Number 302 • summer 2017

PowerT h e M a g a z i n e o f E n g i n e -P o w e r e d V e s s e l s f r o m t hShips e S t e a m s h i p H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y o f A m e r i c a

Also in this issue Messageries Maritimes’ Three Musketeers 8 Sailing British India An American Classic: to the Persian Steamer Gulf 16 Post-war American wilfred Freighters 28 End of an Era 50 sykes 36 n Wilfred Sykes on the St. Marys River in 2003 as a self- unloader. – Roger LeLievre photo.

A Classic American Steamer Wilfred sykes By Mark Shumaker

As defined, classic means o write an accurate history of Wilfred Sykes, you must first understand the history of “historically memorable” and “serving as Inland Steel and the fleet of ships that it would a standard of excellence.” In sports, it’s own one day. Inland Steel dates to 1893, when a foreman of the defunct Steel Works baseball. For dessert, it’s apple pie. When attempted to produce steel with its remaining you talk about cars, it’s the beautiful ’57 assets on a small site in Chicago Heights, . Appropriate financing was secured Chevy. Pertaining to the vessels sailing from Cincinnati financier Joseph Block and a group of investors. the Great Lakes, that title belongs to the The group incorporated Inland Steel Company in October 1893, immediately purchased the assets of Chicago Steel Works and Wilfred Sykes. This unassuming, 67-year- began production in early 1894 on this small plot of land. old vessel, once the largest and fastest on While searching for an area of Chicago to build a permanent steel plant, Inland Steel found that the closest available land was the Great Lakes, has survived economic in Lake County, Indiana. That location was desirable because of ups and downs, mergers and acquisitions its low cost, proximity to , potential labor force, and the modernization of the American plentiful water supply and access to road, railway and water transportation. In short, the area was a perfect location to assemble fleet all while earning its place as a classic. raw materials and distribute the final products. On March 26,

36 • Summer 2017 PowerShips 1901, Inland Steel Company accepted an offer from the Lake conjunction with an economic downturn. The vessels purchased Michigan Land Company of 50 acres of free land with access to by Inland Steamship were the modern Arthur H. Hawgood and W. Lake Michigan, located 20 miles from downtown Chicago in the R. Woodford, which were renamed Joseph Block and N. F. Leopold, suburb of East Chicago, Indiana. In addition to the land, Lake respectively. When the vessels entered service, the modest Inland Michigan Land Company agreed to construct a harbor that would Steamship Company had a combined capacity of 21,000 tons be known as Indiana Harbor. For its part, Joseph Block’s Inland per trip. Through its management agreement, Inland’s vessels Steel agreed to build and construct a steel mill and docks. carried much of its own ore, stone and coal cargoes, but a In 1902, Inland Steel began operating a newly constructed significant portion of its needs were hauled by vessels chartered open-hearth furnace, and in 1906 it began operating a new and owned by Hutchinson & Company. blast furnace and receiving raw materials through the docks at Indiana Harbor. Due to the growth in and around Indiana Inland Steel’s Growth Harbor, the federal government took possession of the harbor teady growth continued for Inland. During the chaotic and connected Indiana Harbor Ship Canal in 1910 and SWorld War I years, the company reached a million tons of immediately began federal improvements. The area continued steel production while employing 7,000 workers. The company to grow and become an important industrialized suburb of had always been considered innovative, and, by 1926, Inland’s Chicago, housing the Steel and Tube Company of America, operation became the first domestic steel plant to be entirely Standard Oil of Indiana, United States Gypsum and other powered by electricity, which provided more efficiency, heavy industries. Inland Steel’s docks, with its consistency and safety. Fueling its growth, Inland unloading cranes and ever-increasing Steel’s Indiana Harbor location stockpiles of raw materials, offered many competitive facilitated the organized advantages over the large unloading and storage Pennsylvania steel of iron ore, limestone, mills, including coal and other access to the bulk commodities Chicago market from the mines and and westward quarries throughout the expansion, newer Great Lakes region. facilities that provided As Inland Steel grew, the the latest best practices, fledgling steelmaker invested in iron more efficient production and lower ore mines, ensuring itself a source of iron ore n Artist rendering, Inland Steel transportation costs due to its location on Lake that allowed it to reduce costs and increase steel Company, Indiana Harbor Michigan, which also eliminated a portion of production. The first was the Laura Iron Mine, Works, 1909. – Image courtesy costly rail dependence. located in Northern Minnesota, which contained Calumet Regional Archives, As Inland Steel grew, it secured additional some of the richest ore deposits of the enormous Indiana University Northwest. leases on northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Range Mesabi Range. By 1910 the Laura Iron Mine was and began mining the Bennett, Dunwoody and producing 950,000 tons of iron ore annually that Bonnie Belle mines. It also procured leases on the was transported to Inland Steel at Indiana Harbor. Cuyuna Range’s Armor mines located west of Lake Superior, and iron ore tracks in the Marquette, Gogebic and Menomonee Inland’s Fleet Ranges situated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This raw iron nland Steel was strategic in its vertical acquisition ore was railed to the ports of Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors, Iof other properties. This step strengthened the company so Ashland and Marquette on Lake Superior and to Escanaba that one day it would become one of America’s industry giants. on Lake Michigan for loading into lake vessels for its trip to Inland Steel acquired lakes ships that allowed the company to Indiana Harbor. transport much of its own raw materials to Indiana Harbor. As the company grew, producing 2 percent of America’s Inland Steamship Company was created in 1911 as a business steel by 1925, its lakes fleet expanded to keep up with the partnership with Hutchinson & Company, vessel owners and demands of supplying raw materials. American Shipbuilding operators with a long history of management experience, to Company’s Lorain, Ohio, yard completed Inland Steamship’s purchase and operate a fleet owned by Inland Steel. new 621-foot bulker L. E. Block in 1927. The vessel loaded Inland Steamship Company immediately acquired two coal in Toledo on its inaugural trip and immediately joined vessels from the Acme Transit Company, which had fallen on Joseph Block and N. F. Leopold, carrying raw materials to Inland hard times because of the expansion of a costly fleet of vessels in Steel’s Indiana Harbor facility.

