Great lake boats, a good video

[ArlyA]

Oh, this is quite the view of Duluth. The incline lift is clearly seen.
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The whaleback freighter Thomas Wilson (right) and an unidentified whaleback barge (left) at the foot of Seventh Avenue West in Duluth, Minn., circa 1892-1893 (Image Source: University of Minnesota Duluth – Kathryn A. Martin Library - Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections).

The photographer was George A. Newton. The tug on the right appears to the Pearl B. Campbell of the Inman Tug Line of Duluth.

Additional Historical Information – Thomas Wilson

Launched in 1892, the whaleback bulk freighter Thomas Wilson was built at West Superior, Wis. by the American Steel Barge Co. Designed for the iron ore trade, the 320-foot vessel was constructed for the company’s leasing business based in Buffalo, N.Y.

In 1900, the American Steel Barge fleet was sold to the Bessemer Steamship Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, which was owned by John D. Rockefeller. The Bessemer fleet was merged a year later with the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., a subsidiary of Andrew Carnegie’s U.S. Steel Corp.

On June 7, 1902, the whaleback freighter sank in Lake Superior off Duluth following a collision with the wooden bulk freighter George G. Hadley. The whaleback was outbound with a load of iron ore bound for Chicago, Ill. at the time of the collision.

The Thomas Wilson sank beneath the waves in about three minutes and five members of its crew were lost. The vessel’s wreck lies substantially intact in 70 feet of water off the lake side of the Duluth Ship Canal. It is one of the best remaining examples of a whaleback vessel.

The hull, however, suffered considerable damage amidships during the collision. There is also some damage to its superstructure and forward midsection. The interior of the vessel, however, has survived virtually unchanged since its loss in 1902.

 

[ArlyA]

Canal park Duluth MN. The saltie Jessica B arriving Duluth this Monday morning, heading over to the Riverland Ag elevator on the other side of the Canal to load Wheat.

 

[old and tired]

Missing an anchor??? I'm sure there's a good story to that!!

 

[ArlyA]

Yesterday, the Paul R Tregurtha backed out from Fraser Shipyards after spending the first month of the shipping season under needed repairs. Upon back out from her winter layup position, Great lakes tug North Carolina and Marine Heritage tug Helen H were there for the assist. Captured here, both on the way back after the afternoon operations. In the distance would be Jamno loading wheat at CHS.

 

[ArlyA]

Great story I just seen on FB Lakers page.
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The Keweenaw Waterway is about 25 miles long, cutting the upper UP of Michigan in half, and leaving it only connected by the Houghton-Hancock lift Bridge. Summer and fall, the hillsides along the waterway were beautiful, especially when the leaves changed color.
I had been through the waterway many times with the National Park Service tug years before, and I always enjoyed the trip s far as Houghton. I was looking for an excuse to transit the waterway with a big ship.
My transit finally happened in the fall of 1996 while I was on the Mapleglen. We departed the Soo bound for Superior, Wisconsin. We were abeam of Whitefish Point, and southwest storm warnings were posted for all of Lake Superior. The mate and I studied the charts to figure out the best course of action that would result in a good ride across the lake.
I thought that southwest winds would be ideal for the waterway, so we set course for the lower entrance of the Keweenaw Waterway. By the next day, the storm ranged with winds up to 70 knots off Stannard Rock. We entered Keweenaw Bay, but the storm was blowing with thick snow and too much wind to try for the entrance. We anchored in Pequaming Bay until the next day. I really wanted to make the trip through the waterway in the fall to see the colors, but this would be my only chance, and I intended to take it.
The next day, we entered the break-wall leading into the waterway. Snow was still falling. My trusted first mate, George Power, was on radar with me in the front window up through the Portage River. We slowly steamed ahead. At times, the snow fell so thickly that it was a total whiteout. It was an interesting trip; we passed small fishing villages and hundred-year-old abandoned homes.
The winds were predicted to veer to the west and still storm, so I told the boys that we would anchor again in Portage Lake and wait for the wind to blow itself out.
Before attempting to navigate the canal on the other side of the lake that would take us back out into Lake Superior, we had to make sure the ship would clear the Houghton-Hancock Bridge. We calculated that the after mast would clear the underside of the bridge by a good four feet.
While at anchor, I remeasured and calculated everything again, and once again determined that she would clear the bridge. I called the bridge tender to see if all was okay for lifting the bridge whenever we were ready to pick up our anchor and start moving again.
“We’re all set to go,” he assured me. “Just give me your ETA when you’re underway.”
The next morning, the wind was dying down, so we got the engine warmed up. I called the bridge to say we were underway and gave him our ETA. The snow had let up, so everybody was out on deck to watch the scenery, as many of our Canadian crew had never been through the waterway before.
When we came around the last bend of the river and saw the bridge ahead, I thought out loud. “What is wrong with that bridge? Look how low to the water the draw is.”
I called the tender. “Why isn’t the bridge raised higher? Is something wrong?”
“That’s as high as she goes, Cap,” was his answer.
We got closer and it looked more and more like we were not going to pass safely under it. “We’re not going to make it,” said one of the mates.
The chief phoned from back aft. “She’s not going to clear the bridge.”
For a moment I wished we had not come this way. But I trusted the math and proceeded slowly.
Under the bridge we went with four feet to spare.
The bridge tender waved. I blew him a salute; he returned the salute from the bridge’s horn.
The last time I had been through the waterway was on a 45-foot tugboat with lots of room. Now things were different with a 715-foot freighter. It was a pretty tight fit in some places, and there were several hairpin turns. But we got to the upper entrance without incident!

 

[ArlyA]

Recent aerial view of BNSF pellet dock in Superior WI. They run ore up a conveyor to the dock and load small silo's then unload them via conveyors into shop holds. Note the old pocket dock to the left.

 

[MossRoad]

Serious question... what's the purpose of that canal? Was there industry to serve that warranted an entrance/exit at both ends?

 

[ArlyA]

Serious question... what's the purpose of that canal? Was there industry to serve that warranted an entrance/exit at both ends?

From Wiki. Let me add to it this gorge was created by a washout as the last glacier receded and water slipped past to escape in a huge torrent to the south (or east).
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The waterway was dredged in the 1860s, extending a small river previously used by natives for transportation and fishing. The effort was a joint venture between the United States government and several mining corporations. Legislation for construction of the canal was passed in 1861.[1] This legislation created the Portage Lake & Lake Superior Canal Co. The company began construction of the canal in September 1868.[2] The canal starts at the mouth of Boston Creek and continues on to Lake Superior.

The expanded canal allowed freighters to haul copper from the rich copper mines of the Keweenaw Peninsula out through Lake Superior to larger cities. It also enabled supply boats and freighters to reach the cities of Houghton and Hancock, which supplied goods to most of Michigan's copper region. The expanded canal and shipping lane has a depth of 25 feet (7.6 m), deeper in some locations. As the waterway connects Lake Superior to itself, there are no locks needed.[3][4] The local mines' stamp mills dumped large quantities of stamp sand (containing traces of copper and chemical leaching agents) into the waterway, causing significant environmental damage near the sand dumps. Stamp mills on the waterway included the Old Atlantic, old Quincy, Pewabic, old Franklin, and the Isle Royale mills.

The area north of the waterway is known locally as Copper Island, because the waterway separates the northern part of the Keweenaw Peninsula from the mainland.

The only land route across the waterway is US 41/M-26 across the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.

 

[ArlyA]

Interesting turn of the century Iron ore map. This would be hematite and I like it shows the ranges it comes from.

 

[MossRoad]

Cool!