Tag Archives: Marine Historical Collection

Fr. Edward J. Dowling: Artist, More than Just Great Lake Ships

Father Edward J. Dowling taught for many years in the College of Engineering at the University of Detroit. His life-long interest in the Great Lakes made him an expert in maritime shipping. The archives holds more than 58,000 items related to his love for the Great Lakes. Although the majority of the items are photographs and negatives of ships, it also has some of his art works. He was an artist of some distinction and most of his works were...

100 Years Ago: Great Lakes Storm of November 1913

It was probably the worst maritime storm in the history of shipping that took place from November 7 through November 10, 1913 on the Great Lakes. More than 250 men lost their lives, twelve ships sank and some of them have never been recovered. You have to remember that during this period of time the technology for weather forecasting was very limited-no satellites or radar systems had been invented yet. How much attention was paid to the weather predictions seemed...