Meteor 1969-1971

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JohnH
Posts: 277
Joined: December 6, 2014, 9:20 pm

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by JohnH »

guest wrote:I was on one of the tugs that towed the Meteor to its present location and know it was most likely 1972 as that is the year I started working on the tugs in Duluth. We took the tow from another tug that towed it across the lake and got it as far as possible to the Barkers Island slip that was made for it and then a bull dozer pulled it the last few hundred feet as the water was too shallow for the tugs.
I remember that due to the slip being a little too shallow for the Meteor, the tugs circled around just off the slip so as to force some water into the slip to increase the depth a little more.
guest

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by guest »

I was on one of the tugs that towed the Meteor to its present location and know it was most likely 1972 as that is the year I started working on the tugs in Duluth. We took the tow from another tug that towed it across the lake and got it as far as possible to the Barkers Island slip that was made for it and then a bull dozer pulled it the last few hundred feet as the water was too shallow for the tugs.
Tom Geiger

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by Tom Geiger »

The Taurus and the American were laid up across from Buger Boat Co.just passed the Soo Line swing bridge. On that end of the yard was where you would also see a lot of the testing for the Manitowoc crane operations took place.
The Meteor was laid up along the 10th Street Hill. Right below it.There was a railing along the street at that point. But this was across from the yard. I believe the side of the yard would be referred to as across from "C" birth or where the launching dock was. Having her at that point never affected any of the boats going up to the cement plant or anything.
Hope this helps
Guest

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by Guest »

During a recent trip to Superior I walked around the Meteor (unfortunately, museum was not open that day) and noticed quite a bit of dents in its hull attesting to its many years of service on the lakes. I saw that the bow had a large number of indentations and distortions. Does anyone know of any incidents that may have caused this particular damage? There was also a large dent in its starboard side about halfway down its length with some scraping that appears to have been possibly caused by a piece of construction equipment. Does anyone know when the ground was built up around the Meteor to make it landlocked? In the 1973 publication Pigboat, author Ryck Lydecker relates this vessel's return to Superior but says nothing about it being landlocked.
Guest

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by Guest »

Ray

While the grounding is stated as the reason the SS Meteor was taken out of service, you are right that there is more to the story. I am not sure if this pertains to the Meteor or not but some of the ships in the Cleveland Tankers fleet were having corrosion issues with their oil tanks and equipment. Another problem was that the Meteor was the oldest ship and had the smallest capacity in the fleet. Also the company began leasing a new barge named the Phoenix around the time of the grounding. Also I want to say a year or two before the grounding, new management at Cleveland Tankers began to question the companies practice of acquiring second hand vessels in their fleet. This change in company philosophy resulted in the company replacing its entire fleet with three new ships, the Saturn (1974), Jupiter (1976) and the Gemini (1978).
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by William Lafferty »

The last vessel constructed at Manitowoc, a hydraulic barge for Luedtke Engineering of Frankfort, was launched 16 March 1972, hull no. 439 and named Scow 17. It was built specifically for the construction of the Ludington Pump Storage Plant. Removal of the floating drydock sections and other equipment to Sturgeon Bay had already begun. Miscellaneous repair work continued until then, including the ill-fated refurbishing of the City of Saginaw 31 begun in July 1971. A number of vessels had been laid up there around around that time, including the American and Taurus.
Ray
Posts: 221
Joined: December 7, 2014, 9:33 am

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by Ray »

Thanks for the response and clarification. I have always heard/read that the 1969 grounding was the reason for the retirement. Hence my comment about "career ending". A google search of "why was the SS Meteor retired" comes us with a whole list of sites/stories saying the ground was the end of her career. Though a number of them also contain glaring errors. So I appreciate the rest of the story.

Was there still an operational shipyard in Manitowoc in the 1969-71 timeframe to have done the 5 year survey there? I'm still wondering why it would have ended up there. Wouldn't think there would have been an abundance of spare dock space in the Manitowoc river to just park a boat.
Thanks.
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by William Lafferty »

Her grounding was not exactly "career ending." The damage was minimal, repaired in November at American Ship Building's Chicago plant. The Meteor remained in service until mid-January 1970 when it came to Manitowoc for its five-year survey, which it passed in May. I have a vague recollection that boiler problems proved its undoing (although those boilers were its second set, installed in 1915), but I'm not certain.
Ray
Posts: 221
Joined: December 7, 2014, 9:33 am

Meteor 1969-1971

Unread post by Ray »

Today's newspage lists this as the day in 1971 that the whaleback Meteor was towed from Manitowoc to Superior. I'm just curious how/why the Meteor ended up parked in Manitowoc after the career-ending grounding at Marquette in 1969. I believe the Manitowoc shipyard had moved to Sturgeon Bay by 1969. I've never heard seen anything about where the Meteor was or what happened to it between the grounding and arrival in Superior two seasons later.

Although I was too small to care back then, I had numerous extended family living in Manitowoc, many with lots of interest in the shipping/shipbuilding industry, but had never before heard that the Meteor was there before going to Superior. Thanks.
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