Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Rmack wrote:Most of the stack, a life boat, a couple vents, and the horns with the cage that protected them along with some other deck gear was sitting at the back lot of the Ford Model T plant in Highland Park. They were there from around 2006 through 2013 or so. You could see them through the fence from Oakland Ave. at the east side of the property. I have some pictures somewhere that I took that would take some digging to find but you can see the parts on Google Earth and on some of the street view images which I included. I thought it was interesting that the stack was on the Ford property and wondered if it was being saved for a possible exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum.

Wonder what the story was behind bringing some of the vessel's gear and stack back to Michigan. I don't believe none of that was removed prior to it sale to Interlake or going to the scrapyard. Is there any indication of where these items went?

Most of the stack, a life boat, a couple vents, and the horns with the cage that protected them along with some other deck gear was sitting at the back lot of the Ford Model T plant in Highland Park. They were there from around 2006 through 2013 or so. You could see them through the fence from Oakland Ave. at the east side of the property. I have some pictures somewhere that I took that would take some digging to find but you can see the parts on Google Earth and on some of the street view images which I included. I thought it was interesting that the stack was on the Ford property and wondered if it was being saved for a possible exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum.

The Benson Ford (1) when built was equipped with two air horns (12" diameter diaphragms) manufactured by the Allan Cunningham Company of Seattle, WA. I believe it was the first application of air horns on a large Great Lakes vessel. The Henry Ford II was originally equipped with two "standard" (10" diameter by 36" length bell) steam whistles manufactured by the American Shipbuilding Company. Sometime in the 1930's, a swap was made between the two ships. Both then had one steam whistle and one air horn. In the late 1940's the steam whistles were replaced on both vessels with Leslie Typhon DVE300 steam horns. The steam horns took up the positions above the air horns where the whistles had been. The Henry Ford II kept this arrangement until she was scrapped. The Benson Ford (1) had her original smokestack replaced with a much wider cylindrical one. The two horns were reinstalled side by side in the new stack. They were buried in the stack with only the outer ten inches of the horns protruding. The air horn was on the port side and the steam horn on the starboard side. They remained there until she was scrapped. The horns from the Benson Ford (1) are in private collections. I have no idea what became of the Henry Ford II horn or the two whistles for that matter. I hope this information helps in the discussion.

I'm going to guess this is the original configuration with a whistle.

Guest wrote:O.k., seeing that no one else has I'll take a stab at this one. As I remember she had one of each, and that the steam horn sat above what looked to be an air horn. In looking for pictures to try and confirm what I remember it appears that there was originally a steam whistle where the steam horn was.

Thank you for the info!

previous post wrong, the correct one

O.k., seeing that no one else has I'll take a stab at this one. As I remember she had one of each, and that the steam horn sat above what looked to be an air horn. In looking for pictures to try and confirm what I remember it appears that there was originally a steam whistle where the steam horn was.

What type of horn did she have? Air or Steam?
Any info is appreciated thanks!