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 37 with a dock and ship loader. The port was accessed by a railroad Continued Integration spur from the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie ontinuing Inland Steel’s vertical integration, sources Railroad, and operated by Inland Lime and Stone Company. Cof limestone and coking coal were acquired during the The first limestone transported from Port Inland was loaded company’s early expansion. It formed the subsidiary Inland aboard Joseph Block on November 14, 1930. In its first full year Lime and Stone Company on December 14, 1928, by acquiring of operation the quarry produced more than 1 million tons of the White Marble Lime Company, a small plant located in stone, with two-thirds of its production delivered to Inland Steel’s Michigan’s Upper Peninsula eight miles north of Lake Michigan. Indiana Harbor plant. Capable of providing high-grade coking Inland Steel began constructing the artificial port of Port Inland coal, large reserves of coal were acquired in the Wheelwright, in the spring of 1929, which consisted of a breakwater and harbor Kentucky, and eastern Pennsylvania areas by 1930. The coal was delivered to Indiana Harbor by rail or transported by rail to the coal-loading ports of southern Lake Erie, then shipped to Indiana Harbor by lake steamer. While the Great Depression took a toll on most of America, Inland Steel weathered the storm, even investing in a $30 million expansion. Inland Steel also acquired Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, the world’s largest steel warehousing and fabrication company, which allowed the company to provide customers with custom processing, storage and transportation. By 1935 Inland Steel produced more than 2 million tons of steel annually and continued generating greater quantities of steel leading up to World War II. To bring the vessels under direct ownership of Inland Steel, Inland Steamship Company was dissolved in 1935, and the vessels began the 1936 season n Inland Steel Company co-founder Joseph Block standing next to a ship owned entirely by Inland Steel. The company expanded its fleet named for him in 1912. – Photo courtesy Calumet Regional Archives, with the purchase of the Philip D. Block, its fourth vessel, from Indiana University Northwest. Hutchinson & Co.’s subsidiary Pioneer Steamship Company.

n Aerial view, Inland Steel Company, Indiana Harbor Works, 1959. – Photo courtesy Calumet Regional Archives, Indiana University Northwest.

38 • Summer 2017 PowerShips Inland Steel continued to be a force in American steelmaking. As a beginning point for the hull design, American Ship Building At the outbreak of World War II the company employed 14,000 Company began with a cruiser stern modeled after the U.S. workers and produced 3.4 million tons of steel per year, most Maritime Commission’s L6-S-A1 class, which offered reduced of it directed to the war effort. By the conclusion of World War resistance while creating better water flow around the propeller. II, Inland Steel was completely integrated. It controlled its own The general design of the bow was also based on the L6-S-A1, with sources of raw materials including coal, ore and limestone; updated considerations such as additional rake to its stem. a transportation system; steel production and finishing; and The bid was awarded to American Ship Building Company warehousing and distribution. The company also dabbled in in June 1948, and the keel was laid at its Lorain, Ohio, yard on transporting its own finished steel by water while it owned the November 1. At that time the length was increased to 678 feet. crane ship The Inland during the 1946 and 1947 seasons. During Much of the vessel was sub-assembled around Lorain’s this time, Inland Steel instituted a program to upgrade the AmShip yard. The vessel’s shell seams, frames and deckhouses engines, boilers, cargo holds and crew quarters of its aging fleet. were riveted, and internal structures, such as side tanks, At the end of the 1940s the company’s fleet consisted of Joseph bulkheads, decking and longitudinal framing, were welded. Block, Philip D. Block, L. E. Block and N. F. Leopold, which had A unique feature of this vessel was the crew tunnel, which, for recently been renamed E. J. Block. The average age of the fleet was the first time on a lake vessel, allowed the crew to move the nearing 35 years with a per-trip cargo capacity of 54,500 tons. length of the vessel without being exposed to the elements. In The four vessels delivered 40 percent of Inland Steel’s 4.5 million fact, great consideration was given to the access arrangement, tons of iron ore, 1.25 million tons of stone and 3 million tons of and it would be possible to go to any area of the vessel without coal required by the giant steelmaker annually. With peacetime going outside. demands soaring, Inland Steel needed to increase its capacity, Another first in Great Lakes vessel design was incorporated and the giant steelmaker began to contemplate adding a new ore into the vessel’s stern-mounted spar deck. This deck, containing carrier more economically advanced than anything sailing. It’s in its crew quarters, was extended to the width of the vessel’s beam front of this backdrop that Wilfred Sykes was dreamt of. and provided additional protection for the crew, who would use internal hallways, and additional protection of the stern, with Designing a New Ship hull plating extended to the spar deck. n conceiving its new vessel, Inland Steel had one Iconsideration – create the most efficient vessel capable of moving iron ore from Lake Superior ports to Indiana Harbor. It was expected that the vessel would carry smaller quantities of ore and stone cargoes from Escanaba and Port Inland, Michigan, but the overall consideration was moving iron ore from western Lake Superior. Inland Steel contracted American Ship Building Company to review the traditional lake vessel design standards and develop preliminary designs for the longest, widest and deepest vessel possible. In addition, Inland Steel required that the vessel be able to carry 20,000 gross tons of iron ore and have a speed of 16 miles per hour. Both of these requirements were initially considered hard to attain. Initial plans by American Ship Building Company outlined a vessel 668 feet long based on the maximum length that the largest number of drydocks could bid, but the length could be increased if the drydock could accommodate a larger vessel. The beam of a Great Lakes vessel is restricted by the gravity-fed iron ore docks and the distance that the chutes could pour the cargo. It had, for some time, been widely believed that the limit of the beam and depth of an ore-carrying lakes vessel was 65 feet in width and 35 feet in depth. With considerations to deballasting while loading, along with the ever-deepening navigational depths of the lakes, it was recommended that this vessel be given a 70-foot beam and a 37-foot depth. So that the vessel would move nearly 2 miles per hour faster than the most modern lakes vessels, it was designed with steam turbines that would produce 7,000 horsepower.

