Charles M. Beeghly 1978 Grounding

[Guest]

The Ashland had a somewhat similar accident with the Duluth north pier in May 1979 when she was outbound and put a 9 foot hole in her bow.

- Brian

[Ray]

Before the Duluth piers were rebuilt there were two spots on the north pier inside the harbor what were replaced and both had larges lumps of dirt pushed up into the lawn of the Palucci building. I was told back then at the museum that both were from boats hitting the pier. One was supposed to have been from the D.G. Kerr scrap tow - never heard what ship caused the other one - Was the other from the Beeghly incident?

[garbear]

Hausen. You are correct. I knew it hit when loaded. Remember when it happened.

Cool to have it confirmed from memory! Seems like maybe the biggest misleading aspect of the initial reports is the use of the word "pierhead", which given the configuration of the Duluth ship canal leads to the impression that the Beeghly hit the outermost tip of one of the Duluth Ship Canal's jetties while approaching the Duluth Ship Canal from out on Lake Superior, which, as you say, is not how it went.

As garbear says it seems like this incident occurred while the Beeghly was loaded and departing Duluth. When ships run into trouble negotiating the final turn out of the harbor or lining up to thread the needle through the Duluth Ship Canal outbound, they typically make contact or have close calls with the inner sections of the walls along the ship canal or immediately inside it. Does anyone know where along the canal the Beeghly made contact during the December 1978 incident?

Seems like they had a hard time getting the cargo unloaded because it froze.

[hausen]

Hausen. You are correct. I knew it hit when loaded. Remember when it happened.

Cool to have it confirmed from memory! Seems like maybe the biggest misleading aspect of the initial reports is the use of the word "pierhead", which given the configuration of the Duluth ship canal leads to the impression that the Beeghly hit the outermost tip of one of the Duluth Ship Canal's jetties while approaching the Duluth Ship Canal from out on Lake Superior, which, as you say, is not how it went.

As garbear says it seems like this incident occurred while the Beeghly was loaded and departing Duluth. When ships run into trouble negotiating the final turn out of the harbor or lining up to thread the needle through the Duluth Ship Canal outbound, they typically make contact or have close calls with the inner sections of the walls along the ship canal or immediately inside it. Does anyone know where along the canal the Beeghly made contact during the December 1978 incident?

[garbear]

Later that year, on December 22, the large bulker hit the pierhead while entering the Duluth / Superior harbor in bad visibility. The vessel received plate damage that was repaired at Superior's Fraser Shipyards, returning to service in June of 1979.

The text garbear has contributed seems to come from the boatnerd.com fleet photo gallery page for the Beeghly / Oberstar:

Later that year, on December 22, the large bulker hit the pierhead while entering the Duluth / Superior harbor in bad visibility. The vessel received plate damage that was repaired at Superior's Fraser Shipyards, returning to service in June of 1979.

..and that account of the incident seems to originate from or have a lot in common with the following passage in the Toronto Marine Historical Society's newsletter, called The Scanner, vol. 11 no. 4, January 1979, Marine News page:

On the afternoon of December 22, the steamer was caught in a nasty snowstorm whilst trying to negotiate the Duluth harbour entrance. The lake was calm but the visibility bad, and BEEGHLY ran onto one of the pierheads. She damaged a number of hull plates and was dispatched to Fraser Shipyards for repairs so that she might be ready for late navigation.

It's important to note: that description of the incident was updated in the next edition of The Scanner, vol. 11 no. 15, February 1979, Marine News page: the updated version seems to paint a more accurate picture of the incident which is different in a few key ways from the initially-reported version of the story:

The December 22 accident involving the Interlake Steamship Company bulk carrier CHARLES M. BEEGHLY was much more serious than early reports indicated. BEEGHLY was outbound at the Duluth harbour entrance when she somehow managed to run foul of an underwater section of the inner pier. An eyewitness reported that she hit the obstruction with such force that she stopped dead in the water! The steamer was backed out of the entrance and into the harbour where she settled, was pumped out, and settled a second time. It is hoped that repairs can be completed by Fraser Shipyards, but its drydock is already overloaded with work, a situation due in part to the AmShip strike.

The account from the February 1979 Scanner seems to match better with the knowledge that people are contributing to this thread, and with accounts of the incident as laid out in Julius Wolff's excellent book Lake Superior Shipwrecks.

Hausen. You are correct. I knew it hit when loaded. Remember when it happened.

[Guest]

As others have written, the second accident with the Charles M. Beeghly occurred on December 22, 1978; but occurred during a snowstorm and as she was negotiating the piers at Duluth, she grounded at one of the pierheads, putting a large hole in her number 1, portside tank.

- Brian

[hausen]

Later that year, on December 22, the large bulker hit the pierhead while entering the Duluth / Superior harbor in bad visibility. The vessel received plate damage that was repaired at Superior's Fraser Shipyards, returning to service in June of 1979.

