By James Heinz
For many years the 1906 built ST. MARY’S CHALLENGER was the oldest self-propelled ship on the Great Lakes. She lost that title in 2013 when she was cut down into a humble barge, part of an Integrated Tug Barge unit.
Photo above: ALPENA backing into Milwaukee in August 2008. Chuck Sterba photo.
The title of oldest self-propelled ship is now held by the ALPENA. She was laid down as the LEON FRASER in 1941 at the Great Lakes Engineering Works at the River Rouge in Michigan in anticipation of the increased need for steel production that a looming World War II would require. Launched in February 1942, she was owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company.
LEON FRASER was 10,294 gross tons in displacement. She was 622 feet long and 67 feet wide with a depth of hold of 30 feet. She was powered by 4,400 horsepower coal fired steam power plant with two boilers. Her hull was fastened with a mixture of rivets and welding.
In 1948 she collided with the ALGOSOO in Lake Superior, leaving part of her anchor embedded in the ALGOSOO. In 1968 a bow thruster was installed and in 1970 her boilers were converted to oil fuel at Milwaukee.
In 1978 while upbound on the St. Clair River she lost her rudder. By “lost”, I mean it just dropped off the ship. She used her bow thruster to steer herself to safety and anchored outside the shipping channel. The rudder was recovered and later re-installed.
FRASER could not compete with the 1,000 foot self-unloaders that could carry three times as much cargo. Her four sister ships were scrapped but FRASER survived, partly because someone bought her in an unsuccessful attempt to turn her into a gambling casino.
ALPENA passing Milwaukee’s breakwater lighthouse in August 2008. Chuck Sterba photo.
In 1991 she was shortened by 120 feet and converted to a self-unloading cement carrier for the LaFarge Cement Company and renamed ALPENA. In 2005 she again lost her rudder in Lake Michigan and had to be towed to Sturgeon Bay, where the wayward rudder was once again re-installed.
In 2015 she caught fire at Sturgeon Bay. Smoke poured from her stern and her hull glowed cherry red. Eighty firefighters fought the blaze, and four people went to the hospital but were later released. The cause of the fire was determined to be faulty wiring on an aft winch, which caused an electrical overload and resulting fire in the electrical room, causing an estimated $3 million in damage.
In 2016 she was put back into service hauling cement. She and the ship who she replaced as the Great Lakes’ oldest ship are regular visitors to Milwaukee, where I saw and photographed her this fall at Jones Island.
ALPENA at Milwaukee’s Jones Island, fall 2024. James Heinz Photos.
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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
