St. Mary's Challenger

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St. Mary's Challenger
The freighter under its first name William P. Snyder between 1907 and 1910
The freighter under its first name William P. Snyder between 1907 and 1910
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States United States
other ship names

  • William P. Snyder
  • Elton Hoyt II
  • Alex D. Chisholm
  • Medusa Challenger
  • Southdown Challenger
  • St. Mary's Challenger
Ship type Laker
Shipyard Great Lakes Engineering Works
Launch 1906
Whereabouts From November 2013 unpowered barge rebuilt
Ship dimensions and crew
length
551 ft = 181 m ( Lüa )
width 56 ft = 18 m
Machine system
machine from 1950:
Machine
performance 		3,500 hp (2,574 kW)
propeller 1
Transport capacities
Load capacity 10415 dwt
The St. Marys Challenger 2012

The St. Marys Challenger was a steam-powered cargo ship used on the Great Lakes from 1906 to 2013 . Towards the end of her 107-year career as a self-propelled ship, she was the last cargo ship powered in this way in this trade area. After the decommissioning in 2013, the owner had the drive removed and continues to use the hull as a non-powered barge for transporting cement.

History of the vehicle

Steam operation

After a previous order for a 551- foot- long vehicle for the flourishing iron ore trade from Minnesota at the beginning of the 20th century , the freighter named William P. Snyder was launched on February 7, 1906 at the builder Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan ) . Soon the freighter's transport services were in high demand from an industry that needed ever larger quantities of iron and steel for the production of automobiles, consumer goods and military material for use in the First World War.

Originally equipped with two shell boilers , the ship, now underway as Elton Hoyt II , was equipped with two water tube boilers in 1950 to supply the likewise new Skinner Marine Uniflow steam engine.
After this machine conversion, the ship, which was now too small for economical transport of ore, changed owners and names several times in the 1960s. But it remained true to a new role assigned to it as a cement carrier. Its cargo landed at numerous construction companies around the Great Lakes, while Charlevoix (Michigan) served as its home port .

Towards the end of its more than one hundred years of service, the ship, now under its last name St. Mary's Challenger , was a popular motif of ship spotters on the Great Lakes, as it was the last example of a steamship in riveted construction from the time of the second industrial revolution .

Conversion to a barge

In November 2013 came the end of its use as a self-propelled ship for the St. Marys Challenger . Her last voyage took her to the Bay Shipbuilding Co. in Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin) , where the stern with the drive was cut off, the wheelhouse was dismantled and the hull was prepared with a newly constructed stern for use as a barge driven in conjunction with a pushboat . At the time of docking, the shipyard expected a conversion time until May 2014.

The wheelhouse has been preserved and has been on display at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo (Ohio) since spring 2015 .

See also

  • The Badger ship , still in operation today, powered by coal-fired boilers and a piston steam engine

Web links

Commons : St. Marys Challenger  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature - St. Marys Challenger . In: boatnerd.com . Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Toledo museum adds piece of Great Lakes history , Toledo Blade . April 4, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2016.