Balize (tug)

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Balize
Mary Grandy.png
The Balize underway
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
Name
  • Mary Grandy 1863-1865
  • Bignonia 1865-1865 (U.S. Navy)
  • Balize 1865-1915
Operator
  • H.J. Winslow
Port of registryFlag of the United States.svg  United States,
BuilderIra Lafrinier of Cleveland, Ohio
Yard number110
IdentificationU.S. Registry #2714
FateScrapped in 1915, in Midland, Ontario
General characteristics
Class and type Tugboat
Tonnage321.10 gross tons
Length131.50 ft (40.08 m)
Beam21.58 ft (6.58 m)
Height12 ft (3.7 m)
Installed power1x Scotch marine boiler
Propulsion Steeple engine
History
Naval jack of the United States (1865-1867).svg US flag 34 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Bignonia
Orderedas Mary Grandy
Laid downdate unknown
Launched1863 at Cleveland, Ohio
AcquiredAugust 2, 1864
CommissionedSeptember 14, 1864
DecommissionedJuly 12, 1865
FateSold, July 12, 1865
General characteristics
Type Tugboat
Displacement321 long tons (326 t)
Length131 ft (40 m)
Beam22 ft (6.7 m)
Draft10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
Propulsion
Speed10  kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement50
Armament
  • 1 × 30-pounder rifle
  • 2 × 12-pounder smoothbore guns

The Balize was a wooden hulled tugboat that operated on the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. She was powered by a single cylinder steam powered Steeple engine and fueled by one coal-fired Scotch marine boiler. She had a length of 131.50 feet, a beam of 21.58 feet and height of 12 feet. [1]

Contents

History

The Balize was built in 1863 Cleveland, Ohio by Ira Lafrinier as the Mary Grandy. On August 2, 1864 she was purchased by the United States Navy, and was renamed USS Bignonia. She was commissioned on September 14, 1864. She was used by the Union Navy as a tugboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. Until April 1865, the Bignonia served with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as a tug. She was reassigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in April 1865.

On 12 July 1865 she was sold to L. Burrows of Stonington and renamed Balize. On September 22, 1871, the Balize grounded off Stony Point, she was later removed by the tug Vulcan. She was rebuilt with two 460-horsepower compound engines in Buffalo, New York. On June 11, 1881, the Balize was rebuilt in Detroit to haul logs across Lake Huron. On April 28, 1883, she was sold to the Detroit Tug & Transit Company of Detroit. In September 1883 the Balize had a collision with the steamer A.W. Coulton near Belle Isle Park on the Detroit River. She caught fire in Detroit in December that same year.

On November 7, 1900, the Balize and another tug the Wales freed the wooden freighter SS Kaliyuga after she ran aground Detroit River near Amherstburg, Ontario. The tugs were going to take the Kaliyuga to Erie, Pennsylvania, unfortunately they couldn't continue the trip because of a storm and problems with the Balize's engine. The Kaliyuga made it to Erie, Pennsylvania, when the Balize was replaced by the tug Harvey D. Goulder. [2] In 1902 she was purchased by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company of Virginia. [3] [4]

Disposition

In November of 1915 the Balize was taken to Midland, Ontario, where she was dismantled. Her hull lies on the north side of Midland Bay.

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References

  1. ↑ "GRANDY MARY; 1863; Tug (Towboat); US2714". Great Lakes Maritime Database. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ Windsor Evening Record, Saturday November 10, 1900, pg 1 [ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Grandy, Mary". Bowling State Green University. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  4. ↑ Windsor Evening Record, Saturday November 10, 1900, pg 1

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

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