The text garbear has contributed seems to come from the boatnerd.com fleet photo gallery page for the Beeghly / Oberstar:

Later that year, on December 22, the large bulker hit the pierhead while entering the Duluth / Superior harbor in bad visibility. The vessel received plate damage that was repaired at Superior's Fraser Shipyards, returning to service in June of 1979.

...and that account of the incident seems to originate from or have a lot in common with the following passage in the Toronto Marine Historical Society's newsletter, called The Scanner, vol. 11 no. 4, January 1979, Marine News page:

On the afternoon of December 22, the steamer was caught in a nasty snowstorm whilst trying to negotiate the Duluth harbour entrance. The lake was calm but the visibility bad, and BEEGHLY ran onto one of the pierheads. She damaged a number of hull plates and was dispatched to Fraser Shipyards for repairs so that she might be ready for late navigation.

It's important to note: that description of the incident was updated in the next edition of The Scanner, vol. 11 no. 15, February 1979, Marine News page: the updated version seems to paint a more accurate picture of the incident which is different in a few key ways from the initially-reported version of the story:

The December 22 accident involving the Interlake Steamship Company bulk carrier CHARLES M. BEEGHLY was much more serious than early reports indicated. BEEGHLY was outbound at the Duluth harbour entrance when she somehow managed to run foul of an underwater section of the inner pier. An eyewitness reported that she hit the obstruction with such force that she stopped dead in the water! The steamer was backed out of the entrance and into the harbour where she settled, was pumped out, and settled a second time. It is hoped that repairs can be completed by Fraser Shipyards, but its drydock is already overloaded with work, a situation due in part to the AmShip strike.

The account from the February 1979 Scanner seems to match better with the knowledge that people are contributing to this thread, and with accounts of the incident as laid out in Julius Wolff's excellent book Lake Superior Shipwrecks.

[Guest]

Didn’t the beeghly also sink to bottom in the Duluth harbor back in the late 70’s or early 80’s? I seem to recall that happening but don’t remember what caused that to happen. Anybody from the Duluth/Superior area remember this?

I believe you are right! If I recall correctly it at the end the 1978 shipping season. I know I have seen a picture of its sitting on the bottom of Duluth harbor although it made it to a dock before settling. These incidents demonstrate just how fragile these ships can be.

[Jon Paul]

The Beeghly was refloated with compressors on January 28, 1978 and the help of three USCG vessels. I believe she unloaded at South Chicago and was scheduled to arrive at Fraser Shipyard on February 13, 1978

Fraser Shipyard didn't attend to the repairs of Charles M. Beeghly until April 1, 1978.

- Brian

My guess is they unloaded at Indiana Harbor which was a regular run for the Sherwin or Beeghly. Interlake went to Federal Furnace in S Chicago but it has a limited depth on the Calumet River and we were running the Esky-Republic Steel run during that week and didn't see the Beeghly

[garbear]

On January 26, 1978, the Charles M. Beeghly grounded at Johnson's Point in the St. Marys River. She was assisted out of the shipping channel by the U.S. Coast Guard and proceeded to DeTour for lightering after which she proceeded to Superior, WI, for bottom damage repair. Later that year, on December 22, the large bulker hit the pierhead while entering the Duluth / Superior harbor in bad visibility. The vessel received plate damage that was repaired at Superior's Fraser Shipyards, returning to service in June of 1979.

[Guest]

Didn’t the beeghly also sink to bottom in the Duluth harbor back in the late 70’s or early 80’s? I seem to recall that happening but don’t remember what caused that to happen. Anybody from the Duluth/Superior area remember this?

Didn't it sink between the piers?

[Ray]

Yes, I think the Duluth incident was at the other end of 1978, seems to me it was right before Christmas The Beeghly was gounded on the harbor side of the bridge, blocking the channel.

Are there any pictures out there of the Duluth incident. It was big in the Twin Cities news at the time, but I have never seen a picture of the Beeghly stuck there.

[Bob]

Didn’t the beeghly also sink to bottom in the Duluth harbor back in the late 70’s or early 80’s? I seem to recall that happening but don’t remember what caused that to happen. Anybody from the Duluth/Superior area remember this?

[Guest]

The Beeghly was refloated with compressors on January 28, 1978 and the help of three USCG vessels. I believe she unloaded at South Chicago and was scheduled to arrive at Fraser Shipyard on February 13, 1978

Fraser Shipyard didn't attend to the repairs of Charles M. Beeghly until April 1, 1978.

- Brian

[Guest]

I have just seen on another thread an image from this website's fleet photo gallery of the Charles M. Beeghly apparently sitting on the bottom of the St. Marys River after grounding at Johnson's Point on January 26, 1978. From the write up it is said that it was lightered at De Tour and then went to Superior, Wisconsin for repairs. From looking at the picture, it looks like the Beeghly took on enough water to nearly submerge the anchor pockets. How much damage did the ship sustain in this accident? It seems interesting that it would go back up the St. Marys and across Lake Superior rather than head over to Sturgeon Bay for repairs.

link to image:

http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/ ... -CarlM.jpg