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The PERE MARQUETTE
21 was the first of six ships built to the same design. Her
sisters included the PERE MARQUETTE 22, built in 1924, the ANN ARBOR
NO. 7, built in 1925, the GRAND RAPIDS, built in 1926, the MADISON,
built in 1927, and the CITY OF MILWAUKEE, built in 1931.
She was launched in
March of 1924 and was christened by Mrs. C.C. West, wife of the
president of Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.
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Call Whistle --
Long-Long-Short
Captain -- Charles E. RobertsonChief Engineer -- Arthur W. Ackerman |
The PERE MARQUETTE 21, along with her sister PERE MARQUETTE 22, had several major modifications during her career. In 1937 her deckhouses were extended aft to the stern. Passenger staterooms were increased from 12 to 40. In 1953 she was lengthened by 40 feet and triple expansion engines replaced with Skinner Unaflow, and a tapered stack.
Ludington Daily News, Sept. 1953
A coal strike in 1971 resulted in the PERE MARQUETTE 21 being laid up, never to sail as a carferry again. In 1973, the PERE MARQUETTE 21 along with her sister, PERE MARQUETTE 22, to were sold to Construction Aggregates Corp. She was reduced to a barge, and renamed CONSOLIDATOR. In 1980 she sank off the coast of Honduras during Hurricane Jean
- March 18, 1924 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was launched at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Christened by Mrs. C.C. West, wife of the president of Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.
- May 21, 1924 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 arrived Ludington on her maiden voyage. Captain Charles E. Robertson in command.
- June 20, 1926 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was blocked in Manitowoc following an accident which disabled the Manitowoc Tenth Street bridge, making it impossible to raise the structure.
- June 1, 1938 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21, under the command of Captain Arthur Altschwager, was released from a sand bar in the outer harbor (Manitowoc) after being aground for six hours.
- November 19, 1938 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 struck the north breakwater in a freak accident, resulting in minor damage.
- December 8, 1938 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was in the drydock in Manitowoc for repairs to some damaged plates suffered in a freak accident on November 19th when her rudder locked.
- January 21, 1939 -- The CITY OF FLINT 32 and the PERE MARQUETTE 21 were damaged when they struck the Ludington breakwater within a few hours of each other in a feak storm.
- February 2, 1939 -- The PERE MARQUTTE 21 was back in service after being damaged the previous January.
- December 31, 1939 -- The Ludington Daily News reported that the PERE MARQUETTE 21 made more passages than any of the other Pere Marquette carferries in 1939. She carried 4,560 passengers and made a total of 508 crossings during the year.
- June 4, 1940 -- Oiler George Riemersma (age 50) died of a heart attack while at work on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.
- July 3, 1940 -- The worlds tallest man, Robert Wadlow (22 years old) was a passenger on the PERE MARQUETTE 21.
- October 26, 1940 -- The Ludtington Daily News reported that
the first mate of the PERE MARQUETTE 21, George L. Plont, died at the
U.S. Marine hospital at Detroit.
- 1953 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 was reboilered, repowered and lengthened along with her sister, PERE MARQUETTE 22.
- October 4, 1954 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 made her second maiden voyage into Ludington after being lengthened, repowered and reboilered.
- October 30, 1971 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 laid up due to coal strike, never to sail again as a carferry.
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- July 17, 1973 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21, along with her sister PERE MARQUETTE 22, was sold to Construction Aggregates Corp.
- July 29, 1974 -- The PERE MARQUETTE 21 left Ludington for the last time under the tow of the tug JOHN PURVES.
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- November 21, 1980 -- The Consolidator, formerly the PERE
MARQUETTE 21, sank 17 miles off the coast of Honduras during Hurricane
Jean. No lives were lost.
