It is great to see that not all of the older classic ships have been sold for scrapping but have been allowed to continue to live and serve. This beautiful vessel looks great.
Never seen this ship before. It was fascinating to see the men who work it on the deck. When you think of the Fitz, the Bradley, and others, and think of things you have, you have a deep appreciation for these men and the risk they take everytime they go out. Thanks again to all you mariners.
Stately, perfectly described this stunning lake. The new modern ships cant hold a candle to the beauty and majesty of the old school design. These ships also have had long, productive lives on the great lakes. Craftmanship shows in these oldies but goodies! Magnificant from axe bow to stern.
To me, they just look more balanced and regal. I also prefer the classic lakers to the new boats. There is just something so dignified about them when they're coming into port.
These are the type of lakers I remember as a kid! Beautiful! Whether I was standing atop of Sleeping Bear Dunes, in Gary, Toledo, Cleveland, Holland. This is my childhood, great catch my friend!
As a fan of your videos, I must say I am equally drawn to your text providing insight into the historical context of basically how the ships came to exist in our present shipping business. Thanks again for preserving our beloved "Laker" history.
Hope so! I didn’t get the same feeling when she departed after this video went up, so maybe it was just the conditions or something. Not sure, she just seemed so off… and I’d absolutely HATE to be right. Regardless she does need some attention and I hope she gets it!
@@jonathanellsworth21 i read your introduction and description when i clicked. on “more” under the title. I just discovered the channel and Vive with Nike channel all about Great Lakes shipping. It is a new learning experience for me and kind of exciting to watch the big ships.!. I am in NW WA, and my late husband along with our sons were all Alaska Fishermen for years. Also we enjoyed sport fishing/boating as a family. family. We. had a small business fabricating crab and ship pots. after my husband retired from fiishing. I will be honest, felt a ‘frsson” when i read your remarks about the feeling you got seeing the Saginaw coming in to port. The fact that you said you had never had that same feeling about any other ship in your experience, kind of confirmed that little chill i felt, also. men that “Go down to the Sea in ships” have a whole lot of beliefs, some call it superstition, but i call it intuition and received wisdom from the Ancients , about the perils of going to sea. For example there is a hard and fast rrule for fishermen, to never leave port on a friday, The Skipper who disregards that and leaves before midnight to get to the fishing grounds ahead of the fleet, is asking for trouble.or more likely disaster. Or never whistle on deck, because you will whistle up a gale. and my favortie is never take a suitcase or an umbrella on board, for the same reason that it is bad luck, or never paint a boat green, because that is the color of the earth and the boat will “seek the bottom”. the same holds true for potted house plants on board. And never buy a boat that has been on the bottom and then raised and rebuilt and there are a myriad of other beliefs and cautions Well, “something” about the Saginaw warned you, but there is nothing you can do about it except hope you were wrong. I looked as close as i coul at the Grand Old Lady as she has been described by admireers, and she indeed is grand and graceful, but she looked to.me like she has been neglected, all the rust streaks.visible. Intuition is a survival mechanism built in to us by our Creator and in this day and age, people do not heed or even recognize the physical signal. I read a book caledl “The Gift of Fear” . all about how to recognize the body feelings ,before the conscious mnd becomes aware In my experience, it has been a sudden feeling of loss and sadness where there is no apparent reason,
Thank you for this wonderful video and narrative. As I was watching, I felt the same feeling you described (having read your narrative after viewing the video). Being in the same age group as the Saginaw, she and I both show the scars of life. May she continue to sail on. Once again, many thanks!
No problem! Yeah I’ve seen plenty of ships, some far older and/or more beat up than this one come down the Canal, never felt that before. I hope she continues to sail for a long time to come though! I did not get that feeling nearly as bad when they left, granted it was at night. But she was going a lot faster, more confident and that helped a lot. Glad you enjoyed!
70 years old last year and still working the lakes, great information you compiled too, very interesting. Powered by a "Mack" diesel engine today, should have the Bulldog on the bow! Very proud old ship!