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 39 The cargo hold was built as one continuous hold divided by three screen bulkheads protected from penetration on both Launching sides by ballast tanks. Providing access to the massive cargo hold s the launching approached, the name Wilfred Sykes were 19 one-piece hatch covers, with room on deck between each Awas painted on the vessel’s bows. The ship’s namesake was hatch to store the covers while loading or unloading. To further born in Pal­merston, New Zealand, and attended college in increase the safety of the crew, the height of the hatch comings Australia before immigrating to Germany to work in the electrical was increased to 24 inches, more than required by existing field. In 1909 Mr. Sykes moved to the United States and joined regulations. Each hatch was secured with quick-acting self- Westinghouse Elec­tric and Manufacturing Com­pany before locking toggle clamps, similar to C clamps, with screw fasteners. coming to Inland Steel in 1923. His major accomplishment The ease with which the clamps, spaced two feet apart, were was electrifying Inland Steel’s plant, which revolutionized the secured with a simple wrench made the nearly thousand clamps company’s operation and helped make it the industry giant it was. easier to manage. The electrically driven deck crane traveled the Mr. Sykes began serving as Inland Steel’s president in 1941, and by length of the deck and lifted the hatches by a small motor. 1949 he was transitioning to retirement. Inland Steel had existing fuel storage tanks at its Indiana By the end of June 1949, the partially completed Wilfred Sykes Harbor plant, so it decided to fuel Wilfred Sykes with oil instead was ready for launch. A large crowd gathered at Lorain, Ohio, on of coal; thus, the vessel became the first Great Lakes ore carrier the morning of June 28, 1949, to witness the launch of the largest built with oil-fired steam propulsion. vessel on the Great Lakes. Atop the building ways the vessel’s hull Crew cabins were designed to meet the needs of the crew for was completed, the cabins were unfinished shells and the ship the life of the vessel. Each officer was given his own room, and contained no propulsion machinery. At 11:30 a.m., Mrs. Sykes the crew lived in double rooms. Per Great Lakes tradition, the broke a champagne bottle against the hull, the guillotines broke the navigation crew was housed in the bow, while the engine and trigger hawsers and the Wilfred Sykes began its first trip, lasting only galley crew accommodations were in the stern. With the need nine seconds, into a flooded dock barely large enough to hold it. to provide luxury to its new flagship, Inland Steel emphasized completion of the four guest staterooms and lounge located on the Completing the Vessel forecastle deck forward and the guest dining room located aft. ver the next five months, shipyard crews finished These spaces, along with the captain’s cabin, were designed by Othe forward and aft accommodations and installed the one of Chicago’s leading interior designers and contained modern propulsion machinery and navigation equipment. Wilfred Sykes furniture and were paneled in wood and decorative veneers. was crafted with the consideration of not only general design and

n Wilfred Sykes being launched. – Courtesy of the Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University.

40 • Summer 2017 PowerShips Under command of Captain Henry Kaizer, senior captain of the Inland Steel fleet, Wilfred Sykes began a series of sea trials on November 28, 1949. After several modifications and additional tests, the big, beautiful vessel was accepted by Inland Steel on January 12, 1950. It was immediately placed into winter lay-up, and Captain Kaizer went home to wait for fit-out. A Queen Enters Service egrettably, Captain Kaizer became ill during the winter Rand was unable to take command for the inaugural season. When Captain George W. Fisher received his fit-out notice in April 1950, he must have been amazed that he had been appointed the first captain of the largest and most advanced ship n Wilfred Sykes during sea trials in 1949. – Courtesy of the Center for sailing the Great Lakes. Captain Kaizer passed away from his Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University. illness shortly after the 1950 sailing season began. functionality, but also appearance. Great attention was given The $5 million Wilfred Sykes departed Lorain, Ohio, on to the size and location of the topside cabins and equipment, its maiden voyage April 19, 1950, and stopped by Toledo, which had “good proportions and pleasing appearance.” The Ohio, where it loaded 16,538 net tons of coal before docking large pilothouse was sloped back and contained a large visor, and in Detroit for a public inspection. After unloading the bulwarks and overhangs were extended and shaped to develop a coal cargo in Indiana Harbor, and after the commotion “streamlined” appearance. The stack broke from the traditional surrounding the new vessel subsided, Wilfred Sykes sailed for stovepipe appearance and was a round structure that carried Lake Superior, where it picked up 17,401 gross tons of Belden- a stainless steel band with the Inland Steel logo adorning each grade iron ore at Marquette for Indiana Harbor. Even though side. In addition, the smallest details – such as masts, ventilators it was only loaded to 23 feet for its first trip, it set a cargo- and windows – were designed with consideration to outward loading record for Marquette. aesthetics. Wilfred Sykes was also equipped with the most modern navigation and communication system, including the latest radar equipment and ship-to-shore radiotelephone. Deep within the stern, Wilfred Sykes was equipped with 7,000-shaft horsepower Westinghouse Electric cross compound geared turbines powered by oil-fired water tube boilers. The increased speed produced by the largest power plant ever placed in a lakes steamer was projected to cut 24 hours off a round trip from Visit Indiana Harbor to Superior, Wisconsin. Inland Steel estimated that the increased speed would allow the ships to complete 44 USCGC INGHAM (WHEC-35) 1936-1988 round trips annually compared to the 34 trips made by others. National Historic Landmark & National Memorial to Coast Guardsmen who lost their lives in combat from WWII through Viet Nam. Possibly the most unusual aspect of its appearance was a new, modern-looking paint scheme. Bands of white, grey and • Awarded two Naval Presidential Unit Citations for her service during Vietnam. black stripes overlaid the iron-colored hull and adorned every • Credited with sinking U-Boat 626 during convoy duty in structure. The bands were tied together with a thin white the North Atlantic stripe that extended the length of the hull below the spar deck, • Served in Atlantic, Mediterranean and Philippine Theaters and and below that stripe the words “Inland Steel” were scripted, Command Ship for the amphibious landings for General surrounding the company logo. MacArthur’s return to Corregidor. Simply put, when Wilfred Sykes entered service, it became Don’t miss the opportunity to tour this ship and learn the largest, fastest and most efficient vessel operating in the about its remarkable history. Great Lakes. Its design incorporated giant leaps forward in INGHAM is located in Key West on the Truman Waterfront Park. Great Lakes construction and it contained the first 7,000-shaft You Can Visit …You Can Help The foundation seeks horsepower oil-fired steam turbine, enclosed passageways donations to continue restoration of this important vessel. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to: throughout, a spar deck extending the width of the ship and an increased attention to aesthetics. Wilfred Sykes became a USCGC INGHAM Memorial Museum

P.0. Box 186, Key West, Florida 33041 • Phone: (305)-395-9554 Andy Newman prototype for many of the Great Lakes vessels designed and www.uscgcingham.org constructed over the next 10 years. Photo:

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 41 n Wilfred Sykes unloading iron ore at Indiana Harbor early in its career. – Courtesy of the Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University.

