St. Marys Challenger

[mopar tim]

He was on the Thomas F. Cole.

[Alex]

Mopar Tim, which boat was you Grandfather on?

[Guest]

There's been recent photos posted on Facebook. You also have to remember the Challenger is pretty much only on a Charlevoix to Chicago run. Before she was converted you didnt see too much about her (except last yr). If she was on runs by Detroit or the Soo you would see alot more photos of her.

I know there used to be quite of few pictures of her, and other ships, in the South Chicago area on the news photo page. I haven't seen much of them lately either.

[Chris M]

There's been recent photos posted on Facebook. You also have to remember the Challenger is pretty much only on a Charlevoix to Chicago run. Before she was converted you didnt see too much about her (except last yr). If she was on runs by Detroit or the Soo you would see alot more photos of her.

[mopar tim]

Well put Jared. I like a lot of others on this site are more (purist) for lack of a better word and like the older style boats. I'm all for extending the lives of these boats by tug barge conversions but miss a lot of these old girls dearly. I only got to see my Grandfathers boat one time and that was when it was being towed for scrapping.

[Jared]

I wonder if the old timers seeing the last of the schooners and wooden steamers go in the 1920's-30's felt the same way. It goes to show that eras all come to an end. Although this one was made by poor choices (in my opinion from what I have observed) the Great Lakes is a closed system compared to the outside world. Change is slow and not all that steady. Nowhere in the world will you see 50-110 year old vessels still work their trade and still have a bit of future left in them.

It's a shame that when I came into existence in 91 that most of the ships that I would later come to admire are gone. Luckily I can see them through the pictures that many boatnerds have posted and the many that remember them like it was yesterday. The only physical evidence ofvthe bygone eras are either on the bottom to which I dive (to reasonable depths) or the physical memories of others.

[shirlohio]

Having been an admirer of this ship for a long time ~ starting when she sailed as the Medusa Challenger ~ I don't have 'negative' feelings about her conversion, I just feel a certain amount of sadness at her no longer being a freighter but sailing as a barge.
Thankfully I have videos of her arriving in Charlevoix in the 1980s/90s.

[Guest]

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.

[wlbblw]

Yeah, that's one thing I noticed here. Tug barges still get the job done but some people would rather see a freighter. For me that's short sighted. Sometimes they must not think about the consequences of scrapping & the implication of that as the cargo would move to the trucking industry or other means than water borne transit & more people would be out of work around the lakes. I get it that the traditional lake freighter is a classic, but a modern tug barge fills a certain need & in many (but not all) scenarios, they're the way of the future. Resistance to accept this change in the hobby community happens every few years. It happened before when steam locomotives were replaced by diesel, then again when the 1st generation diesels were replaced by newer models. Me personally, I like all different modes of transportation & I'll always be interested in whatever comes calling because in this industry & this hobby, beggars can't be choosers. I'd love to see the Challenger as a tug barge, it would be fine with me but my problem is that it doesn't come anywhere near me so I have to look here to see a picture of it. Take what you can get before it's all gone.

[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.

[Guest]

I have noticed a nearly zero level of interest in the St. Mary's Challenger since its barge conversion. I have seen only a few pictures of this ship in its current configuration and by reading some of the write ups online you would think that this ship has been scrapped as most are written almost in a past tense. Does anyone know anything about its performance as a barge? I know many have sentimental feelings towards this vessel, but at least it still exists and has not been turned into razor blades. Unfortunately the relatively short runs this vessel made as a powered steamer played a large role in its conversion. I don't mean to offend anyone out there, so I apologize if we have different points of view.