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CHARLES BRADLEY PHOTO FROM THE AUTHOR'S COLLECTION towing schooners BRIGHTIE, MARY WOOLSON and GOSHAWK The lumber steamer CHARLES ee an BRADLEY was built in 1890 as HULL 75 of the F. W. Wheeler & NO. 147 Co. shipyard in West Bay City. She was built for the Bradley family of Bay City who operated a flourishing lumber business through- out the area. The design of the ship was typical of the era’s Lake lumber vessels. Her official number was 125- 563. She had a gross tonnage of 804 and net tonnage of 624, with a length of 201’, a beam of 37’ anda 18’ 6” depth. She had good power and usually tow- ed three “schooners” per trip. After a profitable career, ill fate finally caught up with her asit did with so many of the wooden steamers of those days. She caught fire and sank inthe Keweenaw Water- way of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The near-standard depth of 13’ for lumbermen on the Lakes was due to the high cost of steve- doring. The vessels were loaded and unloaded manually, board by board. A 13’ depth allowed faster and easier handling of the standard 12’ lengths...from the deck to the hold and vice ver- sa. A premium was charged when the ship had a greater depth, requiring additional handling. Many schooners ended their days being towed by steamers when deterioration or economics made it no longer profitable to operate under sail. In the 90s many “barges” were designed and built with a pointed (ship’s) bow and were classed as schooners. Originally they were equipped with masts and sails (as were the early steamers), but sails were only used when the wind was ‘“‘going their way”. As the sails wore out or the masts rotted, usually they were not replaced. It is interesting to note that the wooden hulls on the Great Lakes, built of white oak, were good for about 25 years. It then ceased to be economical to maintain them, principally due to dry: rot. Power plants from older steamers would be removed and installed in other hulls. The advent of steel hulls re- versed this process, since the hulls outlasted the power plants and they were (still are) frequently repowered. Reprinted with permission from “THE ENSIGN”, publication of District Seven, United States Power Squadrons, where it was published originally Novem- ber, 1963, and the author, the Associate Editor, D-Lt.- C Chester J. Partlow, IN <