History of the Hatch Crane

[sh71382]

Here is the previously mentioned patent by Joesph Wood, on google patents. http://www.google.com/patents/US1701965?dq=1701965

[William Lafferty]

Would such a plaque have been installed on the Atwater as the first boat with this device?

The Atwater was launched 4 April 1925 and entered service the next month. The patent for the hatch cover was filed that May, and not granted until 12 February 1929, so probably not, if for no other reason than it wasn't "patented."

[GLHS]

Thank you all for your kind efforts.

Here is a follow-up question to the Hatch Crane History....although it might be wholly unanswerable.

We have a metal plaque (I have attached a picture of it) that descibes the patent for the Wood Hatch Crane Liftiing Apperatus.

Would such a plaque have been installed on the Atwater as the first boat with this device? Would other boats that had the same equipment installed later also get a plaque?

Thanks in advance.....

[Fred Miller II]

The William C Attwater, later the Cedarglen, I believe was the first with one piece covers,and an iron deckhand.

[Jon Paul]

You are correct, I missed the Munson on my list. They all have something in common that someone else touched on which is the old style booms. They virtually rested on the first few hatches and would not allow clearance for a hatch crane. Also all the cables and blocks on deck necessary to move the boom would make it difficult for a hatch crane. As for hatches on 12 foot centers, the Edison and Boland would apply but the Cornelius had 24 foot centers and I'm not sure about the Munson.

[hayhugh2]

Telescopic hatches with 12 foot centers were utilized on the self-unloaders so as to fill up each hatch for more tonnage. one piece hatches needed space between hatches for stowage. Not an issue on ore boats, but boats in the stone and coal trade used all available space and would still not put her down to her marks.

[William Lafferty]

The John G. Munson (1952) was build with telescoping hatches. Her image located in the BGSU data base clearly shows telescoping hatches.

Just about every new built laker from 1938 on had one piece hatch covers and a crane. The 2 exceptions I can think of were the John J Boland of '53 and the Detroit Edison of '54 which were built with telescoping hatch covers.

The commonality here is that newbuild self-unloaders after 1938 had telescoping hatches, probably since the unloading booms and hatch cranes as then utilized were thought to be incompatible for clearance reasons. The first new self-unloader I can think of with a hatch crane was the Cape Breton Miner. Early conversions of vessels with single-piece hatch covers, beginning with the E. B. Barber, John T. Hutchinson, and Hochelaga the year the Cape Breton Miner was built, 1964, retain the hatch cranes and, probably, original hatch covers. I do find it odd that a vessel like the Adam E. Cornelius did not have one-piece covers and a crane. I wonder if the switch from flat to tubular trusswork for the unloading boom resulted in more clearance for the crane.

[hayhugh2]

The forward mooring wenches forward on the Gov. Miller and the Wm. A. Irvin were also used to open the # 1/2 hatches. The ladders and forward house dictated where the mooring wenches were. When in port you would still have lines going over the side no matter where the wenches were placed.

[standuffer]

Just about every new built laker from 1938 on had one piece hatch covers and a crane. The 2 exceptions I can think of were the John J Boland of '53 and the Detroit Edison of '54 which were built with telescoping hatch covers.
Having been a deckhand on several "hatch farms" I tell you that getting assigned to a boat with a hatch crane was a big step up in the world.

The John G. Munson (1952) was build with telescoping hatches. Her image located in the BGSU data base clearly shows telescoping hatches. I am guessing that her one-piece hatches were installed during her upgrade to oil burning at Fraser.

[Jon Paul]

A correction to my previous post, the Detroit Edison was put in service in '55 and I need to add the Adam E Cornelius of '59 to the exceptions on new built.

[RTNerd]

An article in the June 1938 issue of Marine Engineering and Shipping Review described the main cargo hatches on the William A. Irwin and Governor Miller as being of a patented design known as Wood hatches. The covers were of one-piece steel construction and were made watertight by means of a flax gasket. An electrically-operated Northern traveling crane was installed on tracks for handling the covers. However the first two hatches were the old telescopic type because the owners dinning room and forward mooring winches prevented the crane from working the first two hatches. It is likely that the winches were located that far aft so the passengers did not need to step over the mooring lines when going to and returning from meals while in-port.

[Jon Paul]

Just about every new built laker from 1938 on had one piece hatch covers and a crane. The 2 exceptions I can think of were the John J Boland of '53 and the Detroit Edison of '54 which were built with telescoping hatch covers.
Having been a deckhand on several "hatch farms" I tell you that getting assigned to a boat with a hatch crane was a big step up in the world.

[Rob]

Many early boats did not have hatch cranes because of the prior mentioned telescoping hatch covers. For versions still on the lakes see Saginaw, Mckee Sons and the recently retired Maumee. Later when one piece hatch covers were implemented, you saw the hatch crane come about. I would say the change became accepted by the late 1930's. Boats like the 1924 Joseph H Frantz and 1925 William G Mather as well as the 1929 Myron C. Taylor + William G Clyde all had telecoping hatches. By the time the maritimers and the AA class boats came long in the early 40's the soild hatch cover was the accepted practice.

[William Lafferty]

Well, that Joseph Wood was Captain Joseph Wood, President of the Wilson Transit Company, who wrought a number of technological innovations on the lakes, particularly in hatch cover design. Wilson's William C. Atwater, built by GLEW in 1925, sported his one-piece hatch cover design and a rolling hatch crane to handle the large covers. The telescoping hatches used to that point did not require such equipment. He also had the Atwater equipped with a gyro compass, a first for a commercial vessel on the lakes. Eight years later, in collaboration with the Lorain County Radio Corp., he pioneered the use of ship-to-shore radio telephone communication, installing the apparatus throughout the Wilson fleet.

[hayhugh2]

I believe the William A. Irvin and the Governor Miller were the first new builds to have one piece hatches. They were built for Pittsburg Steamship (USS- GLF) in 1938.

[GLHS]

I am interested in finding out what boat on the Great Lakes was the first to employ a hatch crane and was that crane driven by electricity or was it mechanical but powered by human strength.

I have found a patent for a mechanical hatch crane by Joseph Wood of Cleveland Heights, Ohio registered in 1925 but thought that such technology was employed prior to that.

Thanks in advance.