Historic Ashtabula Harbor 2009

The self-unloading barge McKee Sons was built in 1945 initially as a type "C4-S-B2" fast troop transport by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, PA christened as the Marine Angel. Her overall length at construction was approximately 510 feet with her power coming from a 9,900 shp steam turbine engine. The Marine Angel was acquired by Amerisand Steamship Co. in 1952 with partial ownership shared with Boland & Cornelius (American Steamship Co.) whose fleet would operate the converted vessel on the Great Lakes. The retrofit of the Marine Angel included lengthening of 123 feet, new fuller bow, replacing the midship pilothouse with a new bow pilothouse, and an overhaul of her engine. This was completed at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD. After being towed up the Mississippi River into the Great Lakes, her conversion to a self-unloader was finished at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Inc., Manitowoc, WI in 1953. She was christened McKee Sons and entered service that same year. As such, she became the first salt water vessel to sail as a self-unloader on the Great Lakes. The vessel was named in honor of the 11 sons of the 3 McKee brothers who were the principals of Sand Products Corporation, Detroit, MI. The McKee Sons sailed as a steamer until 1979. From 1980 through 1990, she lay idle in Toledo, OH. Upper Lakes Towing Co., Escanaba, MI acquired the idle steamer in late 1990 converting her to a barge and shortening her hull by 53 feet 10 inches in 1991. The conversion included removing her aft accommodations and propulsion system as well as the installation of a notch in her stern. Her 6 holds are fed by 28 hatches where she can carry 18,400 tons at maximum Seaway draft of 26 feet and is capable of carrying 19,900 tons at her maximum mid-summer draft of 27 feet 6 inches. She is equipped with a bow thruster. The McKee Sons has a 250-foot bow-mounted self-unloading boom that can be swung 120 degrees to port or starboard. The barge was paired up with the 297 GRT Upper Lakes Towing tug Olive L. Moore. The 6,000 bhp diesel powered Olive L. Moore was built in 1928, rebuilt in 1980; her dimensions being 125' (loa) x 27'01" x 13'9". The McKee Sons and the Olive L. Moore sailed as a pair for the first time in 1992. They sailed for Lakes Shipping Service Co. (managed by Upper Lakes Towing) in 1996; then for Upper Lakes Barge Line Inc., Bark River, MI from 1997 into the 2000 navigation season. After the McKee Sons charter was terminated in early 2000, she was long-term bareboat chartered to Grand River Navigation Co., Cleveland, OH; and affiliate of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., Port Dover, ON. After being refurbished and painted Lower Lakes colors at Sarnia, ON, she was paired with the ocean articulated notch tug Invincible. This tug was built in 1979 at Jacksonville, FL as the R.W. Sesler; a name she retained until 1991 when she was renamed Invincible. This tug is 99' (loa) x 35', is equipped with an upper pilothouse with a 60 foot height of eye, and has a Budworth linkage. Her twin screws are powered by E.M.D. diesel engines rated at 5,750 bhp. The tug was purchased from Dixie Fuels Ltd., Houston, TX where she had been engaged in pushing the 18,816 dwt hopper barge Mary Cecilia. Leaving Texas on June 6, 2000; the Invincible arrived in Sarnia, ON via the St. Lawrence Seaway system on June 20. The McKee Sons and Invincible left Sarnia on their first voyage together Sept. 4, 2000. Their first month of sailing was not without incident. The pair encountered difficulty in the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, OH including running soft aground while attempting to navigate up the river with a load of stone. The Grand River Navigation Co. has kept this pair busy engaged primarily in the stone, aggregates, coal, and salt trades. Overall dimensions Length 579'06" Beam 71'06" Depth 38'06" Capacity (tons) 19,900 Self-unloading boom 250' The Walter J. McCarthy Built in two sections by Bay Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, WI; this twin-screw self-unloading bulk carrier was christened as the Belle River on July 12,1977 for the American Steamship Co. She was the first thousand-footer built at Bay Shipbuilding and currently is 1 of 13 such vessels plying the Great Lakes. This design was used in the construction of the thousand footers Burns Harbor, Columbia Star, Indiana Harbor, and the Oglebay Norton. The McCarthy is powered by 4 V-20 3600 horsepower GM diesel engines. These engines are arranged in pairs; each pair connected to a gear reduction box driving a four blade 17.22 foot diameter controllable pitch propeller. This arrangement permits one engine of each pair to drive each propeller shaft for more economical cruising. She is equipped with 1500 horsepower bow and stern thrusters. Her 37 hatches feed into 7 holds where she is capable of carrying 78,850 tons at her maximum mid-summer draft of 34 feet. Her self-unloading equipment consists of a loop belt conveyor feeding a stern-mounted 250 foot unloading boom that can be swung 92 degrees to port or starboard and can discharge at a rate of up to 6000 short tons of coal per hour. The Belle River was the sixth of ten vessels built for American Steamships under Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970. This program allowed fleets to build new or modernize existing vessels by government guaranteed financing and tax deferred benefits. Belle River was renamed Walter J. McCarthy Jr. after the newly retired Chairman of the Board of Detroit Edison on May 25,1990. This vessel is used almost exclusively to carry low sulfur western coal from the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, WI to the Detroit Edison Belle River Power Plant at St. Clair, MI (Recor Point). She occasionally delivers this low sulfur coal to Detroit Edison in Monroe, MI and also carries the odd spot load of taconite pellets. The McCarthy is capable of carrying such other cargoes as limestone and grain. Overall dimensions Length 1000'00" Beam 105'00" Depth 56'00" Capacity (tons) 78,850 Diesel horsepower 14,000 Self-unloading boom 250'