Unlike newer vessels, she got through the bridge without knocking it down. We saw quite a bit of her many years ago when she was a salt boat. She subsequently received major hold work, and went back to hauling ore. Here we see her gracefully going about her business, no drama. Good to see!
Looking at her I can kinda understand your "tired and fragile" feeling. I see what you mean. The patch on the front almost looks to be sewn on like an old child's toy and her white and grey colors look tired and faded. But man, she's a beautiful boat, floating high and just about gliding over the water. Rigging and crane look to be in very good condition and well cared for. Again I'm getting an old child's favorite toy vibe. Well used but more importantly, well loved.
Another well built and classic beauty built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding. My grandpa, God rest his soul, drove a lot of rivets on her, too, after the JOHN G. MUNSON. She needs paint, though!
That’s very, very cool! You know you build good ships when two of them are still sailing after you’re gone. And yeah she needs some work and a touchup!
@@jonathanellsworth21 Jonathan, my grandfather worked as a riveter for 44 years at Manitowoc Shipbuilding, from 1915-1959. He drove rivets on WW 1 ocean going freighters, WW 2 submarines, carferries, tankers, straight deckers and self unloaders. His favorite, and still sailing today, are the JOHN G. MUNSON and the SAGINAW, the JOHN J. BOLAND when new. He had a lot of stories about the boats, and I learned so much from him, even with his heavy German accent. God rest his soul.
The old girl's still got it. I saw the Saginaw back in 1998 during a family vacation up north, one of her last trips before being laid up. I was 13 years old. She was old THEN. I'm 38 now, and she's still hauling. Awesome! Funny that the kid talking was probably born 50 years after Saginaw, then known as John J Boland, first plied the waters of her trade. Ship is probably older than his dad. She's a real Great Lakes legend 🥰
She’s an old workhorse for sure! The announcer is a she lol, but yeah you’re probably fairly close! (just a really, really old PA system, she sounds completely different in person) Saginaw’s also 45 years older than I am lol
@@jonathanellsworth21 Yep, I grew up in Manitowoc, WI so I saw four of the five ore carriers build there. I missed the first one, the John G. Munson which still sails with that name, I lived in Green Bay when that one was launched. Two of the five have been scrapped (Detroit Edison and Adam E. Cornelius) and the last on the Ryerson has been laid up in Superior, WI for a few years.
I love the bridge forward ships, they are so much sleeker. As an aside, do ships on the Great Lakes need sacrificial zincs? Or is that only a saltwater thing?
Yes they do look very good! Although I try not to play favorites 😁 never seen a ship I didn’t enjoy on some level! As for the zinc or an equivalent to it, no idea. Not of lot of technical details like that leak out into public knowledge. Once the Irvin museum ship opens up for the year I can ask there, they might know
If you follow either USS New Jersey ("Battleship New Jersey") or USS Cod, you know that there are several types of cathodic protection materials. Zinc is used for salt water, while aluminum is used for fresh, and a 3rd metal (I forget what) for brackish water like New Jersey is docked. Cod was drydocked in Erie recently, and received aluminum "zincs". New Jersey is in drydock right now, and the curator is presenting wonderful detailed videos about the work, including replacing the old zincs with a different metal. He showed the pattern of the old zincs.
I've spent almost 60 years summering on Georgian Bay and haven't noticed any galvanic corrosion on any boats / motors that i have seen. I believe It's more an issue of dissimilar metals and salt water being a conductor of electricity.
there is another channel 'Vibe with Mike' that films from that same port. You are literally on the same walkway that his channel films on. I recognized that unusual mechanical bridge as well as the nearly water-level walkway with the concrete water barrier. it would be interesting to see you both doing a shared broadcast sometime.
I know Mike very well! There’s a few of us down there, Paul Sinnoca and 1 Long 2 Short as well, plus the DHC webcams. Several others who post on different sites as well. They’re all great guys!
