Boatnerd Discussion Forum

In a way this unfortunate turn of events with the Fortitude could be considered the answer to what would have happened if November 10, 1975 had passed without incident, as the Weir/Burton/Fortitude was the ship acquired by Columbia to replace the Fitzgerald. Yes, there's lots of other variables, but the corporate history of the Columbia fleet and subsequent sale would very likely be the same with either the Fitzgerald or Fortitude. But a pretty good argument could be made that in the alternative universe where Nov. 10 1975 is no more memorable than say 10/30/2010, the boatnerds are lamenting the sale of the former Edmund Fizgerald for scrap.

Thanks for the replies. The National Steel boats were among my favorites. I also liked the Hanna black stack with a red "H" centered on a white star. A simple but pleasing design.

I took the picture. Yes that's the Hanna flag.

I think that flag is the Hanna House flag.

In looking at the American Fortitude in the fleet gallery photo page, I have a question about the picture taken of the Weir at Mission Point in the late 1970s. Just below the Canadian flag is another flag that almost appears to be that of Interlake Steamship. Does anyone know what this flag was?

Here is the link to the picture:

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newsthumbs ... an0004.jpg

walbashriver wrote:garbear ,

can you post a photo of the bi centennial paint job of the Weir?

I don't have the capability to do that. I would if I could. I just have a laptop.

garbear wrote:

ebs wrote:its all about raising freight rates. What an awful end to a beautiful ship. The tunnel is like new and her tanks are strong. She is in better shape than 3/4s of the fleet.

Looking at some of my photos I took when I sailed and I got a picture of her as the Weir and also a photo of the Humphrey both anchored in the Detroit River on the same day waiting to get to the dock at Zug Island. It was 1976 because they both had their bicentennial paint job on the pilothouse. They both were up there in my top 10 best looking lakers. Humphrey was gone too soon and this one had a lot of life left in her, but it's the economics that lets the cutting torch win out.

Once I actually put on my glasses the Humphrey did NOT have the bicentennial paint job when I took the photo. Amazing what a pair of glasses will do.

Guest wrote:Always wanted to see her go down the Seaway, but not at the end of a tow line. :(

Wish she'd be sold to a Canadian fleet instead or perhaps even create an ASC owned Canadian subsidiary.

That would be a bad business decision! You would be selling a boat to someone that would compete for your own contracts.

I sailed on the Burton in 2000 and 2001. I had a lot of good times on that boat. the guest quarters were pretty lavish. sad to see the boat get scrapped.

garbear ,

can you post a photo of the bi centennial paint job of the Weir?

Always wanted to see her go down the Seaway, but not at the end of a tow line. :(

Wish she'd be sold to a Canadian fleet instead or perhaps even create an ASC owned Canadian subsidiary.

ebs wrote:its all about raising freight rates. What an awful end to a beautiful ship. The tunnel is like new and her tanks are strong. She is in better shape than 3/4s of the fleet.

Looking at some of my photos I took when I sailed and I got a picture of her as the Weir and also a photo of the Humphrey both anchored in the Detroit River on the same day waiting to get to the dock at Zug Island. It was 1976 because they both had their bicentennial paint job on the pilothouse. They both were up there in my top 10 best looking lakers. Humphrey was gone too soon and this one had a lot of life left in her, but it's the economics that lets the cutting torch win out.

Something tells me she'd make a nice barge, but I bet this scrap move is designed to keep her out of the hands of the competition. The way LLT/GRN runs salt around with their smaller ships, I'd guess some of them are getting pretty close to timing out & the Fortitude would make a nice replacement. Oh well.

its all about raising freight rates. What an awful end to a beautiful ship. The tunnel is like new and her tanks are strong. She is in better shape than 3/4s of the fleet.

Very sad indeed. What I would like to know is were are the U.S. fleets going to get new ships from?. We don't buy them from China and are there even any yards left that can build them for the lakes in the U.S.?. This is a big waste of a hull if you ask me why not convert it to a tug barge combo or better yet they should be able to make 1 operating ship out of the three of them. Just my thoughts nothing more.

It is sad to see the Fortitude go to scrap knowing this is the likely fate in store for the American Valor and American Victory in a nearby timeframe, unless conditions warrant otherwise. All three of these ships escaped the bloodbath during the 1980s when many of their contemporaries went to the scrapyard. In the end, all ships are destined for the scrapyard unless they meet an unfortunate end or are lucky enough to be preserved. Regardless of understanding this reality, I regret knowing the American Fortitude has reached the end of her career.

Sad to see it was made official the American Fortitude has indeed been sold for scrap. One can only speculate and assume the American Valor and American Victory won't be too far behind. Happy to say I sailed when all 3 of those boats were in their prime. Saw them a lot when we were on our Conneaut runs. Guess it's just a sign of the times.