Wilfred Sykes became the unquestioned queen of the lakes. reported that the speedster completed the 200-mile round trip The vessel was 38 feet longer than Carl D. Bradley, the longest from Sault Ste. Marie to Marquette in just 27 hours. boat existing up to that time. It was also significantly wider As a result of the Great Lakes connecting channels being and deeper, and had a carrying capacity greater than any continually deepened, and more of its cargo capacity being vessel sailing at that time. By the end of June, Wilfred Sykes had realized, Wilfred Sykes broke its own cargo records several delivered eight cargoes of iron ore to Indiana Harbor totaling more times, and, on August 27, 1952, the vessel set its final 141,706 gross tons, an average of 17,700 gross tons per cargo. iron ore cargo record when it departed Superior, Wisconsin, Including loading and unloading, each trip to the American with 21,223 gross tons. head-of-the-lakes averaged five days, compared to the more As quickly as Wilfred Sykes broke size and tonnage records, than six days for other carriers. Unloading initially took 12 newer and larger vessels claimed the records from Wilfred Sykes . hours, but that time was soon trimmed to 10 hours. Joseph H. Thompson, a lakes vessel converted from a C-4-type At the beginning of August, Wilfred Sykes’ loads were within deep-sea cargo vessel, entered service for the Hanna Mining a whisker of the Pittsburgh Steamship’s Benjamin F. Fairless’ iron fleet on November 4, 1952, measuring 714 feet overall length ore cargo record of 18,800 gross tons. Because of the continued with a beam of 71 feet, 6 inches, and boasted a whopping deepening of the lakes waterway, Wilfred Sykes finally broke Fairless’ 9,900-shaft horsepower steam turbine. Although much larger cargo record in early August when it loaded 18,821 gross tons in length and faster through the water, the ocean-to-laker of iron ore at Superior, Wisconsin. The vessel then immediately conversion didn’t have a significantly larger cargo hold; loaded an even greater cargo on August 30 consisting of 18,885 therefore, the vessel didn’t take Wilfred Sykes’ cargo record. gross tons. It ended the season by topping that with 18,929 gross That one went to the National Steel Corporation’s new 690- tons of iron ore. Yet another record was shattered when the foot Ernest T. Weir, which broke Wilfred Sykes’ iron ore record on ship completed a round trip from Indiana Harbor to Superior, September 10, 1953, when it loaded 21,270 gross tons railroad Wisconsin, a distance covering 1,675 miles, in 4 days and 23 hours. weight iron ore at Superior, Wisconsin. Ernest T. Weir, built Carrying its first 21 cargoes, lasting through the end of August, the at the same American Shipbuilding yard at Lorain as Wilfred vessel averaged 16.3 mph loaded and 18.3 mph light at open water Sykes, was a slightly larger version of the same design. Wilfred speed. In July of its inaugural season, the Cleveland Plain Dealer Sykes’ records and influence on shipbuilding would be forgotten

42 • Summer 2017 PowerShips over time as larger vessels entered service – even though it paved the way for these vessels. Eventually, the big, beautiful vessel would become another laker roaming the Inland Seas, its Building Edward L. Ryerson accomplishments only a memory. s Inland Steel continued to grow, the steelmaker In the meantime, Wilfred Sykes continued to be one of the Aagain looked to expand its fleet through new construction. largest vessels on the lakes. During its first ten years of service, Designed to equal the longest vessel on the lakes at 730 feet, and Wilfred Sykes was employed carrying large quantities of iron ore with a cargo hold specifically configured for the most optimal from Lake Superior ports of Superior, Duluth and Marquette to transportation of iron ore, the steamer Edward L. Ryerson Indiana Harbor. The vessel would regularly complete well over became Inland Steel’s new queen when the vessel departed 40 trips in a lakes season and deliver close to 1 million gross Manitowoc Ship Building and entered service on August 3, tons of iron ore to Indiana Harbor each season. 1960. Much like the Wilfred Sykes 10 years earlier, Edward L. The vessel proved it was more than an ore carrier when Ryerson would eventually break the Great Lakes iron ore record tragedy struck on Lake Superior on May 11, 1953. During that when it delivered 25,018 gross tons to Indiana Harbor in cold, windy morning, officers aboard Wilfred Sykes intercepted August 1962. The captain for this historic trip was none other a radiotelephone message from the Henry Steinbrenner, indicating than Wilfred Sykes’ first captain, the senior captain of the fleet, that the ship was foundering 15 miles south of Isle Royale George W. Fisher. Light. By 10:45 a.m. the vessel, along with Caland Mine the Joseph H. Thompson s Inland Steel’s Michigan and Wisconsin mines dried and William E. Corey, Aup and new sources of iron ore were acquired, trade was in the vicinity patterns for its fleet changed. In the early 1950s Inland Steel of a lifeboat and life leased 1,250 acres of the Steep Rock Mine, located in Canada raft. Wilfred Sykes was north of Lake Superior. Through its subsidiary, Caland Ore slowly maneuvered Company, Ltd., the mine began supplying a third of Inland near the lifeboat, Steel’s iron ore needs by the early 1960s. The iron ore was which contained three railed from the mine, located in a desolate region of Canada individuals. One 140 miles north of Port Arthur, Ontario, where it was loaded survivor was rescued aboard lakers. Wilfred Sykes began visiting Port Arthur in 1960 by a Jacobs ladder, and was a regular caller for the next two decades. while another survivor and a crewmember Libations Restaurant Lounge who had perished n Citation for Bravery for assisting from exposure were SMALL PLATES • BIG FLAVOR • GREAT VALUE the crew of the Henry Steinbrenner. transferred to a lifeboat – Mark Shumaker photo. that had been lowered from the Sykes. When the ship arrived at Indiana Harbor a week after the harrowing ordeal, company officials, including recently retired Wilfred Sykes, visited the ship to praise the crew and give each a U.S. savings bond for their efforts. Later, the crew was awarded a “Citation of Bravery” plaque from the Lake Carriers Association, and the bronze plaque remains bolted to the bulkhead near the bow to this day. At the beginning of 1957, Inland Steel brought its vessel operations in house after relying on Hutchinson & Company to manage its fleet for 45 years. Hutchinson & Company’s Pioneer Steamship Company would continue hauling excess tonnage commitments for Inland Steel and its vessels would continue transporting a significant amount of Inland Steel’s Libations Restaurant & Lounge coal from Lake Erie ports. Falling on hard times, Hutchinson & at the RADISSON HOTEL PROVIDENCE AIRPORT 2081 Post Road • Warwick, RI 02886 Company sold its assets before the 1962 season, allowing Inland 401.598.2121 • www.radisson.com/warwickri Steel to purchase its small, 1907-built J. J. Sullivan. The vessel was immediately renamed Clarence B. Randall .

