The Balize was built in 1863 Cleveland, Ohio by Ira Lafrinier as the Mary Grandy. On August 2, 1864 she was purchased by the United States Navy, and was renamed USS Bignonia. She was commissioned on September 14, 1864. She was used by the Union Navy as a tugboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. Until April 1865, the Bignonia served with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as a tug. She was reassigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in April 1865.
On 12 July 1865 she was sold to L. Burrows of Stonington and renamed Balize. On September 22, 1871, the Balize grounded off Stony Point, she was later removed by the tug Vulcan. She was rebuilt with two 460-horsepower compound engines in Buffalo, New York. On June 11, 1881, the Balize was rebuilt in Detroit to haul logs across Lake Huron. On April 28, 1883, she was sold to the Detroit Tug & Transit Company of Detroit. In September 1883 the Balize had a collision with the steamer A.W. Coulton near Belle Isle Park on the Detroit River. She caught fire in Detroit in December that same year.
On November 7, 1900, the Balize and another tug the Wales freed the wooden freighter after she ran aground Detroit River near Amherstburg, Ontario. The tugs were going to take the Kaliyuga to Erie, Pennsylvania, unfortunately they couldn't continue the trip because of a storm and problems with the Balizes engine. The Kaliyuga made it to Erie, Pennsylvania, when the Balize was replaced by the tug Harvey D. Goulder.[2] In 1902 she was purchased by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company of Virginia.[3] [4]
In November of 1915 the Balize was taken to Midland, Ontario, where she was dismantled. Her hull lies on the north side of Midland Bay.