A piece of Great Lakes history comes to an end
 

I stumbled on this quite literally by accident. For those interested in Great Lakes history, this little ship is well known. She was launched on May 25, 1898. Her name at the time was Presque Isle. She was rather large for her time. In 1956 she was renamed the E.M. Ford. She led an active and productive life on the Lakes (not without incident, though). In 1996 her active duty came to an end when she became a storage/transfer barge at the Lafarge plant in Saginaw, MI. In 1998, while tied up, she celebrated her 100th anniversary. Now, ten years later, she has been sold for scrap and already transferred. On November 10, a Canadian tug arrived to tow her to her final destination - Sault St. Marie. The trip ended on November 13. What a sad end for such a fine ship. :nope::cry:

http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/emford.htm

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newsthu...-11-08-ANS.jpg

Almost a century of active service. Wow. All good things however come to an end I guess. :down:

Nice looking ship. I like the design. Is it just me or does the Great Lake ship have their own unique design?

I am majorly impressed by such a service life. Why isn't there a museum taking this ship? It's a prime candidate for preservation with such a history.

AFAIK there are serveral great lakes freighters preserved as museums, so it is sad to see such an old ship gone, but she's not the last of her kind.
Apparently there are serveral similarly old freighters still running on the lakes.
But for my taste, great lake freighters are among the ugliest things afloat;)

Btw, something I sofar didn't find out:
Is there any "normal" cargo steamer left?
There are none as museums, but maybe as derelicts or whatever.
I don't mean Liberty ships, but rather the common straight bow, one tall funnel, central superstructure type that is the preferred victim in all WW2 subsims...

They most certainly do! No other ship in the world can compare itself to a Great Lakes freighter. I think they are the most beautiful ships afloat. That's why I think this grand 'ol lady being scrapped is such a shame. It could have lived on as a museum ship. I was on one many years ago in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Valley Camp is docked there at Sault St. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie for those who are not familiar with the name). There are many interesting artifacts stored within her holds now; the most famous being the lifeboats from the Edmund Fitzgerald. I remember seeing them all those years ago. I would love to go back!

I thought there was a particular design to the lakes. You just don't see the lake ship designs elsewhere. They are a cool design and unique.

She looks good for her age. Well preserved. And well she ought to be.:sunny:

Oh, and you can encounter small lakers in SH3.

I never actually encountered a Laker in SH3, but if I did I wouldn't have the heart to send it to the bottom. :lol:

Such a sad decision. This seems to be happening more and more on the Lakes, scrap prices must be up right now. The Ford is a really nice little ship, shes very original to her first configuration, which isn't often seen amongst lakers that old which are usually lengthened or converted to self-unloaders sometime over their life cycle. Farewell!:cry:

Interesting having the pilot house in the bow. I wonder how they control the rudder?

I have and I sank her as she was one of the few ships that didn't point a gun back at me and try to turn me into swiss cheese!:arrgh!:

Sad to see her go, but you can't always save the ships that could or should be:cry: