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

beginning with a 42,969 gross ton load in Two Harbors, MN., on June 18, 1972. The Blough also became an integral part of U.S. Steel's efforts in year-round navigation later in the 1970s. Interlake Steamship Company also anticipated the need to add capacity to its fleet, and in 1972 the Charles M. Beeghly resumed service after being lengthened to 806 feet. On September 10, 1972, the Beeghly loaded her largest cargo ever, 33,360 gross tons of iron ore, in Superior, WI. Interlake would further expand its fleet by building the 1,000-footers James R. Barker. Mesabi Miner and William J. DeLancey during the next few years. The Edmund Fitzgerald, previously the largest Great Lakes vessel and several-time iron-ore record holder, also continued to make incremental increases in her cargoes over the next few years. Her largest cargo in 1972 was 27,658 gross tons. Inevitably, many vessels simply could no longer compete with tonnage the size of the Cort. Having reached old age and with no practical possibilities for being made competitive, many smaller, older lakers were sold for scrap or other uses around the time the Cort and her supership sisters entered service. These included the Otto M. Reiss, Robert S. McNamara and Edward S. Kendrick. Before too many more seasons had passed, the Joe S. Morrow, James E. Ferris and many others made one-way trips to the boneyard. The capacity of these five vessels added together would fall short of either the Stewart J. Cort or the Roger Blough. During the next few years, thanks to the newly built tonnage and a downsizing of the steel industry, there was an additional purge of smaller, older craft. The U.S. Steel Stewart J. Cort wears the #1 designation with pride on her aft cabin. (Roger LeLievre) Cort’s unloading is controlled here. (Andy LaBorde) 8 KYS 2002