The Great Lakes
Geographical History
• The Great Lakes were formed during the last ice
age, roughly 10,000 years ago
• The Glaciers carved the lakes out of an existing
basin, and when the glaciers receded the
meltwater filled up the holes.
• The Great Lakes are generally considered to be
the big 5, but many smaller lakes throughout the
region are included in this massive basin, all
tracing their beginnings back to the same source
Lake Ontario
• Maximum Depth: 246m (807 ft.)
• Average Depth: 86m (283 ft.)
• Smallest surface area of all the Great
Lakes
• The only Great Lake that doesn’t touch
the state of Michigan
Lake Erie
• Max Depth: 62m (203 ft.)
• Average Depth: 19m (62 ft.)
• Shallowest and smallest volume of the
Great Lakes
• The Erie basin is the most densely
populated and most developed of all
the Great Lakes
Lake Huron
• Max. Depth: 229 m (750 ft.)
Manitoulin
• Average Depth: 195 ft.
• Manitoulin Island, in the north of the
lake is the world’s largest freshwater
island.
Lake Superior
• Max Depth: 406m (1333 ft.)
• Average Depth:147m (482 ft.)
• Lake Superior has the largest surface
area of any freshwater lake in the
world.
• It’s volume can fill all the other lakes,
and have enough left over for three
more Lake Erie’s!
Lake Michigan
• Max. Depth: 281 m (925 ft.)
• Average Depth: 82m (270 ft.)
• The only Great Lake exclusively within
the United States
• It is hydrologically inseparable from
Lake Huron due to the wide Straits of
Mackinaw
Great Lakes History
• The Great Lakes have always been a major thoroughfare and
trading route.
• Natives have used the lakes and rivers in the Basin for thousands
of years.
• The first European ship on the lakes was the Frontenac, built by
Sieur de la Salle. It was a 10-ton vessel, likely a brigantine, and was
lost on Lake Ontario in January 1679.
• The first large European ship on the upper lakes was the Griffon,
also built by de la Salle, in 1679 near modern Buffalo. It would have
been roughly the size of Playfair or Pathfinder.
The Griffon went missing in
the fall of 1679, and no record
or trace of it has been found
Conflict on the Lakes
• The lakes were used for numerous naval
engagements throughout the 17th, 18th and
early 19th century.
• The British and French battled it out
throughout the Great Lakes Basin until
1756, when the British defeated France at
the Plains of Abraham and took control of
all of North America.
Conflict on the Lakes
• Within a few decades trouble was back
with the American Revolution.
• There were some minor naval battles
during this time, but there were not
substantial naval forces on the Lakes yet.
• With the end of the conflict naval forces on
the lakes were reduced and relative peace
reigned.
War of 1812
• When the War of 1812 broke out there
were numerous battles throughout the
Great Lakes Basin.
• The war eventually ended in stalemate,
with little land having actually traded
hands.
• The Americans won almost every naval
engagement though, both in the lakes and
on the coasts.
War of 1812
• The War of 1812 brought conflict back to
the Great Lakes.
• By this time there was a much more
considerable presence on both sides of
the lakes.
• The were many more battles, and the
Great Lakes figured heavily in the conflict.
Important sites during the War of
1812
St. Joseph Island
Drummond Island
Mackinac Island (not the big island
you see, a smaller island to the NW
not shown on this map)
Penentanguishene
Kingston
York (now Toronto)
Straits of Mackinac
Fort Niagara
Fort George
(Niagara-on-the-Lake)
Rochester
Detroit
Oswego
Erie, PA
Ft. Dearborn
(now Chicago)
Amherstburg
Put-in-Bay
(Battle of Lake Erie)
Burning of York
• The Americans came across Lake Ontario in
April of 1813 with a fleet to capture York. They
had 14 vessels and about 1800 soldiers.
• The Americans arrived on the morning of the
26th of April.
York in 1804
Burning of York
• The British only had about 350 soldiers at York.
They retreated early on as they new they were
seriously outnumbered. While leaving the British
set fire to their magazine (gunpowder storage).
• The ensuing explosion killed the American
commander as well as 30 other Americans.
Many more were wounded.
• In retaliation the Americans plundered and burnt
York over the 28th to 30th of April.
Battle of Lake Erie
•
•
The culmination of the naval war on the Great Lakes was the Battle of Lake
Erie, on September 10th, 1813.
The battle was fought in the west end of the lake, in and around the Bass
Islands and Put-In-Bay Ohio.
Battle of Lake Erie
• The British managed to seriously damage the American flagship
Lawrence, at which point Commodore Perry transferred to the
Niagara.