I love movable bridges. This mammoth lift span and the swing bridge a Ft. Madison, IA are symphonies in design and execution. Long live them both! -- Oh yeah, the ship is cool, too! .
The lake freighter MV Saginaw was launched as John J. Boland in 1953, the third vessel to bear that name. John J. Boland was owned and operated by the American Steamship Company and constructed by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
She might be old and tired and rather bashed about the edges, but you can see how beautiful she was - still is! Who cares if she needs more cosmetic surgery to match that patch?
Your bad feeling- chalk it up to that funny patch plate maybe? She's had it for such a long time now that "patched up" is starting to feel like her baseline. Or maybe chalk it up to the fact that the entire LLT fleet is starting to seem like a fleet of ghost ships, with how rough they're looking. To me though, she seems above it all more than anything, gliding in tall and quiet and elegant (stately, as Carole perfectly put it!)- looking rough but sailing smooth.
Yeah that patch has been there awhile and I wish I knew what that was about. I’m not really sure they’re in any worse shape than other fleets, but their light gray paint scheme certainly shows the wear and tear better. If they went with a darker color we probably wouldn’t notice it as much, would probably look closer to what we see on other fleets.
@@jonathanellsworth21 Is there a reason, other than cost, that she hasn't (and others) been painted? It just makes the ships look almost embarrassing and the owners / crews need to take better care of them.
@@Andygarrett357 As she spent time laid up, the ships are just tied up side-by-side without fenders. Just rubbing with water motion. Cost of a repaint, and time involved could be the reason. If another vessel is out of service, a coat of paint is secondary. So long as the hull is solid.
How can a radar antenna rotate? The antennas on an aircraft have wave guides for the transmissions but they only oscillate. How can a wave guide transmit the frequencies to a rotating antenna?
Not sure really, not a radar tech, but I know every ship I’ve ever seen has had at least one, most have two or three. Saginaw has two but she only had one going during this arrival. Even the Irvin Museum ship has one and she was retired in the 60s, sometimes they’ll turn it on for the tourists as a demonstration. That was probably installed long before she was retired, not likely they installed it right before putting the ship out of commission. So they’ve been around a very long time, not sure why aircraft couldn’t use them. Could be it just screws with aerodynamics
Hard to say at this point, Michipicoten had a rather unique history of hull problems back in the 80s and spent much of the 90s in layup because of them. So she had a known history of issues in that area that cracked. It was all repaired, but you can never really make it like new again. Other vessels don’t have that history. But only time will tell what they decide to do.
Could you tell us about this location? The history of the bridge, who does the narration announcements? Is this a private thing or a "tourist" thing? I'm really tempted to dake a drive up there just to experience such a treat. Dallas to Duluth - "a mere bag of shells, Norton!" ...
Oh very cool! I didn’t realize Lakers still went there. I know the Badger sails from there tbough (which sounds like they haven’t sailed this year yet). Guessing salt?
@@jonathanellsworth21 boats still deliver Portland cement, coal for Manitowoc Public Utilities and for the Badger, and barley for Brees Malting (formally an Anheuser Busch owned malting plant). Salt I believe is brought by boat to Green Bay and communities around the area truck it from there
Now this is the way a laker should look! Sleek and graceful. And who dares complain about a little ole patch on a graceful old girl? You have absolutely no cooth. My only complaint is that she has such a beautiful horn, and the bridge answered with it's usual "blatt." Horrible! Absolutely horrible! They've got to do something about that!
40 years ago a steamship was a regular visitor, it hauled grain up the seaway to NY I believe. Watched it leave Duluth one sunny day with boiler room vent open and small pile of anthracite coal on the deck. Does this ship still call on Duluth.
The only coal-fired steamship still sailing is the Badger ferry in Lake Michigan, but there are 4 active oil-fired steamships that visit Duluth still. Arthur M Anderson, Philip R Clarke, Wilfred Sykes and Alpena. That ship might be gone, or its engine might have been replaced by a modern one at some point, like this vessel.
