Self-Unloader - The term "self-unloader" in relation to a Great Lakes ship means simply that the ship is equipped to do just that - unload its bulk cargo onto an adjacent pier. This technology was developed early in the 20th century and it revolutionized the Great Lakes shipping industry. It is basically simple, utilizing a fundamental principal -gravity.

A self-unloader's cargo holds are essentially shaped like giant funnels inside the ship's hull. When unloading bulk cargo, iron (Taconite) pellets, for example,a hatch is opened at the bottom of a selected hold and the pellets drop onto a conveyer which runs the length of the ship beneath the holds. This conveyor transports the cargo aft and up to a hopper which feeds the cargo out onto the pier via the unloading boom, which is usually about 250 feet in length. Note: self-unloaders are sometimes referred to as "boomers", with reference to the conveyor boom.

 

 

Great Lakes "Boats" - Great Lakes Ships - people in the industry call them "boats". I don't know why- they just do. Note: this may be a holdover from when the first self-propelled vessels were deployed on the lakes. They were small and called "steam boats".

"Old Style Lake Boat" (often spoken wistfully) - Refers to the ship design which began with the "R.J. Hackett" which was launched in 1869. The Hackett was 211 feet long and 33 feet in the beam. The thing that made her different was that she had two deckhouses, one aft, over the engine and one in the bow. This "fore-and-aft" configuration was unique and it was quickly adopted as a standard - virtually all of the bulk cargo ships that were built on the lakes for a hundred years followed this design - "unique" because nobody anywhere else in the world adopted it. The trend died in the 1970's - the 1000-footer Cort was the last to have fore-and-aft deckhouses.

Boat fans devoted to the "classic" design often point to a single ship as representing the pinnical of the classic-lake ship builder's art - the Ryerson. The Edward L. Ryerson was launched in 1960 as a steam-powered, non self-unloader. She was nearly obsolete when her stem hit the water - but, with her art-deco lines, she was pretty to look at, and reportably very fast "running up and down the lake". But taking over 24 hours to unload cargo wasn't competitive - and she now is laid up in Sturgen Bay, WI. and may never come back to work. Another nice example is the Reserve built in 1953 (see below). She was converted to a self-unloader in the 70's and is still steaming every day.

"Straight- Decker" - Another term for a non self-unloader

"New Style Lake Boat" (sometimes spoken with disgust) - Refers to the ship design which began with the launching in 1973 of the MV William R. Roesch (later renamed David Z. Norton) the first "modern" lake boat built with its pilothouse and all accommodations in a single deckhouse mounted on the stern. All of the 1000-footers except the first two are of this basic design.

Detail of modern Self-Unloader mechanism on Interlake Steamship's Kaye E. Barker while provisioning from the Ojibway in the St. Mary's river. This is one of the standard configurations used on all ships, including the 1000-footers. (photo by Herb Hammond) Note:The small craft alongside is the Ojibway, a provisioning service at the Soo, which was owned and operated by the USS Great Lakes Fleet, but continues under a new owner.

City of Registry - Many of the U.S. boats and all of the 1000-footers bear the name of the city where they are "Registered". Many viewers interpret this as being the Ship's home port as was customary with ocean-going ships. Not exactly. Most of the 1000-footers* are registered in Wilmington, Delaware even though none of them could possibly go there. They are registered there for the same reason that General Motors is a registered Delaware corporation - tax breaks. Canadian ships seem to use the actual city where the company is based.

The Presque Isle was originally built for Crocker-Angelo Bank, Los Angeles, CA/Litton Corp. and carried "Los Angeles, CA" on her stern.. She is currently chartered to the USS Great Lakes Fleet, Duluth, MN, formally a division of US Steel. Like the other ships of that fleet , she now displays "Duluth, MN" on each stern quarter.

MV - Motor Vessel. A ship which is powered by Diesel engine(s), to distinguish her from one which is powered by steam engine(s). The traditional designation for steam ships has been "S.S.", but it seems that Great Lakes boats more often bear the designation "Str".

TBA - Articulated Tug/Barge (also referred to as "ITB - Integrated Tug/Barge"). A specially designed tug boat which fits into a "pocket" in the stern of a barge, which mounts a self-unloading system. The resulting combination looks like a standard lake boat. The connection is accomplished by cables and hydraulic pads on the tug's bow. The last four new additions to the U.S. fleet have been TBA's, which looks something like a trend. One very good reason is that the crew can be much smaller and still comply with Coast Guard regulations, thus cutting costs significantly. For more infomation on TBA's see: www.oceantugbarge.com/

Updown/Downbound - The flow of cargos (and boats) on the lakes follows a pattern: Most cargos are loaded in the northern ports (Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors, Silver Bay), and most cargos are delivered to ports in the southern lakes (Cleveland, Loraine, Detroit, Chicago/Gary). Thus an empty ship sailing north to superior is said to be "upbound", and a loaded ship sailing south is "downbound".