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 43 During this same period, deposits of high-grade iron ore from the great Mesabi range; to Escanaba to load ore pellets from that could be fed directly into the furnaces were becoming Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and to Thunder Bay, the result of depleted throughout Minnesota and Michigan. A process for merging Fort William and Port Arthur on January 1, 1970, where retrieving the high-grade ore from the lower-grade ore deposits the vessel would load Caland ore pellets. In addition, the vessel used magnets to create marble-sized pellets that contained a occasionally transported stone from Port Inland. All of these higher concentration of iron ore. Mining and producing these cargoes were destined for Inland Steel’s raging furnaces at Indiana taconite pellets infused new life into the century-old mines. Harbor. By this time Inland Steel increasingly railed iron ore pellets It was estimated that the Mesabi Range alone contained 10 from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula mines to Escanaba, bypassing billion tons of lower-grade iron – enough to supply the U.S. Marquette, which added two days to a trip to Lake Superior. steelmaker’s needs for an additional 50 to 75 years. Taconite’s marble-shaped pellets made it easier to load onto and unload Modernization Program off of the new self-unloading vessels popping up around the y 1974 Inland Steel had become one of America’s five lakes. Additionally, the pellets, lacking moisture, didn’t freeze as Blargest steel makers, employing 25,000 workers and easily as natural iron ore, leading to extended sailing seasons. completing $2.5 billion in sales, driven largely by flat rolled In 1962, Wilfred Sykes loaded at least 12 cargoes of Caland coiled steel. During this period the company planned a $2 iron ore at Port Arthur. The vessel made at least 20 additional billion modernization and expansion program, and began trips to Superior, Wisconsin, along with 10 early- and late-season another fleet modernization program in conjunction with that. trips to Escanaba for iron ore. It traveled to Lake Erie ore docks The plan called for a new self-unloading vessel to be added while on rare trip charters to other companies that year, returning to the fleet, adding capacity and replacing older vessels. This to Indiana Harbor with Appalachian coal loaded at Toledo. Five new self-unloading technology provided quicker unload times, years later, Wilfred Sykes was largely dedicated to carrying Caland resulting in more trips throughout the season, and also gave iron ore from Port Arthur to Indiana Harbor. Between May 1 vessels more flexibility by eliminating dependence on aging, and December 15, 1967, the ship carried 35 loads of iron ore restrictive and expensive shoreside unloading equipment. from Port Arthur and an additional 11 cargoes of iron ore divided Inland Steel also announced that Wilfred Sykes would be between Superior, Duluth and Escanaba. Through 1974 it was converted to a self-unloader, providing the vessel with a mid-life primarily dispatched to Superior, where it would load ore pellets upgrade that would add lifesaving flexibility.

n Wilfred Sykes original steam turbines. – Mark Shumaker photo.