She’s a dieing breed of ship like the Anderson and the rest of the tin stackers , the older she gets the better she becomes , nothing is better than the classic ships ,
Best dining room on the Lakes facing aft on the upper fan tail. Between the McKee Sons and the JJB was where American SS /B&C directed most of their guests to ride on. The deck under the pilot house had accomodations for 8 guests. I was on the Richard Reiss and we got passed like we were half ahead going westbound on Lake Erie as we were racing to Marblehead Quarry. Captain Jim VanDongen and Chief Engineer Paul Baker wanted to show off their 8000 SHP steam turbine to our 2800 BHP EMD. Would a coat of paint kill the owners bottom line?
Oh very cool! What year was that if I may ask? As for the paint, I hear painting costs upwards of million dollars per application these days so yeah it would probably dig in a little but she needs it lol
It was June 1992. The JJB had been a bit late coming out of hibernation and still in shake down mode. Normally the extra fuel consumption was excessive. Probably a shipyard paint job by the time they sand blast the hull would be stupid expensive. There are alternatives such as a winter paint job via rollers rather than spray you just have to be careful to set drops to catch the drips and such. This is beat done while standing on some surrounding ice opposed from work floats.
@@RailPreserver2K 👍🏻 I have a feeling the community might have to start acting on those wishes sooner rather than later if we want to make any of it happen
Nope! Far from actually, in fact she’s 11 years younger than the oldest cargo ship still sailing the lakes, Alpena. But she’s the only one from that era that still has her original design that hasn’t been extensively modified and changed around. The ships built in 1952 and 1953 have proven incredibly long lived, many from those two years are still around, some of them still look almost new they’re in such good shape!
Lol, no torpedos 😂 I’m not exactly certain because that patch just sort of appeared there in 2020 without much explanation but I’d guess she scraped the side of a lock too hard and caused a dent or something.
We are repairing ships here in Belfast that are less than 20 years old and inserts in the Hull ,, just old lady proper steel not modern cheap,,repo steel ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ from northern Ireland
Yep! There’s a few of these older ships still around and kicking! Including the ship that tried to rescue the Fitzgerald, Arthur M Anderson. Saginaw’s 90ft shorter than Fitzgerald was, they served together on the lakes for nearly two decades, probably crossed paths a lot.
Is it a Lake Cruise Ship yet. 😊 Old school style 35 bucks a night. One week out. Required one hour chores duty on deck & below. 10 Coffees and 5 sandwiches a day. Tuna fish, egg salad, BLT, pulled chicken, and bratwurst in-half. Settee bed wool army blanket, tiny desk & folding canvas chair, a mini head-shower, and one porthole looking out at the Water. 😁
Lol these ships usually have better accommodations than that 😂 I’ve heard from a few crew members on lakers (granted not this particular vessel) that the food and rooms are often nicer than cruise ships
Probably why she hardly ever comes here lol. Say is John D Leitch still over there? Lots of rumors flying around here that she’s done for good, but ultimately when you try and dig into it, nobody actually knows anything. The fact that she hasn’t sailed yet this year doesn’t help, and I believe she laid up for winter in that area?
She acquitted herself with dignity and grace. People today are so seldom able to witness dignity or grace. Perhaps, for this reason, it appeared to you as frailty.
It is great to see that not all of the older classic ships have been sold for scrapping but have been allowed to continue to live and serve. This beautiful vessel looks great.
The older they get the better they become
Frankly...it looks awful.
@@RLTtizMEI guess it depends on your perspective…
She’s gorgeous, ESPECIALLY because of her scrapes, rust, and patches! She’s got character to go with her grace.
She definitely looks good while also showing her history!
She deserves a new paintjob!! Beautiful ship!! Glad to see her still working! 😊
I was thinking the same thing.Needs a paint job.
What little paint remains is probably all that's keeping the water out. Re-plating that hull from thwarts to keel would not be wasted. LOL.
