Leon Falk Jr.

[pcolachap]

When Hanna bought the two T-2 tankers for conversion, their conditions were some the opposite. The soon to be Leon Falk Jr. had all of its equipment in place, but was very rusty in some locations. Hence the repair of the after end at Amship in South Chicago. The Paul H.Carnahan had very few rusting issues, but was lacking in machinery and tools. My brother sailed a number of years on the Falk. They affectionately referred to the windlass room as the "ball room" because of its large space. Mike

[Guest]

Thanks for the information. The National Steel ships have always been some of my favorites. I first came across the Leon Falk Jr. during the early 1970s when at the age of five I was given a postcard of her sailing up the St. Clair River abreast of St. Clair, Michigan. After having a new stack installed (and possibly having her after cabins refurbished?) she was always easy to distinguish from her sister, the Paul H. Carnahan. Does anyone know what prompted the installation of a new stack? I can still remember the first time I saw the George M. Humprhey sailing down the St. Clair River bound to Detroit with another load of ore. It was sad to see this ship retired long before it should have been.

[cabinboy1]

Just a little correction from Today In Great lakes History. The Falk was laid-up, this date in 1981. My brother was a porter over there and then came over and worked with me on the Humphrey. Good times. Hanna must have been thinking the Falk had many years left in her, because, that winter they installed a bowthruster on her. Oops, the steel business took a dump(along with the rest of the economy), Falk never carried cargo again, but sailed under her own power to Montreal for scrapping a few years later. It was a good job over there. Whole boat was air conditioned and only carried ore.