http://www.shipsmonthly.com • Summer 2018 • 43
Great Lakers
Great Lakers
seen from the pierheads
Gordon Turner recalls his trips to the pierheads in the 1970s
to photograph ships using the Great Lakes system.
T
he early 1970s
was a period of
transition for
Great Lakes
fl eets. Older
vessels were reaching the end
of their careers, and these
careers were usually lengthy,
often lasting for 60 or 70
years. To take advantage of
the St Lawrence Seaway, many
newer and much larger ships
had been built in the 1960s.
Still, it was the older ones
that drew photographers to
the Welland Canal and there
was no better location than
the pierheads at the Lake
Ontario end of the canal. The
routine for photographers Imperial Sarnia (1948/4,947gt) remained in the Imperial Oil fleet until 1987,
when she was sold to become Provmar Terminal II, a fuel storage barge.
Although seen frequently on the Great Lakes, Imperial Sarnia sailed as far
afield as the Arctic, Canada’s Atlantic provinces, the Eastern United States and
Europe. Photographed on 2 July 1971. The Midland Shipbuilding Company of Midland, Ontario built the handsome Gleneagles (1925/8,582gt), owned by a
subsidiary of Canada Steamship Lines. Her self-unloading equipment was added in 1963. She had 23 hatches but only
four holds. In 1978 she became Silverdale, a name she held until 1984, when she was demolished at Windsor, Ontario.
Photographed on 14 April 1973.historic tugboAts
Two other interesting vessels
found on the Lakes are the
Canadian tug James Whalen,
once owned by the Dominion
Towing and Salvage Co,
and displayed afl oat at
Thunder Bay, Ontario, and
the American tug Edna G,
built in 1896 and on display
at Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Before her retirement in
1981, Edna G was the last
coal-fi red steam-powered
tug in commercial operation
in North America, the
boat’s original fore-and-aft
compound condensing engine
having never been replaced.
The 180ft James Whalen,
built in 1906 with a capability
of breaking ice 40in thick,
has recently been joined
at Thunder Bay by the
59-year-old former Canadian
Coast Guard icebreaker
Alexander Henry, which was
formerly berthed at Kingston,
Ontario. On display as a museum ship at
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan since 1968,
the 1917-built Valley Camp served the
National Steel Corporation, Republic
Steel Corp and Wilson Transit Co
before being retired in 1966. muSeum
SHip valley camp