by Guest » October 22, 2014, 7:09 am
mn brett wrote:Your right,look at the Buckeye and the Reserve,they will be around a long time,what a sick thought to see what happens to the Victory,Armco and the Courtney.It must of been sad during the time the footers came out and hundreds were scrapped.
I remember growing up in the 1980s when the axe really fell upon the US flagged Great Lakes fleet. Although the 1,000 footers played a large role in the retirement of many smaller, and older, vessels that had reached the end of their useful lives, it was the downturn in the steel industry during that period that represented a primary reason behind the scrapping of several ships that, by Great Lakes standards, had many years of service life remaining. Seeing ships like the George M. Humphrey, William Clay Ford, E. G. Grace, Thomas Wilson, Arthur B. Homer, etc. go to the breakers at only 30 to 40 years in age was very heartbreaking. It must be remembered that the decision to scrap many of these vessels was also influenced by the lengthening and self-unloading conversions of existing steamers. Self-unloading not only provided these ships with flexibility of serving a wider range of ports they could serve but also increased the number of cargoes they could haul during any particular season by decreasing the number of hours spent unloading by shore side equipment.
Although the conversion of St. Marys Challenger is looked upon negatively by most boatwatchers, it must be remembered that this ship has had an amazing career only because it has received modifications to maintain its profitability. When measured against the careers of other ships, including those mentioned in the paragraph above, there is no room to doubt that St. Marys Challenger has been a very fortunate vessel. Lets hope that it will continue to ply the waters of the Great Lakes for many more decades.
[quote="mn brett"]Your right,look at the Buckeye and the Reserve,they will be around a long time,what a sick thought to see what happens to the Victory,Armco and the Courtney.It must of been sad during the time the footers came out and hundreds were scrapped.[/quote]
I remember growing up in the 1980s when the axe really fell upon the US flagged Great Lakes fleet. Although the 1,000 footers played a large role in the retirement of many smaller, and older, vessels that had reached the end of their useful lives, it was the downturn in the steel industry during that period that represented a primary reason behind the scrapping of several ships that, by Great Lakes standards, had many years of service life remaining. Seeing ships like the George M. Humphrey, William Clay Ford, E. G. Grace, Thomas Wilson, Arthur B. Homer, etc. go to the breakers at only 30 to 40 years in age was very heartbreaking. It must be remembered that the decision to scrap many of these vessels was also influenced by the lengthening and self-unloading conversions of existing steamers. Self-unloading not only provided these ships with flexibility of serving a wider range of ports they could serve but also increased the number of cargoes they could haul during any particular season by decreasing the number of hours spent unloading by shore side equipment.
Although the conversion of St. Marys Challenger is looked upon negatively by most boatwatchers, it must be remembered that this ship has had an amazing career only because it has received modifications to maintain its profitability. When measured against the careers of other ships, including those mentioned in the paragraph above, there is no room to doubt that St. Marys Challenger has been a very fortunate vessel. Lets hope that it will continue to ply the waters of the Great Lakes for many more decades.