Duluth’s Rarely Seen 80 Year-Old Historic Cutter Sets Sail
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- A rarely spoken about piece of Great Lakes history, the Sundew is an incredibly interesting vessel with a lot of stories to tell! Because she lacks an AIS transmitter, the ship is incredibly difficult to catch coming and going, depending 100% on luck to actually catch her. I’ve only seen her move twice, and both times were when I was at the Canal for a different vessel (in this case the saltie Ruddy), then happened to look over at just the right time to see her coming as I was leaving so I could run back and see her! Not sure exactly how close they got to that sailboat after exiting the Canal but was holding my breath a little bit…
Built for $861,000 between November 1943 and February 1944 right here in what’s now the Riverside neighborhood in West Duluth, and commissioned August 24th, 1944, the Sundew is a 180ft long Iris Class Buoy Tender and icebreaker, one of 39 built, 38 of which came from Duluth. Many of these vessels are still around today, with some still in service after being sold to other countries. One of her sisters was the CGC Blackthorn, now infamous as one of the deadliest incidents in the Coast Guard’s history after she collided with the freighter Capricorn and quickly capsized after the other ship’s anchor lodged in the hull, pulling the cutter over as it bounced back from the impact. Of the 50 crew on board, 23 died.
The Sundew herself served in the end of WWII as a patrol vessel, and records of her post war operations are seemingly not available (anyone know? Dug everywhere I could find!) In 1958 she was moved to Charlevoix, MI. Shortly after taking her new post she took over and lead the rescue operations in response to the sinking of the laker Carl D Bradley during an intense gale on Lake Michigan, arriving 5 hours after the sinking following a “trip through hell”. The response team also included one other Coast Guard cutter and nine lakers and salties. During the search the Sundew found a raft with two survivors, the only crew members to ultimately survive. A third was recovered in a life jacket but died shortly after being pulled from the water. There were 35 people aboard the Bradley, and like the Edmund Fitzgerald, she was the Queen of the Lakes when originally built.
In 1981 Sundew was transferred to Duluth and was replaced in Charlevoix by the CGC Mesquite, which would then wreck 8 years later in 1989 while covering a buoy run for the Sundew while she was in a shipyard for maintenance. The Sundew continued operations until 2004 when she was replaced by the new Juniper Class cutter Alder (and ultimately Spar, which serves Duluth today.) Upon the Sundew’s retirement, the Coast Guard donated her to the City of Duluth for use as a museum ship, but following a temporary downturn in tourism in the late 2000s she fell into disrepair and was sold to a group of local business owners lead by the Foster family, which purchased the ship for a measly $100,000, less than an eighth of her original construction price 65 years earlier.
Fortunately the ship has been restored to good condition and is once again able to sail under her own power. She has remained well kept up since then as well! However, due to the extremely high operational costs for her very fuel hungry 1943 diesel engines, she sails infrequently and spends most of her time docked in the Pier B Resort’s parking lot, where you can get very close to her! Essentially operating as Duluth’s largest and most unusual private yacht, the Sundew’s highly unique place in the city continues today. Sadly the ship is often forgotten by tourists and ship fans however because of the difficult nature of actually catching her sailing, but her owners have been known to treat ship fans and locals to a cruise every now and then, which might be what we’re seeing here since her decks are jam packed with people! Hope they enjoyed their trip!!
cooler than a Vista cruise-------------and likely safer. fine photography and an interesting history lesson. will look for her next Duluth trip
She looks so well cared for and loved. Marvellous to preserve history and excellent work actually getting to film her. 😊
She definitely does! Been on my bucket list to film for awhile! Sort of the opposite problem as most of the ships I rarely film lol
Great catch, man.
Thank you for providing the information on this ship. With all the folks onboard I wondered if she was providing tours.
Sundew is on Google Maps as a Duluth Historical Site and I've looked at the photos but knowing her history now is much better. She's a good looker and it's cool to see what designs the Coast Guard has kept and what it changed over the years. She handles the Superior chop way better than that sail boat does. 😅
Yeah she’s one of those boats that are just kind of always there in the harbor and because of that nobody really stops and takes the time to really think about her! Amazing history behind her so they really should!
She's a beauty. Long may she sail☺
She’s gorgeous! They did an awesome job fixing her back up
Got to ride on her last year. My uncle is crew on board!
@@nssrrailfan6443 lucky! I’m jealous, that sounds amazing!
Wow....what a story on her history!! If that was me sailing ahead of her, I would have been busting a move to get out of her way!!! Thank you for all of your knowledge ⚓🌊🛳
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I was a little nervous when that sailboat disappeared in front of her lol
I can only imagine how intense the bouncing around would have been on its way out to the Bradly. 💙💙💙
Yeah that must have been a horrific trip for a lot of reasons
I served aboard the USCGC Resolute when she was stationed in Astoria Oregon. She was Commissioned in December 08,1966.
For the larger ships, that's all the Coast guard has, floating fossil's.
The Coast Guard has been building quite a few new vessels I hear! Duluth’s new cutter certainly isn’t a fossil lol, this one was retired in 04
Thanks for a very informative narrative and most interesting video. I love reading about ships, big or small, that have managed to carry on at 80 years of age (or older). That this cutter was responsible for saving the lives of two crew members from the Bradley is something that will always be a part of her history. I'm thinking that the people in that sailboat must have had a death wish. If one can't move aside when on Lake Superior, there is a problem. It's not as if there isn't enough room, for God sakes. What was it trying to prove?
She certainly has an amazing story! Lol yeah not sure what they sailboat was thinking, maybe they didn’t want to turn in the waves but in that case they really shouldn’t have been out there in the first place
When i was growing up she was in Charlevoix Michigan
The sundew saved the 2 of the crew from the Carl d Bradley, the only survivors
Yep I have that as part of the written description! She’s got a extremely impressive history
Does the aerial lift bridge rattle off the specs of this ship like they do with the other lakers?
The museum staff? I think so? Honestly not sure, both of the times I’ve seen her it’s been after hours when they’re not around but I imagine they have it
cool