My youngest son and I had some time to kill while my daughter was volunteering at a church in Rogers City, MI today. He and I were going to try fishing in the Trout River, but it was raining and neither of us are that hardcore. Instead, we went to the world’s largest calcite mine to see if there were any interesting ships. If you’re bored, here’s a link complete with a picture from space - Link. Calcite is used for making roads, steel, and sugar. They use the 5” rocks in the process of making sugar from sugar beets. True story.

Anyway, the Lee A. Tregurtha was in port today, so I snapped this picture:



The following is from the ship’s owner’s website - Link:

Carrying Capacity - 29,360 Gross Tons

Overall Length - 826.0'

Year Built - 1942

Hull Depth - 39.0’

Beam - 75.0’

Engine Horsepower - 8,040


M/V Lee A. Tregurtha has a long and distinguished history since her construction as a World War II tanker. One of the most altered vessels on the Great Lakes, she also boasts two battle stars for WWII service as the Chiwawa. Her original dimensions were 501’8” x 68’ x 30’8” and her speed was 15 knots. Chiwawa served on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during the war and was present in Tokyo Bay during the September 2, 1945, surrender ceremony. The vessel was decommissioned on May 6, 1946, and transferred to the Maritime Commission shortly thereafter.

During the 1959-60 winter, Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company purchased the idle ship for conversion to Great Lakes use. Not only was the ship lengthened with the midbody insertion, but the hull was widened by 7 feet and deepened by 2 feet. In 1961, the new ship — largest and longest in the Cliffs fleet (22,500 ton capacity, 730’ x 75’) — was christened Walter A. Sterling in honor of Cliffs’ chairman. In 1976, she was again lengthened by addition of a 96-foot midbody, giving her an overall length of 826 feet. Her capacity increased by 7000 gross tons. Two years later, she came back again for conversion to a self-unloader. She also received a bow thruster in 1966 and stern thruster in 1982.

When Cleveland-Cliffs sold what remained of its fleet in 1985, the ship joined the Ford Motor (later Rouge Steel) fleet and was renamed William Clay Ford(2).

In 1989, Rouge Steel disposed of its fleet, and the ship joined the Interlake Steamship family as part of Lakes Shipping Company, Inc. She was renamed Lee A. Tregurtha in honor of the wife of Interlake’s vice chairman. Through the 2005 navigation season, the Lee A. Tregurtha held the distinction of being the largest steam-powered ship on the Great Lakes.

The Tregurtha is a frequent visitor to the LS&I Dock in Marquette. You can see her up close when she takes on iron ore.

I hate the idea of being lengthened and widened twice, along with the addition of thrusters, .......... Ohhh, wait, maybe that would be great!!!!

I'm going to hide now...

Very typical of a Great Lakes ship.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Very typical of a Great Lakes ship.

Yes and no.

Yes in the pilot house forward design, lengthening, conversion to self-unloading, addition of thrusters, and conversion to diesel.

But no in terms of it starting off as the ocean going USS Chiwawa and having been to Italy, Bermuda, Cuba, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, etc. Being in Tokyo Bay during the surrender ceremony I believe is unique for a Great Lakes ship as well. As the USS Chiwawa, it had a midship pilot house. Being a WWII ship then converted to a Great Lakes freighter is unusual along with the widening and increase of depth. It’s also the second oldest laker. The Alpena was also launched in 1942, but a few months earlier.

When we saw it yesterday, my son and I both thought it was one of the AAA steamships built in the early 1950s, the most famous of which was the SS Arther M. Anderson, the last ship in contact with the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. The 1940s lakers were narrower and had smaller pilot forward houses as well.

Very interesting. Thanks!

An accident waiting to happen…followed by a song.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
An accident waiting to happen…followed by a song.

Concluding some terms with a couple of calcite firms?

Anyway, cool photo and information. I am always interested to read about shipping on the great lakes.

I’ve seen the Lee many times at Rogers City, the Soo, and Marquette, it’s a grand old ship, the Paul Tegurtha I believe holds the distinction of being the longest on the Great Lakes, I could be mistaken though. Rogers City is quite an operation, had the pleasure of touring it many years ago, I thought our LaFarge quarry in Marblehead was a big operation, it pails in comparison. You guys had a great time!! Making memories!

The Paul Tregurtha is the longest of the 13 1,000 footers at 1,013 feet. We haven’t seen that one in person yet. We did see one of it’s sister ships, American Spirit:

trapper189… hopefully you can see the Paul some day. Was able to be along side of it in one of the many Soo locks tours I’ve taken, it’s impressive to say the least. Nothing more relaxing to me than watching the ships, love watching them come out of the Soo , spent many day at Point Iroquois, Paradise, Whitefisn point just watching them pass

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Very typical of a Great Lakes ship.

Yes and no.

I'm speaking specifically to the age of the ship.

Nice photo of the Lee A. There was a time in my life that I had thought about sailing on the lakes as a career, as such I followed the fleets quite extensively. There is a website called boatnerd.com that is still going strong that has a lot of photos, ship information and lakes related news. If anyone is interested, I would check it out.

One of the more interesting posts I've read in the forum.
Thanks all for contributing.

Even if the pilot house is at the stern, surely there is a spotter at the bow.