2010 Shipping Pics

[Duncan Edwards]

I love that one of Bounty flying under the AT&T banner. Is that some kind of communication dome about halfway up the mizzen?

Side note - Bounty was used as a prop in the making of the 2005 feature length flick Pirates. The scenes were shot on board while tied up in Tampa Bay. They got a permit by neglecting to mention that they were shooting a hard-core porn movie that went on to win a bunch of awards.

[kham]

It's likely the sat antenna for internet and/or cable; Capt Bligh needs to update facebook after all

Anderson came out not bad either -- always try and get them when able, since they the other boat in the Fitz story

[PM2K]

Were they sister ships? Sure looks like the same kind of ore carrier.
I remember so clearly the Fitzgerald sinking... I was in Grade 5. Happened a couple 100 klicks south of where I was living at the time. Remember too how high the waves were even a couple of days after she went down. My dad took us down to Superior's shoreline (at a very safe distance) because of how wild the water was. Never forgot the size of those swells of gray water... truly awesome and frightening.

Thanks again for the great pictures.

[Nessie]

These pictures are always so cool. The ships look majestic.

Nosy question.

Do you go home every day after work, or do you have to live on a ship for awhile at times?

I realize that for you it's work, but from where I sit, it looks nice and peaceful.

Nessie

[kham]

PM: no, not sister ships (the Fitz's sister was the Arthur B Homer, scrapped sometime in the 80's) the Anderson was the other ship crossing Lake Superior within radar range, in company with the Fitz when she went down. They were the last ship to communicate with and see them, so will be forever associated with the sinking.



Nessie: When sailing, you live onboard; so no sick days or days off, just the continual cycle of watchkeeping 4 on 8 off with ot when it happens
Thats why after a hundred days of that, you need to get off or risk cracking up

[water_bug_62208]

Again, beautiful pictures!

Ah, okay, so that is a picture of Arthur M. Anderson, the same ship that was sailing along with Edmund Fitzgerald on the day she sank. I figured she'd been too old for hauling ore and scrapped by now. She looks to be in pretty good shape. Is that the paint job she wore the day Fitz went down?

Thanks for sharing these!

[kham]

WB, when the Fitz sank, the Anderson looked more or less like that , although she had not been converted to a self-unloader just yet. And as far as I know, yeah, she was in USS Great Lakes Fleet colours then too.

One reason ships on the lakes live so long is they usually only trading in fresh water; this minimizes corrosion and damage to ballast tanks. Ships that trade down the seaway and gulf, get exposed to salt water, especially as ballast, and it rusts the hell out of the internals , reducing their lifespans.

[water_bug_62208]

Thanks for your reply! Interesting how even today one gets a glimpse back into history of how things looked back then. And, interesting information on the longevity of ships. That explains even better why seagoing vessels have their years of service before being retired.

[PM2K]

Thnaks for the information, kham! I knew that ship had something to do with the Fitz, but I just wasn't sure. There was a great, if out of print, book my father owned entited "Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals" which came out in the early 70s before the Fitzgerald tragedy. Fascinating reading and if you haven't seen it, I'd keep my eyes out. Sounds like you'd love it. Covers the rich history of the Great Lakes and the stories of famous wrecks, disappearances etc. From La Salle's Griffin of the 1600s to 1960 when the last shipwreck - before the Fitz - occurred.

As for corrosion, that makes sense. I've read of folks who have cars in climates without much snow and ice which last almost forever because of the lack of road salt on their highways. Here, cars dissolve faster than teeth drowned in soda pop... mainly due to that lethal combo of salt and wet snow...

[kham]

WB: yes, the average lifespan of a saltie is about 25 years more or less, then discard unless they been treated well. Most ships are designed for one 100 year storm and 2 50-year storms in their lives, and steel DOES wear out sooner or later

PM: havent seen that one yet, but sounds like a good read. There are literally dozens of shipwreck books without even counting the Fitz, all good study of casualties on the lakes; check out the stuff on the Great Storm of 1913, thats some pretty chilling stuff. The corrosion stuff is one reason (of several) I planning on moving somewhere further south in Ont, I gettin too damn old to shovel snow 5 months a year