Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I too have enjoyed Dwight Boyer's books & his column in the Cleveland Pain Dealer. If you like this quality of material and the time frame, read Dana Thomas Bowen's books on the Lakes.

If you watched the Nickel Plate segment, would you care to venture a guest which Hanna (National Steel) boat that was unloading in Huron? The video is 1953 published, but the film could be a year earlier. How about the Albert E. Heekin?

Hello Guest! The ore unloaded in Huron would go to the Wheeling Pittsburg Steel Corp mills, either Mingo Junction, OH or Monessen PA. The slip you circled used to have a coal loading machine. In the 40s dad told of going to Huron with ore. Then, "the ship left left light, the crew loaded". The era ...

Concerning George A Stinson, she was operated 1990 ~ 1995 by Interlake; in 1996 she went over to American Steamship. Somewhere along that line she was bought by an investor group that identified as Stinson Incorporated. They came upon hard times -bankruptcy- the boat was laid up for several months ...

Hello Jared, if memory serves me correct, there were two M. A. Hanna boats lost in the great storm of 1913. They were the Charles Price and the Isaac M. Scott.

The M. A. Hanna company or sometimes refered to as Hanna Mining Company was a vessel company, operator and had both iron ore and coal mining assets. Circa 1955, they managed 10 vessels, five for National Steel Corp. three "Hanna boats" that were acquired from Franklin Steamship Co. & the Joe ...

These were called "whistle lights". They lighted up when the whistle was blown. They were unique to each fleet. Hanna's light was the Hanna star, Pickands Mather PM, Wilson W and so on. As a youngester making a trip with dad one day, he told me to go out in front of the pilot house. I was afraid he ...

I have a picture which I will forward as soon as I can get my scanner to work properly of Ashtabula harbor, main river, in mid July of 1959. The news article on the demolition of the coal dock prompted my memory. The picture shows on the east side of the Ashtabula river, Pennsylvania RR side, the ...

A few more recollections from the 50s. The Hanna boats ran regularly to the Great Northern ore docks in Superior. There were three docks in operation in those days one, two and four. So... first, typically the loading stopped until the ballast water was pumped out. Then the boat would "blow for a ...

During several trips in the 50s, I remember seeing a chart on the pilot house bulkhead with tug whistle signals. I don't remember the codes, but a few "titles", were back, ahead, strong.
In the early days of bow thrusters, a common expression used in the pilot house to turn off the bow thruster was ...

Another one of the projects connected with the opening of the Seaway was the St. Clair River cut off channel. It eliminated the South East bend section of the St. Clair River for navigation purposes. It also facilitated the "construction" of Seaway Island where the spoils of the new channel were ...

On the topic of C4's and speed in the South East Channel, the captain of the Joseph H. Thompson at least once received a copy of a bill Hanna had paid to a Harsens Island resident for flooded septic tanks. Dad's remark was they needed to have their canals flushed out once in a while. Another item ...

The Leon Fraser laid up in Lorain at Amship in 1982. She was later sold & towed to Superior to be shortened and refurbished as a cement carrier. She returned to service in 1991 for Inland Lakes Management.
Just about the same time frame was the Joe Thompson.

The Joe Thompson laid up for the last time as a steamer in the late summer of 1982. Dad was the last captain. The article on the fleet page gives 1991 as the completion date for conversion to a self unloader. So, that looks like eight or nine years of inactivity before return to service.

You are correct about the location of the old B&O coal dock. It is opposite the Jonick dock. Currently it is a boat launch site for the state of Ohio. Hanna often laid up there larger vessels. In 1975 the Paul H. Carnahan laid up in mid August due to a slowing economy. The dock was easy to access ...

Saturday January 9, there are 12 vessels scheduled to load in Two Harbors, including 5 thousand footers. Do you think the Lake Carriers Association would request an extension of the locks closing date of January 15?

Well, Cleveland Cliffs seems to be an "end user" of the pellets produced by all their mines, including those newly acquired. That is to say, AK Steel plants and the former Arcelor Mittal USA mills are end users in the production of steel. The Central Marine Logistics part of this situation is ...

Old Man, I can handle this one. St. Malachis near the W. 25th Street Shoreway exit. An old Irish parish that now has excellent programs for the needy in their neighborhood. I have done prison ministry workshops there in the past. Regards, Mike

True, but Hanna often had one its boats, before they laid them all up at the old shipyard at Ecorse, laid up at the "old B&O coal dock". This is opposite the Jonik dock & the site of the state boat launch facility. Cliffs also had boat laid there. Across the river, on the east side, Steinbrenner had ...

When Hanna built the Ernest T. Weir in the early 50s, they chose to make her a coal burner because they had investments in several coal companies. They also had fueling stations across the Lakes, North West Hanna fuels comes to mind. I remember fueling at Dock 26 in Cleveland on the Matthew Andrews ...