SS Columbia and her resurrection . . . back in November 2011, when I took this photo in Detroit, I was not a believer.
But a year ago, she was towed from Detroit to a Toledo graving dock for inspection and most urgent hull repairs. The photo below and some of those that follow are used with permission from the SS Columbia project.
This past summer she was refloated, and
on September 1, Great Lakes tugs Michigan (1965) and Nebraska (1929) arrived to tow her from Toledo to Buffalo. Here’s 0820,
0830, and
departing the Maumee River by 1030.
The next two photos were taken by Luke Wark . . . late afternoon September on a very placid Lake Erie. Now note what happens to the stack in the next few photos.
David Torke captures the tow arriving off Buffalo and
up the canal to its new but temporary dock . . . .
Many thanks to Ian Danic for permission to use these photos. You can keep informed about the project through this website.
Click here for the article from Professional Mariner.
tugster: a waterblog 
2 comments
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September 8, 2015 at 2:07 pm
jdawgswords
thx for posting…great story
September 8, 2015 at 7:42 pm
James Gallant
Thanks for posting the story and the great pics, Will – I knew nothing about either the COLUMBIA or the Columbia Project beforehand. It’s great to see her being restored; the PETER STUYVESANT was up here in Boston moored at the Pier 4 Restaurant when I was a boy, and I loved that old Hudson River boat. She was battered and her hull stove-in during the Blizzard of 1978; she rolled and sank, a total heartbreaking loss. – Jim Gallant.