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Pilothouse Celebrates 50th Anniversary The design followed seven other vessels in her class measuring 647' x 70' x 36'. (Other vessels were ARTHUR M. ANDERSON, CASON J. CALLOWAY and PHILIP R. CLARKE for U.S. Steel, ARMCO and RESERVE for Columbia Transportation, J.L. MAUTHE for Interlake and EDWARD B. GREENE for Cleveland-Cliffs.) All were built with modem navigational equipment and fore and aft tunnels extending the entire length of the ship to protect crewmembers from bad weather. Recreational boaters as well as commercial freighters passing by the Dossin Museum will see a pilothouse overlooking the Detroit River. There are no nameboards to identify it, but long-time boat watchers will recognize the "Ford F" near the radar antennae and recall the days when the Str. WILLIAM CLAY FORD sailed the lakes for over 30 years. When the vessel was sold for scrap, the pilothouse was donated to the Dossin Museum as an important artifact of our maritime history from Great Lakes Engineering Works Shipyard. During the 1950's Great Lakes shipyards were building ships continuously as fleets were expanding. Ford Motor Company announced that the WILLIAM CLAY FORD would be built at Great Lakes Engineering Works downriver at River Rouge with a design similar to the J.L. MAUTHE (Hull 298) and RESERVE (Hull 299). The keel for Hull 300 was laid on April 10, 1952 and launched on May 5, 1953. The ship was named after the third grandson of Henry Ford.