On this day in 1960, the steamer J.F. Schoellkopf nearly collided with the new Houghton-Hancock Bridge when the bridge operator missed its whistle signal, causing the ship to run aground and cut telephone service to 1,000 Hancock customers.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day, 1960, the day before the new Houghton-Hancock Bridge over Portage Lake in the Upper Peninsula was to be formally dedicated, the steamer J.F. Schoellkopf [SHOAL-kawpf] almost collided with the bridge. Captain Albert Wilhelmy reported that he sounded the whistle signal for the bridge to open, but it never did. Reacting quickly, he ordered the engines reversed and dropped anchor. Unfortunately for the people of Hancock, the anchor became entangled in two of six Michigan Bell telephone cables that crossed the bottom of the channel. The steamer ran aground in shallow water, and telephone service was cut off to 1,000 customers in and around Hancock. The bridge operator said he never heard the signal. The steamer was soon cut loose from the cables, towed back into the channel, and continued her journey.