What a Grand Old Lady. I love the old style lake boats. Thanks for the video!
No problem, glad you enjoyed!
Never seen this ship before. It was fascinating to see the men who work it on the deck. When you think of the Fitz, the Bradley, and others, and think of things you have, you have a deep appreciation for these men and the risk they take everytime they go out. Thanks again to all you mariners.
Stately, perfectly described this stunning lake. The new modern ships cant hold a candle to the beauty and majesty of the old school design. These ships also have had long, productive lives on the great lakes. Craftmanship shows in these oldies but goodies! Magnificant from axe bow to stern.
To me, they just look more balanced and regal. I also prefer the classic lakers to the new boats. There is just something so dignified about them when they're coming into port.
They stand tall and proud!
I was there year before last. Now if I could get a horn like that for my truck or Prius!
@@techguy9023 Traffic sure would get out of the way LOL.
These are the type of lakers I remember as a kid! Beautiful! Whether I was standing atop of Sleeping Bear Dunes, in Gary, Toledo, Cleveland, Holland. This is my childhood, great catch my friend!
Glad you enjoyed! There’s still a few of them around!
As a fan of your videos, I must say I am equally drawn to your text providing insight into the historical context of basically how the ships came to exist in our present shipping business. Thanks again for preserving our beloved "Laker" history.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!!
That’s just amazing. You done the old girl proud.
Thank you!
She's still got a decade or longer left in her! I hope she keeps going and going! I love the battle scars, Sag is one of my favorites!!
Hope so! I didn’t get the same feeling when she departed after this video went up, so maybe it was just the conditions or something. Not sure, she just seemed so off… and I’d absolutely HATE to be right.
Regardless she does need some attention and I hope she gets it!
@@jonathanellsworth21 i read your introduction and description when i clicked. on “more” under the title. I just discovered the channel and Vive with Nike channel all about Great Lakes shipping. It is a new learning experience for me and kind of exciting to watch the big ships.!. I am in NW WA, and my late husband along with our sons were all Alaska Fishermen for years. Also we enjoyed sport fishing/boating as a family. family. We. had a small business fabricating crab and ship pots. after my husband retired from fiishing. I will be honest, felt a ‘frsson” when i read your remarks about the feeling you got seeing the Saginaw coming in to port. The fact that you said you had never had that same feeling about any other ship in your experience, kind of confirmed that little chill i felt, also. men that “Go down to the Sea in ships” have a whole lot of beliefs, some call it superstition, but i call it intuition and received wisdom from the Ancients , about the perils of going to sea. For example there is a hard and fast rrule for fishermen, to never leave port on a friday, The Skipper who disregards that and leaves before midnight to get to the fishing grounds ahead of the fleet, is asking for trouble.or more likely disaster. Or never whistle on deck, because you will whistle up a gale. and my favortie is never take a suitcase or an umbrella on board, for the same reason that it is bad luck, or never paint a boat green, because that is the color of the earth and the boat will “seek the bottom”. the same holds true for potted house plants on board. And never buy a boat that has been on the bottom and then raised and rebuilt and there are a myriad of other beliefs and cautions Well, “something” about the Saginaw warned you, but there is nothing you can do about it except hope you were wrong. I looked as close as i coul at the Grand Old Lady as she has been described by admireers, and she indeed is grand and graceful, but she looked to.me like she has been neglected, all the rust streaks.visible. Intuition is a survival mechanism built in to us by our Creator and in this day and age, people do not heed or even recognize the physical signal. I read a book caledl “The Gift of Fear” . all about how to recognize the body feelings ,before the conscious mnd becomes aware In my experience, it has been a sudden feeling of loss and sadness where there is no apparent reason,
Thank you for this wonderful video and narrative. As I was watching, I felt the same feeling you described (having read your narrative after viewing the video). Being in the same age group as the Saginaw, she and I both show the scars of life. May she continue to sail on. Once again, many thanks!