44 • Summer 2017 PowerShips On December 12, 1974, Wilfred Sykes concluded its 25th season cease production in just a few short years. Wilfred Sykes’ three trips when it laid up at Fraser shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin. Over to Thunder Bay that year were to transport the last remaining the next six months, it was converted to the first American stern- quantities of Caland ore pellets that originated at the Steep Rock mounted loop-belt self-unloader, containing a 250-foot unloading Iron Mine. The Caland pellet plant was closing due to the poor boom. This unloading system, capable of discharging 6,000 tons quality of the remaining ore and the difficulty of retrieving it. per hour, reduced the normal unloading time to as little as four The vessel spent the remaining 66 voyages steaming around Lake hours. With these improvements, the Wilfred Sykes was projected Michigan. Five ore pellet cargoes originated in Michigan’s Upper to increase its yearly deliveries from 1 million tons of ore pellets Peninsula Marquette Range, were railed to Escanaba, Michigan, to nearly 2 million tons. A trunk deck was added to Wilfred Sykes’ and loaded aboard the Wilfred Sykes. The remaining 61 trips were stern, which countered the loss in cubic capacity caused by the limestone cargoes loaded at Inland Steel’s Port Inland stone facility addition of the self-unloading equipment in the cargo hold. and totaled 1,250,500 tons. All 77 cargoes transported in 1979, On June 28, the Wilfred Sykes departed the shipyard and consisting of 1.6 million tons, were destined for Inland Steel’s shifted to Superior’s Burlington Northern ore dock to load Indiana Harbor Plant. Throughout the five Great Lakes, vessels 21,344 gross tons of iron ore for Indiana Harbor. Over the transported 78.7 million tons of iron ore that originated on Lake shortened 1975 season, lasting one week short of six months, Superior and Lake Michigan, representing the third-largest amount it transported 1.28 million tons of bulk commodities to Inland of iron ore ever transported from Great Lakes ports. An additional Steel’s plant, beating its largest season total by nearly 300,000 13.3 million tons of iron ore were transported from the Lower St. tons. Totaling 61 trips, the vessel transported over 850,000 tons Lawrence River to Great Lakes ore docks. of ore pellets from Escanaba, 380,000 tons of ore pellets from RailwayThe Am &erican Locomotive econo Historicalmy went intoSociety recession the following year. Superior and 37,000 tons of stone from Port Inland. 1/4Most Page of the Square lakes CMYKvessels fit out with a guarded optimism, but by SSHSA PowerShips Winter 2016-17 As Wilfred Sykes’ conversion to a self-unloader was being June 1980 the steel industry had slowed dramatically. By late completed, Inland Steel was contracting with Bay Shipbuilding summer, 40 percent of the American lakes vessels were laid up Company of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to build a state-of-the-art because of lack of cargoes. During this season lakers carried 62.3 728-foot self-unloading diesel ore carrier. The newly named Joseph million tons of iron ore and 28 million tons of stone from Great L. Block was projected to carry 2 million tons of iron ore annually, Lakes ports. Wilfred Sykes completed only 91 trips from Escanaba, and when the vessel entered service in August 1976, Clarence B. Thunder Bay, Two Harbors, Superior and Port Inland in 1980. Randall was retired. At the beginning of the 1977 sailing season, Inland Steel operated three modern ships – the brand new Joseph Block, the 17-year-old steam-powered bulker Edward L. Ryerson, and North America’s premier the nearly 30-year-old Wilfred Sykes, along with three older bulkers quickly reaching the end of their useful lives. railroad historical society The newly-converted Wilfred Sykes was witness to a second Y&L A OC Great Lakes tragedy, this time in November 1975. Columbia W O IL M Transportation’s Edmund Fitzgerald loaded under warm sunny A O

R T skies at the same Burlington Northern ore dock in Superior, I

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Wisconsin, on November 9 and departed two hours ahead of H E

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Wilfred Sykes. As a storm approached, Wilfred Sykes Captain Dudley H •

C Paquette navigated along Lake Superior’s north shore to avoid the I S N T I northwest winds. As the storm grew, Captain Paquette listened • O Y to the Fitzgerald’s progress across Lake Superior and the alarming R T IC IE radio calls confirming its loss. Wilfred Sykes joined a group of vessels A L S OC searching for survivors the following day, but none were found. Founded in 1921, R&LHS is the oldest railroad historical society Inland Steel had a record year in 1978 when sales reached in North America. Our award-winning journal Railroad History $3.25 billion. The giant steelmaker captured 6.5 percent of the blends scholarly writing and in-depth book reviews with a vibrant domestic steel market while producing 8.6 million tons of steel. The 128-page format, and is one of the world’s premier publications following year, the company’s employment peaked at nearly 35,500. devoted to the history of technology. Membership also includes the Quarterly Newsletter and offers optional affiliation with any of nine By its 30th season Wilfred Sykes had long passed representing the regional Chapters. R&LHS also sponsors annual awards honoring largest, fastest or most modern carrier. The vessel began finding the best in railroad writing and photography. its niche in the stone trade from Port Inland. In 1979 it visited R&LHS, Dept PS Lake Superior 11 times, loading at Two Harbors, Superior and PO Box 2913, Pflugerville, TX 78691-2913 Thunder Bay. The single cargo loaded at Superior originated in the Butler mine on the western Mesabi Iron Range, which would Sign up securely using MasterCard, Visa, or Discover at rlhs.org

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 45 While the Wilfred Sykes continued to be a steady Downturn in the Economy performer for Inland Steel, a new breed of efficient thousand- fter a year of holding steady, transporting a dismal 63 foot vessels was arriving. During the 1981 season, Interlake Amillion tons of Great Lakes iron ore, production dropped. An Steamship Company completed its 1,013-foot William J. unimaginable drop in domestic steel production led to a decline in DeLancey, which is to this day the largest and one of the most Great Lakes ore movement to a level of 32.3 million tons, a level efficient vessels to ever sail the Great Lakes. It is driven by not seen since the 1930s. Iron ore tonnage shipped through Great 17,120-hp diesel engines and has a capacity at mid-summer Lakes ports rebounded to 52 million tons the next year, but for the draft of 68,000 tons. These 13 thousand-footers have a per- remainder of the decade no more than 59 million tons of iron ore trip capacity over three times that of Wilfred Sykes, and the was shipped through Great Lakes ports in any season. thousand-footer Lewis Wilson Foy, now sailing as the American Inland Steel, like all domestic steel producers, was severely Integrity, holds the Great Lakes iron ore cargo record of 72,351 affected by the downturn in steel production. A perfect storm gross tons. These behemoths, self-unloader conversions, had settled over the industry that became exacerbated by the and lengthening projects of existing vessels, along with the high level of imports, decreased demand for steel products and downturn in the economy, caused much of the American and an oversupply of domestic steel. These issues lowered the price Canadian fleet to be phased out. During this period Inland of steel at a time when labor and energy costs were dramatically Steel’s elderly Philip D. Block, L. E. Block and E. J. Block were increasing. Inland Steel’s profits dropped 64 percent from their retired. The newest and most efficient vessels remained – 1978 peak to $57.3 million in 1981, and the big steelmaker Joseph L. Block, Edward L. Ryerson and the older, but flexible, would not show another profit until 1986, while losing $456 Wilfred Sykes, quickly nearing 50 years in age. Although older million. Although Inland Steel continued its commitment and smaller than the Edward L. Ryerson, the self-unloading to developing new products and improving efficiency, the equipment allowed Wilfred Sykes to continue operating during company was forced to idle some steel mills, divest itself of most of the 1980s while the Edward L. Ryerson began spending certain assets and subsidiaries, and lay off thousands of workers. extended time in lay-up. By 1985 Inland Steel’s workforce was well below 30,000 and its In 1990 Joseph L. Block and Wilfred Sykes transported 56 steel-making capacity had been reduced by 30 percent. percent of the total tonnage of raw material shipped to Indiana Harbor from U.S. ports. Contract carriers transported the remainder. By this time, trips by Wilfred Sykes to Lake Superior had dwindled, and in late 1993 the vessel carried a cargo from Duluth to Indiana Harbor. This trip was the last that Wilfred Sykes has made to the Western part of Lake Superior to date, and as the decade passed, its niche increasingly became The Lighthouse News carrying stone and ore on Lake Michigan. & History Magazine By the mid-1990s Inland Steel had increased its presence Features: in the Upper Peninsula mining region, and greater amounts of • Colorful and Vintage iron ore pellets were flowing through Escanaba. Wilfred Sykes Lighthouse Photos. completed an astounding 151 trips around Lake Michigan in • Stories of 1996, with well over 1 million tons of limestone carried from Port Lighthouse Keepers, Past & Present. Inland to Indiana Harbor in just 65 of these trips. The vessel • Restoration Projects also visited Escanaba 58 times, carrying an additional 1 million Nautical Antiques, tons of Empire iron ore pellets to Indiana Harbor. Because of its Keeper’s Korner, small size and flexibility, Inland Steel began chartering Wilfred Events Calendar. Sykes to carry various bulk cargoes around Lake Michigan. Subscribe at The company started transporting slag, a byproduct of the $5 off our steelmaking process used for strengthening cement, from the regular rates. various southern Lake Michigan steel mills located at Indiana Just $29.95! Harbor, Buffington and Burns Harbor, to Grand Haven, Ferrysburg, Ludington and Muskegon. In addition, Wilfred Sykes Request a Free Sample Copy! was chartered to transport eight cargoes of coal from Chicago’s Calumet River to power plants located at Port Washington, PO Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630 • (207)259-2121 Manitowoc and Milwaukee. In total, Wilfred Sykes transported www.LighthouseDigest.com/sshs a hefty 2,841,351 tons of ore pellets, stone, coal and slag around Lake Michigan during the 1996 season.

