Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I recall reading somewhere that one of the reasons USS put the shuttle boom on the Blough had something to do with the unions aboard the Bradley self-unloaders and thus the reasoning was to make the ship not appear like a traditional self-unloader. If that is true was there any similar reasoning behind the Cort receiving a shuttle boom or was this arrangement just considered as being the most efficient way to unload taconite pellets for which these ships were exclusively designed to carry? USS continued the shuttle boom practice with both of their thousand-footers, the Gott and the Speer, although the former did get a traditional boom in the 1990s. Wasn't the ability to unload at Nanticoke one of the primary considerations in having the Gott modified?

It's funny, I cannot tell you what I had for breakfast but I can remember things and people from 45 years ago.

Lackawanna's ore dock had a hopper/conveyor system for self-unloaders & it was right on the wall so the short shuttle boom boats could unload into it. It moved on tracks & could be adjusted to fit the ship's arrangements.

Guest wrote:I beg to correct you. We had 2 or 3 trips to Buffalo in 1974 the year the Steelton hit the bridge. We unloaded in the roadway next to the ore pits. We backed into the slip.

The fact you can remember that level of detail is pretty impressive.


I had a relief job on on the Blough and I'm pretty sure it was one of the few if not only ships I worked on that went to Conneaut. But man, that stuff just blurs after all these years!

I beg to correct you. We had 2 or 3 trips to Buffalo in 1974 the year the Steelton hit the bridge. We unloaded in the roadway next to the ore pits. We backed into the slip.

You are correct that the picture you refer to of the Cort and the Laud was indeed the Sam Laud! Yes, you are correct that the Cort indeed received the wrong pellet load and was transferred into the holds of the Sam Laud which in turn unloaded the cargo onto the dock. I believe this was indeed the only time the Cort did not unload at Burns Harbor other than in the beginning with them. As for the Blough, No I don’t think they’ve unloaded ore anyplace else other than at Gary or Conneaut due to their unique unloading type of system with their short shuttle boom. They’ve unloaded stone cargoes as you mentioned at the CN Dock in Duluth but I don’t believe they’ve unloaded that any other place other than in Duluth. The Blough to my knowledge as never unloaded or has visited Burns Harbor and not sure if they could unload there or not as they usually unload at U.S. Steel ports such as Gary or Conneaut and you are correct as the Cort has only unloaded at Burns Harbor along with Lackawanna as well. Then of course as you mentioned the one and only time at Indiana Harbor. Hope all this has answered your questions.

Due to the configuration of its shuttle boom, the Roger Blough can only unload at Conneaut, Ohio and Gary, Indiana due to its shuttle boom. It can also unload at stone into a hopper at Duluth. Could the Blough also unload into the hopper used by the Stewart J. Cort at Burns Harbor, Indiana, and if so has this ever been done?

Likewise, has the Stewart J. Cort ever unloaded at any other place than Burns Harbor? Was there ever a hopper constructed at Lackawanna, New York for this vessel? I recall seeing a picture of the Cort unloading into what I seem to remember as being the Sam Laud at Indiana Harbor some time in the early 2000s at Indiana Habor after being loaded with the wrong load of taconite. The Laud (if that was which ASC ship it was) then unloaded the ore onto the receiving dock. Is this the only time the Cort did not unload at Burns Harbor other than any dockside trials during its final construction at Erie, Pennsylvania?