• Despite this setback the Americans soundly won the battle, and it
allowed them to retake Detroit, as well as command the lake for the
rest of the war.
Perry switching flagships
US Brig Niagara
• The Niagara is a replica of a vessel that
was present at the battle.
• The replica is based out of Erie, PA.
HMS St. Lawrence
• The only 3-decker
(first rate, or line-ofbattle ship) on the
Lakes.
• Built in Kingston,
launched 1814
• She was so powerful
that her presence
alone meant the
American fleet never
attempted to meet the
British for battle on
Lake Ontario. This
meant she never
actually saw action.
• St. Lawrence II is
named after her.
Lake Schooners
The Denis Sullivan, a
replica of a lake schooner
that sails out of Wisconsin
Lake Schooners
• The schooner quickly became the rig of choice
in the Great Lakes due to their manoeuvrability
and relatively smaller crew than a square-rigged
vessel.
• Most schooners still crossed a yard on the
foremast so as to set a course and raffee when
the wind was fair.
• Centreboards were also very popular with lake
schooners, the first vessel known to have had
one was the Challenge, built in Wisconsin in
1852.
Lake Schooners
• At one point there would have been
thousands of schooners plying the lakes.
• They would have ranged in size from 25
feet right up to over 250 ft.
• The largest lakes schooner was the 275foot David Dows.
Schooner David Dows
More Schooners
Port Dalhousie
Lucerne
• Trade under sail continued into the early 20th
century.
• By the late 1800’s tugboats had been
introduced, and most of the work in and out of
ports was done with help.
• Eventually sail was entirely replaced by power
driven vessels that also had far larger cargo
capacities.
Grand Haven Rig
Unique to the Great Lakes, this is was a 3-masted
schooner rig with the Mainmast removed. This allowed
for more cargo on deck, less sail to handle and they
still sailed well!
Lake Freighters
or “Lakers”
‘Straight-backer’
‘Self-unloader’
Lakers
• Lake freighters are long, straight and narrow.
The conditions on the Lakes allow for this kind of
construction due to smaller swells and waves.
• The bow shape is also unique to the lakes.
• Traditional Lakers also have their wheelhouses
on the bow, as opposed to the stern.
• The basic design traces back to the turn of the
century.
Lakers
• True Lakers are bulk carriers. They ship
grain and iron ore for the most part, but
can carry any bulk cargo.
• If they have a self-unloading boom they
are known as ‘Self-unloaders’. If they don’t
then they are referred to as ‘straightbackers’.
Built in 1906 as SAMUEL MATHER this vessel was renamed PATHFINDER in 1925,
and was subsequently known as GODERICH
J.A.W. Iglehart
Built in 1935
as the PanAmoco
• Dodged a torpedo
attack in 1943 while
on the East Coast
• Still going strong!
Edmund Fitzgerald
• Built in 1958
• Foundered in Lake Superior in 1975, she
was lost with all hands and the exact
cause continues to be a mystery.
What a nice looking boat!
More Lakers
A self-unloader
Modernizing the fleet
• Modern lakers, those built after the mid-1970’s
roughly, are different from the older designs.
• The wheelhouses have been moved aft, and the
classic lines have been largely erased.
• The bows have also been flattened.
• These measures are mainly economical,
resulting in cheaper and faster building. It also
results in ships with much less aesthetic value.
The Algoisle, an example of a modern laker.
(In the fall of 2009 Algoisle was retired.)
1,000 Footers
The largest vessels on the lakes are the “1,000 footers”.
They are called this as they are around (but usually over)
1,000 feet long. They cannot use the Welland, and stay
in the upper 4 lakes.
Big!
Bigger!
Captain Weed’s Favourite Freighter
•1,004 feet long
• 105 feet wide
Saltwater Vessels
• Often you will see a salt-water vessel,
known as a ‘saltie’ which has come up the
Seaway from far away.
• ‘Salties’ have much more flare to their bow
and are generally under 600 ft.
Tugs and Barges
• There are many tugboats and barges on
the Great Lakes.
• The barges carry anything and everything.
• Tugboats are also used to help maneuver
large vessels in port. Basically they are the
ultimate workhorses.
Pathfinder?
!?!?!
The other Pathfinder on the Lakes
• Combined
with the tug
Dorothy Anne,
they make up
an articulatedbarge unit.
Commercial Fishing
• Fish tugs, sometimes
known as ‘Turtle-backs’.
Playfair II
(She operates out of Killarney)
Commercial Fishing
• The Americans have removed all of their
commercial fishing industry on the Lakes,
and now only have sport fishing from their
ports.
• The Canadian industry is quite large still. It
is mainly focused in Lake Erie, with perch
and whitefish being the main harvest.