No problem! Yeah I’ve seen plenty of ships, some far older and/or more beat up than this one come down the Canal, never felt that before. I hope she continues to sail for a long time to come though! I did not get that feeling nearly as bad when they left, granted it was at night. But she was going a lot faster, more confident and that helped a lot. Glad you enjoyed!
The legend lives on.
A legendary design. The Madaline Kahn song from Blazing Saddles comes to mind. Thanks for the video.
BEAUTIFUL! I may never think of Simon and Garfunkel song, “America” the same again.
70 years old last year and still working the lakes, great information you compiled too, very interesting. Powered by a "Mack" diesel engine today, should have the Bulldog on the bow! Very proud old ship!
Really, a Mack diesel? Wowza!
MaK isn't Mack.
One was a German marine engine company.
Now THAT'S a ship.🤩
There's a boat that deserves respect.
I like the old classic freighters.
Amazing to see this shipping icon in action! There is nothing like a traditional laker! 👌👍
Glad you enjoyed!
She has a beautiful, mellow whistle. Love the old school ships…
What a treat to see. That ship was built a year before I was built. 🙂
Unlike newer vessels, she got through the bridge without knocking it down.
We saw quite a bit of her many years ago when she was a salt boat. She subsequently received major hold work, and went back to hauling ore. Here we see her gracefully going about her business, no drama. Good to see!
Looking at her I can kinda understand your "tired and fragile" feeling. I see what you mean. The patch on the front almost looks to be sewn on like an old child's toy and her white and grey colors look tired and faded. But man, she's a beautiful boat, floating high and just about gliding over the water. Rigging and crane look to be in very good condition and well cared for. Again I'm getting an old child's favorite toy vibe. Well used but more importantly, well loved.
True that!
What a Beauty
She is beautiful! thank you for the video!
Even with all thee scrapes and the patches put in over the years, she looks pretty dam gfoo for 75 years old. Still working hard. That a girl.
Another well built and classic beauty built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding. My grandpa, God rest his soul, drove a lot of rivets on her, too, after the JOHN G. MUNSON. She needs paint, though!
That’s very, very cool! You know you build good ships when two of them are still sailing after you’re gone. And yeah she needs some work and a touchup!
@@jonathanellsworth21 Jonathan, my grandfather worked as a riveter for 44 years at Manitowoc Shipbuilding, from 1915-1959. He drove rivets on WW 1 ocean going freighters, WW 2 submarines, carferries, tankers, straight deckers and self unloaders. His favorite, and still sailing today, are the JOHN G. MUNSON and the SAGINAW, the JOHN J. BOLAND when new. He had a lot of stories about the boats, and I learned so much from him, even with his heavy German accent. God rest his soul.
We stood right near that tugboat on display after visiting the Maritine Museum last year. Nice to see the Lakers and Salties.😊
She's a beauty.
Just beautiful!!
She’s a special sight for sure! Was excited to see her
The tales.n..sails she tells...just with her graceful glide.
Definitely a ship you can almost see the stories just by looking at her
Thank you . Another ship for me, I have never seen. Old but stately.
Yeah not one that’s often talked about! Definitely deserves more attention
A true workhorse!
You can see every station in her hull with the paint rubbed off and rust taking over. Shes a beautiful old boat though, patches and all
The old girl's still got it. I saw the Saginaw back in 1998 during a family vacation up north, one of her last trips before being laid up. I was 13 years old. She was old THEN. I'm 38 now, and she's still hauling. Awesome! Funny that the kid talking was probably born 50 years after Saginaw, then known as John J Boland, first plied the waters of her trade. Ship is probably older than his dad. She's a real Great Lakes legend 🥰
She’s an old workhorse for sure! The announcer is a she lol, but yeah you’re probably fairly close! (just a really, really old PA system, she sounds completely different in person) Saginaw’s also 45 years older than I am lol
I saw her launching in 1953. She was just back in Manitowoc to deliver barley for beer malt.