46 • Summer 2017 PowerShips n Wilfred Sykes unloading limestone at Indiana Harbor on August 4, n Wilfred Sykes loading limestone at Port Inland on August 5, 2016. – 2016. – Mark Shumaker photo. Mark Shumaker photo. Logistics secured a contract to carry stone from Stoneport, Sale to Ispat Michigan, located on Lake Huron’s western shore, to docks along n 1998, after more than 15 years of unprofitability and the Saginaw River. The vessel delivered 26 loads of stone to Ifrustration, Inland Steel, America’s fourth largest steel producer, Saginaw River docks in 2002. It also began visiting Lake Superior was sold to Ispat International, a Netherlands-based global steel in 2002, the first time in five years, to load Tilden ore pellets manufacturer that focused on acquiring underperforming steel at Marquette, Michigan, for delivery to Dearborn, Michigan’s mills and turning them around. Ispat paid nearly $1.5 billion for River Rouge steel plant on the Detroit River. Sailing back to Lake Inland Steel’s Indiana Harbor Works, Minorca Mine and an Michigan from Detroit, Wilfred Sykes carried coal loaded at Toledo international partnership with Nippon Steel. With this sale, Inland for a power plant in Holland, Michigan, or high-quality ore fines Steel became known as Ispat Inland and, after more than 100 years from Rouge Steel to Indiana Harbor. In 2002, it made two trips of operation, Inland Steel ceased to exist. Ispat Inland became one of the largest steel makers in the world, producing nearly 20 million tons per year, with operations in the United States, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Germany and France. The Jones Act mandated that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried by American-built, -owned and -crewed vessels. To accommodate the Jones Act, the three Inland Steel vessels were sold to the newly established, American-owned Indiana Harbor Steamship Company. In addition, Central Marine Logistics was created to manage the fleet – handling the management, purchasing, scheduling and crewing of the three-vessel fleet. The ships were then time- chartered back to Ispat Inland. Under these arrangements, Inland Steel was removed from Wilfred Sykes, including the billboard lettering and stack logo, and replaced by Ispat’s logo and a blue smoke band. It was remarkable that the change in ownership had such a small effect on the supply of raw materials to the steel plant or the continued operation of the vessels. Wilfred Sykes finished the decade completing 160 trips in the 1999 season, a record number for the vessel. Wilfred Sykes Sails On or the first time in nearly three decades, Wilfred Sykes’ Fitinerary would change considerably beginning in 2002. In addition to the 100 regularly scheduled trips with iron ore pellets and stone from Escanaba and Port Inland, Wilfred Sykes would deliver bulk cargoes to several new locations. Central Marine