The Windoc
• The Windoc had a lift bridge dropped
on her in the Welland Canal in 2001,
subsequently while in Hamilton she
broke free and washed ashore
during a storm.
• At this point she remains in Montreal
where she has been since
September 2002.
Welland Canal
• There have been various different Welland
Canal’s over the many years.
• The first was built in the 1820’s
Later Canals
• There have been four total, this picture is a
lock from the Second Canal.
Present Canal
• This is the fourth Canal, though a fifth was
started and now is just known as the
‘Welland Bypass’ and is part of the current
Canal
Present Canal
• There are 8 locks between Port Weller on Lake
Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie. The
total height the canal lifts a ship is 99.5 metres
• Lock 8 is for adjustment to current water levels
and the rise is typically only a few centimetres
• The maximum dimensions for ships are:
– 225.5m length
– 8.2m draft
– 35.5m air draft
Port Weller
Port Colborne
St. Lawrence Seaway
• There is a lock at Sault Ste. Marie (actually
multiple locks, but only one lift)
• There is a set of seven locks, similar in size to
the Welland, between Montreal and Lake
Ontario.
• Together these make up the St. Lawrence
Seaway.
The Soo Locks
Great Lakes Weather
Great Lakes Weather
• The Great Lakes are an area of
complicated and rapidly changing weather
patterns.
• This is different from what is normally
experienced in coastal and offshore
sailing.
• Systems move through quickly, and there
are many variables resulting in
challenging, and often severe weather.
General Weather
• The weather is largely dictated by systems
coming over from western North America.
• The many different pressure grades and
warm/cold fronts mean that the weather is
constantly changing.
• Combined with the heat storage of the
Lakes, it makes for very interesting
weather, and potential for very powerful,
damaging windstorms.
A powerful squall in Green Bay, summer of 2006.
Wha’ Happen?
•Playfair’s anchor with a
bent shank after the
squall
passed.
•This demonstrates
the potential power of
squalls
on the lakes.
General Weather
• Winds are stronger mid-lake
• Waves and swell are larger the further
downwind you get
• Islands and shoreline will bend winds and
waves around them, as well as slow them
down
• Due to their shape and layout there is a lot
of funnelling of wind in the Great Lakes
Seiches
• A Seiche is the “Free oscillation of water in a closed or
semi-closed basin; frequently observed in harbours bays
lakes and in almost any distinct basin of moderate size”
• Basically sloshing back and forth on a very large scale.
• This is typically started by a meteorological disturbance,
such as sustained wind from one direction which dies out
suddenly.
• Longitudinal seiche period on Lake Ontario is about 5
hours, with a range of 0.2 meters (<1 ft.)
• Longitudinal seiche period on Erie is about 14 hours,
with a range of 2m (6 ft.)
• In reality these are rarely at a magnitude that would be
noticeable.
WATERSPOUTS!!!
• Waterspouts are funnels extending from low
cloud bases. They may encountered from late
spring to early fall, and though short-lived they
represent a real hazard to small craft.
Toronto
• Established in 1793, as York
Toronto
• Toronto quickly became a very important
port due to its islands that created great
natural shelter
• Many schooners and then lakers operated
out of Toronto
• Up until the 1980’s Toronto’s waterfront
was still mainly a commercial area
– Now all that remains along the main shoreline
are the grain silos and Redpath sugar
Toronto, 1894
Approximate location
of the shop
Toronto Harbour, 1919
Sweet!
Toronto
• Toronto continues to be a commercial port.
• The city has a large sugar refinery as well
as the container port in the Portlands.
• A thriving industry of tour boats also helps
keep Toronto’s waterfront alive and well,
though the new development plans for the
waterfront seem to forget that there are
boats on the waterfront.
Environmental Concerns
• Invasive species such as Zebra Mussels and
Lampreys have become a large problem.
• Zebra mussels rapidly clog water intakes,
sewers outlets and cover boats.
• Sea lampreys eat fish, cutting into stocks and
hurting biodiversity.
Sea Lampreys
Zebra Mussels
Environmental Concerns
• These invasive species and others are
being managed as best as possible, but
the ecosystem of the Great Lakes is in
serous jeopardy.
Water Levels
• Water levels also continue to be a problem
in the Great Lakes. The mid-00’s saw
some of the lowest waters on record (2006
was the worst), but there has been a slight
recovery recently.
Oliphant, Ontario. On Lake Huron
Water Levels
• There is a debate about whether or not it
is caused by a natural cycle or human
interference. There may be some truth in
both, but we all need to do what is
possible to cut down on water usage.
“They're Grrreat!”
And with 1/5 of the world’s freshwater contained on them, lets keep it that way.