You saw her launching? Wow!
@@jonathanellsworth21 Yep, I grew up in Manitowoc, WI so I saw four of the five ore carriers build there. I missed the first one, the John G. Munson which still sails with that name, I lived in Green Bay when that one was launched. Two of the five have been scrapped (Detroit Edison and Adam E. Cornelius) and the last on the Ryerson has been laid up in Superior, WI for a few years.
We were at the Soo last week, and I saw her in the lock headed up. Saw the Alpena while we were there too...
Amazing how the propellers have enough thrust to push such a massive object through the water.
Single, massive propeller actually! You can actually see at times as she makes the turn
What a Grand Lady!
Saw this bad boy down on Zug Island in Detroit maybe two years ago? Awesome ship.
I love the bridge forward ships, they are so much sleeker. As an aside, do ships on the Great Lakes need sacrificial zincs? Or is that only a saltwater thing?
Yes they do look very good! Although I try not to play favorites 😁 never seen a ship I didn’t enjoy on some level!
As for the zinc or an equivalent to it, no idea. Not of lot of technical details like that leak out into public knowledge. Once the Irvin museum ship opens up for the year I can ask there, they might know
If you follow either USS New Jersey ("Battleship New Jersey") or USS Cod, you know that there are several types of cathodic protection materials. Zinc is used for salt water, while aluminum is used for fresh, and a 3rd metal (I forget what) for brackish water like New Jersey is docked. Cod was drydocked in Erie recently, and received aluminum "zincs". New Jersey is in drydock right now, and the curator is presenting wonderful detailed videos about the work, including replacing the old zincs with a different metal. He showed the pattern of the old zincs.
@@SteamCrane As I read what you wrote it came back to me, I'll go check out that video, many thanks!
I love the fantail stern, classic form.
I've spent almost 60 years summering on Georgian Bay and haven't noticed any galvanic corrosion on any boats / motors that i have seen. I believe It's more an issue of dissimilar metals and salt water being a conductor of electricity.
there is another channel 'Vibe with Mike' that films from that same port. You are literally on the same walkway that his channel films on. I recognized that unusual mechanical bridge as well as the nearly water-level walkway with the concrete water barrier. it would be interesting to see you both doing a shared broadcast sometime.
I know Mike very well! There’s a few of us down there, Paul Sinnoca and 1 Long 2 Short as well, plus the DHC webcams. Several others who post on different sites as well. They’re all great guys!
The bridge has an amazing history with several structural changes thru the years. Also has beautiful lighting displays to support different causes. ❤
Majestic !
Great idea with the public announcement while she enters.
I was a deckhand on the John J in 1973
Really? Goodness you must have some stories! Isn’t that the same year the boom collapsed?
Must be a little odd seeing her here!
I love movable bridges. This mammoth lift span and the swing bridge a Ft. Madison, IA are symphonies in design and execution. Long live them both!
-- Oh yeah, the ship is cool, too! .
Great video thanks
Beautiful old ship, just needs a little paint and she'll be looking fine.
Hopefully! Maybe some steel work too!
What an amazing ship
A nice ship
Fantastic Video
Thank you!
The lake freighter MV Saginaw was launched as John J. Boland in 1953, the third vessel to bear that name. John J. Boland was owned and operated by the American Steamship Company and constructed by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
A classic Great Lakes moment.
She might be old and tired and rather bashed about the edges, but you can see how beautiful she was - still is! Who cares if she needs more cosmetic surgery to match that patch?
Battered and scarred but still hauling.
Your bad feeling- chalk it up to that funny patch plate maybe? She's had it for such a long time now that "patched up" is starting to feel like her baseline. Or maybe chalk it up to the fact that the entire LLT fleet is starting to seem like a fleet of ghost ships, with how rough they're looking. To me though, she seems above it all more than anything, gliding in tall and quiet and elegant (stately, as Carole perfectly put it!)- looking rough but sailing smooth.
