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SEP + OCT, 1985 Page 115 THOSE INCREDIBLY CAPABLE CRANE CONVERSIONS by PAUL WIENING Boom times of the 1920's spawned a variety of ships and designs which were built for the Great Lakes specialty trades. Among the many types of ships that gained popularity at this time were crane-equipped bulk freighters. These vessels could handle a multiplicity of cargoes, including such common com- modities as pig iron, lumber, finished steel products and sulphur, in addition to the more common cargoes of stone and coal. Crane ships of various types and dimensions were common sights on the Great Lakes from the 1920's on up through the 1970's. The vessels of special interest were conversions of older 300 and 400-foot bulk freighter with the addition of cranes on their decks. Most of these ships were otherwise-outmoded and had outlived their usefulness in carrying regular bulk commodities. There were other types of crane vessels in various applications on the lakes, to be sure. These included canallers with Kingposts (which were a form of crane as well), and other vessels that were converted to barges, lighters or wreckers which also had cranes. Likewise, with only one exception, we are eliminating sand suckers since they were of another specialized nature. What caused the evolution of ships into a crane design? Many economic factors entered into the design of crane vessels, among them the continuing search for an economical self- unloader. Primarily, however, the need for crane equipped vessels arose because of the expanding markets in finished steel goods and pig iron items that could be most easily unloaded by magnet-equipped cranes. Shortly after the close of the first World War, the U.S. Steel Products Company (later American Steel & Wire) was the first to intro- duce the crane vessel to the Great Lakes in 1923, with the diesel-powered Steelmotor and Steel Vendor. These vessels were small enough to navigate the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence system of the era. Each was equipped with two unusual cranes which would allow them to load and unload finished steel goods, and deliver them from the Lakes area to the coast. From these humble beginnings a new Great Lakes shipping industry was generated. The initial success of these two small ships led to two more sisters being brought to the Lakes in 1926, the Steel Chemist and the Steel Electrician. The versatility of these vessels was obvious, especially in the handling of pig iron. Much of this pig iron was shipped via the Nicholson Dock in Detroit. Nicholson, in addition to operating the dock facilities in Detroit, also had a fleet of steamers.