The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

» THE MARINE REVIEW the existing canal depths. Lake build- ers freely admit that one of their big modern ore carriers would have short shrift on the Atlantic. Subjected to the terriffic strain of being poised on two or three wave crests, she would buckle and collapse in no time. This constitutes no disparagement, how- ever, on the soundness of her lines nor the excellence of her construc- tion. The typical Lake sea is short, choppy, and extremely vicious. More than «> sturdy ship of salt water origin has foundered in a Lake gale; while numerous Lake craft have proved their worth in ocean com- merce. Another feature of Lake ships which would excite the interest and doubtless the envy of coast sailormer, is the absence of brass and heavily galvanized fittings. The corrosive operations in the spring. superintendent, and a fleet engineer. These men are responsible for the up keep and satisfactory operation of the vessels and oversee their laying up and fitting out during the winter season. Practically all commerce on the Great Lakes is at a close by Dec. 12 each year. The masters then bring their ships into the port which is to be their home until the resumption of If extensive structural, boiler, or engine repairs are to be made, the vessel is moored as close as possible to the yard or shop which is to do the work. Oth- erwise, she may be anchored in any one of a dozen harbors from Duluth ‘to Buffalo. Mooring is accomplished either in a waterway, such as a river, or behind a breakwater, few Lake ports pos- chors at the opposite end of the craft are carried out by tugs and dropped at angles of possibly 20 degrees with the ship’s axis. The slack is then taken up by means of steam wind- lasses and the gear snugged down for the. winter. The absence of tides or ground swell makes this operation comparatively simple. During the memorable November storm of 1913, however, in which many ships per- ished on the Great Lakes, several craft so moored were. wrecked. Sometimes’ a group of vessels is lashed together in a unit by cables from one to the next, stern, as shown in Fig. 1. This i lustration, as well as Figs. 4 and 10, is reproduced through the courtesy of The Cleveland Leader. Methods of inspection to determine the extent of repairs and renewals FIG. 6-HULETT UNLOADER IN HOLD OF OLDER TYPE FREIGHTER action of the water is practically neg- ligible. Barnacles and teredos are, of course, unknown. <A _ ship which has not visited the drydock for years may show only the faintest trace of vegetation on her underbody. The tramp freighter is a minor ele- ment on the Great Lakes. The largest fleets are those owned and operated by the several great steel manufac- turing interests; while others exist as independent factors. The size of the fleets varies from three or four ships to seventy or more, and the individual capacity of the ships from 2,000 to 12,000 tons. Practically all new con- struction is of the larger type, the advent of which has made freighting with vessels of limited tonnage al- most unprofitable. The big ore fleets are supervised, as a general rule, by a fleet captain or sessing natural shelter such as is found on the ocean coast. In moor- ing a ship alongside a river dock, she may be made fast at bow and stern by means of cables attached to “dead men” ashore, or lacking these facili- ties, her anchors may be taken ashore and buried, the slack in the chains be- ing drawn up by deck engines. A similar practice is followed in moor- ing alongside a breakwater. sSome- times one of the bow anchors is un- shipped and lashed in its port, the chain being taken aft and used as a mooring cable, few Lake ships pos- sessing both bow and stern anchors. In cases where several vessels are laid up side by side in a harbor, they are generally so disposed as to head in alternate directions. The bow ie stern, as the case may be, is secured to posts on the breakwater. Two an- FIG. 7—-UNLOADER AT WORK IN LARGE MODERN FREIGHTER necessary at the end of the season vary widely. In the case of the Pitts- burgh Steamship Co., a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, operating the largest fleet on the Lakes, the captains gineers of the ships are required to fill out lists of the repairs needed, near the end of the active season... A little later, a committee, including the assistant general manager of the com- pany and the various heads of depart- ments, journeys to the Sault Ste. Marie canal and goes over each ves- sel as she passes through the water Way. and the recommendations of the ship’s officers are checked up for approval. Directions are then issuea. tor laying up, the choice of harbor being made, as before stated, with reference to the proximity of shipyards or machine February, 1916 at bow and and chief en-. A physical inspection is made, Weak ete” | eee