PowerShips Summer 2017 • 47 with bauxite from Indiana Harbor to Charlevoix’s Cemex cement plant and a single trip of sinter shuttled from Indiana Harbor to Gary, Indiana. Carrying ore pellets from Marquette to River Rouge’s Rouge Steel lasted until May 2004, carrying stone from Stoneport to docks along the Saginaw River lasted through the 2005 season, and the vessel has carried bauxite as recently as 2015. Wilfred Sykes’ last trip to Lake Superior to date was in December 2006, when the vessel carried HIBTAC ore pellets from Superior, Wisconsin, to Republic Technologies’ dock in Lorain, Ohio. Another change in ownership took place in 2005, when Ispat International N.V. merged with LNM Holdings N.V., then merged with International Steel Group to create N.V. ISG had been formed with the assets of n Pilot house interior. – Mark Shumaker photo. the bankrupt LTV Steel and Acme Steel corporations. LTV Port Dolomite and Cedarville. Occasionally, it carried stone was located on the western bank of Indiana Harbor, thus from Cedarville and Port Dolomite to Port Inland, where it was creating the East and West Works. It continued to expand by unloaded and then blended with different types of stone before acquiring the assets from Bethlehem Steel, formerly America’s eventually being carried to the steel mills. It also carried 24 loads second-largest steel producer, located 25 miles east of Indiana of ore pellets originating at the Empire mine of the Marquette Harbor at Burns Harbor, Indiana. As a consequence of range to Indiana Harbor, as well as 24 cargoes of slag loaded at this consolidation, three large steel makers located in the ArcelorMittal USA’s three southern Lake Michigan plants. The southern part of Lake Michigan came under the ownership slag was destined for the small ports of Ferrysburg, Ludington, of Mittal Steel and dramatically increased the stone delivery Muskegon or Grand Haven. Finally, the vessel carried one load requirements for Wilfred Sykes. At the time of the ownership of bauxite from Indiana Harbor to Charlevoix. In its 66th sailing change, the vessel’s black stripes were repainted in a light shade season, Wilfred Sykes transported 2,270,242 tons of bulk cargo and of blue, and the stack emblem was replaced with the word traveled 57,546 total miles around lakes Michigan and Huron. “MITTAL.” Even while experiencing one of the coldest winters in recent As a member of the Mittal Steel fleet, Wilfred Sykes was memory, Wilfred Sykes was one of the first ships to fit out. It loaded primarily focused on carrying stone to Indiana Harbor, but its first cargo on March 20 and didn’t lay up until January 13. it also transported significant quantities of ore, slag and coal around Lake Michigan. Due to the economic recession in 2009, Today and Tomorrow the vessel was laid up for a lack of cargoes between May 30 t the commencement of the 2016 sailing season, and June 26. That year Wilfred Sykes carried only 84 cargoes AWilfred Sykes had steam up in late March, departed its weighing 1.6 million tons. Sturgeon Bay lay-up dock on March 30 and sailed for ice- covered Green Bay, where it loaded 19,910 tons of iron ore The Formation of ArcelorMittal pellets at Escanaba. By July 4 the vessel had sailed nearly 18,000 wo years after the former Inland Steel fleet became miles and carried 700,000 tons of stone, iron ore, coal and Tpart of Mittal’s family, it was involved in another merger – the slag. During that year only five operating self-propelled, bulk- third in 10 years. Mittal Steel completed the merger with Arcelor, carrying vessels had more longevity than Wilfred Sykes – Inland the world’s second-largest steel producer, creating ArcelorMittal, Lakes Management’s 1942-built Alpena, Lower Lakes Towing’s the world’s largest steel producer. ArcelorMittal S.A. is a 1943-built sisters Cuyahoga and Mississagi, Interlake Steamship’s Luxembourg-based multinational steel manufacturer and mining Lee A Tregurtha and the small sand-sucker J. S. St. John . corporation with a steel production of 98 million tons in 2014. During the 2016 sailing season the American Great Lakes fleet Wilfred Sykes received the ArcelorMittal logo emblem along with was composed of fewer than 40 self-propelled vessels, including the two dark gray bands that currently adorn its stack. 13 monstrous thousand-footers. During this same period only 13 Wilfred Sykes now delivers most of the stone for lakes bulk carriers in operation were smaller in length than Wilfred ArcelorMittal USA’s three Lake Michigan steel mills – Indiana Sykes, and most of them are more-modern vessels designed for Harbor’s East and West plants and the Burns Harbor plant. specific niches such as transiting the Cuyahoga River. Even more In addition, the vessel makes early- and late-season trips with remarkable was that Wilfred Sykes was one of only a handful of iron ore pellets from Escanaba and carries small quantities steam-powered vessels operating on the Great Lakes in 2016. of slag, coal and bauxite. As recently as 2015 it carried 118 The paneling is worn and stained. Hand rails leading up the cargoes, of which 69 were stone cargoes from Port Inland, stairs to the galley reveal mismatched colors of paint diminished

48 • Summer 2017 PowerShips by constant use. By contrast, the pilot house has the latest ArcellorMittal’s Indiana Harbor #6 dock unloading 20,000 electronics, including GPS-driven track steering. ArcellorMittal more tons of taconite pellets that will eventually be processed has kept Inland Steel’s modern paint scheme, the same design into steel. By the time you read this story, the vessel will have that was first applied to Wilfred Sykes in 1949, although the gray completed unloading this cargo, departed Indiana Harbor and stripe painted around the foc’s’le deck has been removed and sailed many hundreds more miles up and down Lake Michigan, the stack graphics have evolved as ownership has changed. No delivering thousands of additional tons of raw materials to longer the largest, fastest or most modern, the ship continues to ArcellorMittal plants located along Lake Michigan’s southern defy the accountant’s pencil and has miraculously weathered coast. How long will a 67-year-old steamer continue to be a the downsizing and modernization of today’s American steel profitable carrier for ArcelorMittal? We can’t answer that yet, but industry. To this day, with its original steam-powered turbine the longevity of the ship has served as a testament to its original and modest carrying capacity, it remains an integral part of designers. Of the vessels sailing today, only a handful can claim ArcellorMittal’s transportation system. “The Wilfred Sykes, as to be classics. Wilfred Sykes is undoubtedly one of them.  the largest ore carrier on the Lakes when she entered service, served in the role dominated by today’s thousand footers. She has persevered by being refocused on the stone and back haul About the Author trades for which her size, compartment configuration, and rapid SSHSA Member Mark Shumaker is a native of Wauseon, Ohio, unloading capability fit her perfectly, and she has a crew that is and now resides in Columbus, Ohio, where he second to none in making the best of these opportunities,” says works as a marketing manager. He is a graduate Dan Cornillie, Manager, Marine & Raw Materials Logistics at of Bowling Green State University and Franklin ArcelorMittal USA. University with degrees in graphic design, Naval architects of lakes vessels built since the early 1970s marketing and business. Mark had the opportunity have focused solely on construction costs and functionality, to sail with Interlake Steamship Company and with no eye toward aesthetic details. Only a handful of vessels donated time aboard the Liberty Ship John W. operating now show the flare of a bygone shipbuilding era; most Brown during its 2000 Great Lakes Cruise. of today’s fleet is composed of unimaginative design. Mark has been the PowerShips Great Lakes editor since fall 2011. As I write these words Wilfred Sykes is docked at Also Available Great Lakes Cap Navy Blue $12*

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