Long Ships Passing – Last Load of Iron Ore

By Chris Winters

The steamers WILFRED SYKES and CHARLES M. BEEGHLY take a last load of iron ore from the Canadian National pellet terminal at Escanaba, Michigan, January 2005. The pusher tug OLIVE L. MOORE is laid up in the foreground.

———————————-

The WILFRED SYKES was built in 1949 at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Co. for the Inland Steel Co.  Her namesake was the President of Inland Steel.  She measured 661.1 feet in length, 70.2 feet in beam and 32.3 in depth. Construction of the SYKES marked the first building of bulk freighters in an American yard since the group of 16 carriers launched in 1942 and 1943 were completed. She is currently owned by Central Marine Logistics.

The CHARLES M. BEEGHLY was built in 1959 by the American Ship Building Company at Toledo as the SHENANGO II and renamed the CHARLES M. BEEGHLY in 1967.  She was built at 710 feet in length but lengthened in 1972 to 806 feet in length, 75 feet in beam and 37.5 feet in depth.  In 1981 she was converted to a self-unloader.  In 2010 she was renamed the HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR honoring the former congressman of Minnesota.  She is currently owned by the Interlake Steamship Co.

The tug OLIVE L. MOORE was built in 1928 at Manitowoc by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. as the JOHN F. CUSHING measuring 120.2 feet in length, 27.1 feet in beam and 13.8 feet in depth.  She was renamed JAMES E. SKELLY in 1965 and OLIVE L. MOORE in 1966.  She currently is owned by for Grand River Navigation.

——————————————–

Chris Winters is a Trustee and Vice President of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society, a well-known author and has been a photojournalist for over 25 years.  He and his cameras have enjoyed a privileged glimpse into the lives of merchant mariners aboard some of the Great Lakes best-known and best-loved vessels.