Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

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William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by William Lafferty »

Anyone know anything about the crane ship and what appears to be a cut down railroad ferry at the very south end of the photo?
It is most certainly the Donner. The other vessel is the former carferry Maitland No. 1, cut down to a barge by Roen in 1943 and sold in 1973 to Milwaukee's Eder Barge & Towing, Inc., and to Bultema in 1978. It rarely, if ever, moved from that spot while owned by Eder. Interesting to see the C & O's old Maple Street slip used for barge mooring.
garbear

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by garbear »

Mr Link wrote:As luck would have it, the USGS Earth Explorer website has a series of aerial photos of Milwaukee taken in March 1976. The metadata says March 1, 1976, but the photo is labeled March 19, 1976. (I believe on aerial photos, the date shown on the print is usually the actual date taken.) I'm more of a tugboat guy, but that sure looks like the Blough rafted to the Presque Isle.

Anyone know anything about the crane ship and what appears to be a cut down railroad ferry at the very south end of the photo?
Believe this was the crane ship. I know it was there in 1971 when we fit-out the Clarke at Jones Island.


http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/001724
Duluth Guest

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by Duluth Guest »

The crane ship in the lower corner of the photo is the William H. Donner.

Image
Mr Link
Posts: 1198
Joined: December 6, 2014, 3:43 pm

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by Mr Link »

As luck would have it, the USGS Earth Explorer website has a series of aerial photos of Milwaukee taken in March 1976. The metadata says March 1, 1976, but the photo is labeled March 19, 1976. (I believe on aerial photos, the date shown on the print is usually the actual date taken.) I'm more of a tugboat guy, but that sure looks like the Blough rafted to the Presque Isle.

Anyone know anything about the crane ship and what appears to be a cut down railroad ferry at the very south end of the photo?
Attachments
Milwaukee03-19-1976.jpg
jim1000

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by jim1000 »

Thank you Mr. Lafferty and Guest for the excellent information. It really helps me narrow down the window for specific events in the harbor which occurred that winter of early 1976. Since the Blough was rafted outboard of the Presque Isle I'm assuming she arrived later and must have been the last boat to lay-up at Jones Island that winter.
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by William Lafferty »

The Blough locked downbound at the Soo for Lake Michigan on 25 February 1976 and locked upbound on 5 April 1976 at 12:40 AM. There are no passages I can find for it between these dates, so this narrows the time it would have been at Milwaukee. As an aside, remember the dates stamped on the cardboard holders of slides indicates only when the slide was processed.
Guest

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by Guest »

On page 371 of Great Lakes Ship Wrecks and Survivals, William Ratigan notes the Blough going into layup during March of 1976 when the Corps of Engineers closed the Poe Lock down for maintenance.
jim1000

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by jim1000 »

I have photos of the Blough laid up in Milwaukee along Jones Island, rafted outboard of the Presque Isle, with several old U.S. Steel boats astern, dated from the early months of 1976, or at least printed no later than April. The print dates are on slides and I'm positive that I've seen other photos from early 1976 showing the Blough laid up at the same location.
GuestfromEU
Posts: 359
Joined: December 7, 2014, 10:33 am

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by GuestfromEU »

I think there may still have been a technical "lay up" and "fit out" date for the ships which ran all winter. If they stopped regular transits for any length of time, I cannot be sure, but I recall reading information on the Soo Locks, which had a date to determine the "new" season (it was not January 1).
garbear

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by garbear »

William Lafferty wrote:Did it actually fit-out in 1976? I ask because it locked down for Lake Erie on Thursday, 1 January 1976, at 7:50 AM. USS operated the Blough and eight others into March that winter.
I got off the Clarke for the winter of 1975-76 and got back on in March 1976 in Two Harbors. We had a brief lay-up only because downbound that trip we ran into the back of the Mackinaw in Whitefish Bay. Went to Conneaut and unloaded, then to Lorain and into the shipyard. Otherwise no lay-up on the Clarke.
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by William Lafferty »

Did it actually fit-out in 1976? I ask because it locked down for Lake Erie on Thursday, 1 January 1976, at 7:50 AM. USS operated the Blough and eight others into March that winter.
jim1000

Roger Blough Fit-Out dates

Unread post by jim1000 »

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has access to fit-out dates for the Roger Blough? I am looking particularly for when she departed her lay-up berth in Milwaukee in 1976. Thanks in advance!
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