Boatnerd Discussion Forum

With all of the pictures of the vessels at anchor in the St. Marys River on November 11, 1975 that are loaded with cargo I'm assuming that the storm conditions that sank the Fitzgerald on Lake Superior extended further south to Lake Michigan and Lake Huron?

What's the story behind that continuous bucket unloader?

Loving the photos from what is now a golden age of shipping, garbear. Amazing how many of those boats that were new then are gone now.

E J B-I can. I appreciate all the positive comments I've been receiving. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing these photos with us garbear. Keep them coming if you can !

Would appreciate seeing a photo or photos of the crane ship Buckeye, should you have one available from your collection. I sailed during the mid and late seventies, all with Columbia.

Guest wrote:Garbear on the 2nd deck aft on the AAA what was the arrangements Galley Quarters?

On the Clarke that was where the Engineers and senior Oiler had their quarters. The galley/dining room/crew mess was on the spar deck level on the port side right when you came in from outside.

Guest wrote:Other than the Blough and Cort in 1975 the Algosoo would have been as big as they got and new, should have taken notice that she was anchored.

Due to a series of reconstructions there were a number of US vessels in service by 1975 that were longer than the standard 730 foot lakers. This includes the John Sherwin and Charles M. Beeghly at 806 feet, along with the Armco, Reserve, Cason J. Callaway, and Philip R. Clarke at 767 feet in length. In addition, the Arthur M. Anderson had just been lengthened to 767 feet some 6 months prior to its involvement in the Fitzgerald sinking. Apparently there was little concern of that vessel's sinking being related to its design as its loss did not delay the lengthening of its sister ship Arthur B. Homer during the 1975-76 winter layup.

Garbear on the 2nd deck aft on the AAA what was the arrangements Galley Quarters?

Nothing much going on today, so I'll post a few more.

Guest wrote:

garbear wrote:A few more.

That must have been a short while before the Algosoo declined to join the search for the Fitzgerald. On the audio recordings of the Coast Guard search for the Fitz the Captain of the Algosoo stated they had cracked the kort nozzle and didn't want to risk more damage in the conditions. The Earl W. Ogelbay rolled in modest seas more than any other ship I ever worked on so I can't imagine the ride the guys on the Roesch had heading out into those seas!

The Algosoo followed us down to the Soo. I saw her turn above the Locks. I figured she was going into Algoma Steel.

garbear wrote:A few more.

That must have been a short while before the Algosoo declined to join the search for the Fitzgerald. On the audio recordings of the Coast Guard search for the Fitz the Captain of the Algosoo stated they had cracked the kort nozzle and didn't want to risk more damage in the conditions. The Earl W. Ogelbay rolled in modest seas more than any other ship I ever worked on so I can't imagine the ride the guys on the Roesch had heading out into those seas!

Those two pictures of the Thayer and Roesch in Nov 1975 are also significant as they are very early views of these vessels following their acquisition by Oglebay Norton and subsequent placement into the Pringle Transit Company just months earlier.

These are treasures ! Please keep them coming.

I know some of these photos seem like I'm far away from the boats, but my first camera was a Kodak Instamatic, so I couldn't be too close otherwise I couldn't get in as much as I did with some of the photos.

A few more.

Thank you for posting all of these great photos!! Please keep them coming!!

Other than the Blough and Cort in 1975 the Algosoo would have been as big as they got and new, should have taken notice that she was anchored.

Wow incredible pictures your told how rough it was but when you see colour photos hours before the tragedy it puts it in a whole other context.

Very rare photos from November 10/11, 1975. Interesting to see some of the ships underway that a couple of hours later went to anchor in Whitefish Bay. You can see the winds blowing the top off the waves in the Algosoo photo.

Some great pictures of those vessels on the day of the Fitzgerald sinking. I believe those are the only ones I have seen of ships in that storm.