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

THE LENGTHENING OF THE WILLIAM CLAY FORD Flagship of the fleet, the Steamer WILLIAM CLAY FORD is the largest and most power- ful of Ford Motor Company's five ore carriers. Built in 1952-53 at a cost of $5.3 million by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, the 767-foot-long workhorse has greater cargo capacity, higher horsepower, and more maneuverability than any other Ford freighter working the Great Lakes. a Recent lengthening at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin added a 120-foot mid- section to increase cargo capacity. Work on the complex project involved cutting the vessel in half, water tightening the ends, inserting the mid-section and weld- ing it to the bow and stern. The WILLIAM CLAY FORD reentered service on June 2, 1979 and is the seventh of eight near sisterships built in 1952-53 to receive this treatment since the new Poe Lock was opened at the Soo. Only the Steamer J. L. MAUTHE, of the Interlake Steamship Company, remains at the original 647-foot overall length. The ship's 7,000-horsepower steam turbine engine is capable of producing speeds up to 16 miles an hour at full load with a cargo capacity of 23,900 gross tons at mid-summer draft. The vessel additionally is the only member of the Ford fleet equipped with a stern thruster -- also installed during this past Winter layup -- for added maneuverability in rivers and locks. The giant carrier won national attention in 1977 when it was cited by the U.S. Coast Guard for attempting to rescue possible survivors of the Steamer EDMUND FITZGERALD, which sank with all hands in Lake Superior on the night of November 10-11, 1975. Captained by Donald Erickson and a crew of 28, the ship last year hauled 1,096,371 tons of raw materials, mostly taconite pellets, from Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, to the Ford Rouge. Floating higher than the bow (foreground) and stern, which were ballasted for the operation, is the new 120-foot mid-section as the assembly process begins. Poe