On this day March 21, 1908, the WILLIAM H. TRUESDALE was launched at Lorain, Ohio, by the American Ship Building Company for the Empire Steamship Company managed by the Brown Steamship Company.  She measured 432 feet in length, 52 feet in beam and 28 feet in depth.  Her namesake, the President of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, along with the vice president W. P. Loomis attended her launching after traveling from New York City to Lorain in Truesdale’s private car Lake Forest.   The launching was a success and she slipped into the water without a hitch.  Mr. Truesdale’s niece Miss Jessie Steele christened the boat.  The group then returned to Cleveland and boarded their train for the trip home to New York City.

         The JAMES E. McALPINE

            The TRUESDALE was one of the smaller steel steamers and worked hauling grain, iron ore and coal.   In 1934 she was renamed the JAMES E. McALPINE but was owned by Brown throughout her career.

            In November 1938, the JAMES E. McALPINE was in Milwaukee loading its cargo.   I wasn’t able to find any newspaper report of it but we have these great photos I wanted to share showing how it was done in 1938 and the working conditions.

            The McALPINE sailed into the early 1960s.  After being inactive for a few years she was purchased in 1965 by Marine Salvage along with the J. J. H. BROWN.  They were loaded with scrap iron and sailed through the St. Lawrence and then were towed overseas to Italian shipbreakers in Genoa, arriving on July 19, 1965.

Suzette Lopez

Photo Credit:  Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.