant damage and the A.M. Byers sank in shallow water.

Twelve vessels sank with no survivors, 32 vessels were blown ashore around the region, and seven of these were completely destroyed. On the lakes 235 sailors lost their lives, with at least 36 more killed on land, making this the worst storm ever to hit the region.

As A.M. BYERS: Sunk in collision with Str. E.M. FORD, April 9, 1956, 2 1/2 miles south of Algonac, MI, in St. Clair River, with 9,800 tons of limestone; no lives lost. Raised on May 9, 1956.

Nov 5, 2008 · The steamer EM Ford is being towed to Sioux St.Marie to be scrapped. It has been on the Lakes for over 100 years. The sad thing about it,is that it has a quadrouple Expansion steam engine in the ship. Triple expansion steam engines were common in early ships.

Nov 11, 2008 · Attempts to save the historic 428-foot-long vessel, or at least parts of it, failed as it was expected to start its journey from the Saginaw River to the Purvis Marine Scrapyard in Sault Ste....

Over more than a century this grand old lady of the Great Lakes survived disasters that would have doomed other vessels. The E.M. FORD survived the Great Storm of 1913, survived a major...

Aug 23, 2008 · Freighter-watcher David J. Story, 49, of Bay City, called the pending loss of the E.M. Ford "a real tragedy." The late Bob Brissette of Bay City served as one of the Ford's last captains,...

196 views, 4 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Lake Fury: A Christmas Eve Storm in 1979 sank the EM Ford. The cement had to be chipped out of the hold and the ship had...