Yeah that patch has been there awhile and I wish I knew what that was about. I’m not really sure they’re in any worse shape than other fleets, but their light gray paint scheme certainly shows the wear and tear better. If they went with a darker color we probably wouldn’t notice it as much, would probably look closer to what we see on other fleets.
@@jonathanellsworth21 Is there a reason, other than cost, that she hasn't (and others) been painted? It just makes the ships look almost embarrassing and the owners / crews need to take better care of them.
@@Andygarrett357 As she spent time laid up, the ships are just tied up side-by-side without fenders. Just rubbing with water motion. Cost of a repaint, and time involved could be the reason. If another vessel is out of service, a coat of paint is secondary. So long as the hull is solid.
Awesome
Thank you!
How can a radar antenna rotate? The antennas on an aircraft have wave guides for the transmissions but they only oscillate. How can a wave guide transmit the frequencies to a rotating antenna?
Not sure really, not a radar tech, but I know every ship I’ve ever seen has had at least one, most have two or three. Saginaw has two but she only had one going during this arrival. Even the Irvin Museum ship has one and she was retired in the 60s, sometimes they’ll turn it on for the tourists as a demonstration. That was probably installed long before she was retired, not likely they installed it right before putting the ship out of commission. So they’ve been around a very long time, not sure why aircraft couldn’t use them. Could be it just screws with aerodynamics
Beautiful ship! Does anyone anticipate more scrutiny on older ships like this with the Michipicoten incident?
Hard to say at this point, Michipicoten had a rather unique history of hull problems back in the 80s and spent much of the 90s in layup because of them. So she had a known history of issues in that area that cracked. It was all repaired, but you can never really make it like new again. Other vessels don’t have that history. But only time will tell what they decide to do.
@@jonathanellsworth21 Thank you very much for the info! I’m not an expert on these great ships so it’s appreciated.
She has seen some miles. Beautiful Lady…
I hope the owners love her enough to invest in some overdue paint & rust repair.
Classic cars go to car shows. Classic ships go to Duluth ! Tell Them Your From Duluth ! 👊😎👍
Like all the ships that went thru the Locks when I was a kid in the 70s in the Soo!
don't give up the ship!
Could you tell us about this location? The history of the bridge, who does the narration announcements? Is this a private thing or a "tourist" thing? I'm really tempted to dake a drive up there just to experience such a treat. Dallas to Duluth - "a mere bag of shells, Norton!" ...
The Saginaw was just in Manitowoc (its birthplace) last weekend
Oh very cool! I didn’t realize Lakers still went there. I know the Badger sails from there tbough (which sounds like they haven’t sailed this year yet). Guessing salt?
@@jonathanellsworth21 boats still deliver Portland cement, coal for Manitowoc Public Utilities and for the Badger, and barley for Brees Malting (formally an Anheuser Busch owned malting plant). Salt I believe is brought by boat to Green Bay and communities around the area truck it from there
Now this is the way a laker should look! Sleek and graceful. And who dares complain about a little ole patch on a graceful old girl? You have absolutely no cooth. My only complaint is that she has such a beautiful horn, and the bridge answered with it's usual "blatt." Horrible! Absolutely horrible! They've got to do something about that!
Built before the Edmund Fitzgerald amazing. A classic design to ply the Great Lakes.
Why is this vessel rarely seen? It must be doing something every day and being seen somewhere daily.
She usually sticks to smaller ports around the Lake Michigan/Huron area for most of her time. She wasn’t in Duluth at all last year and once in 2022
@@jonathanellsworth21 Aha. Thanks for that.
Riding high!
40 years ago a steamship was a regular visitor, it hauled grain up the seaway to NY I believe. Watched it leave Duluth one sunny day with boiler room vent open and small pile of anthracite coal on the deck. Does this ship still call on Duluth.
The only coal-fired steamship still sailing is the Badger ferry in Lake Michigan, but there are 4 active oil-fired steamships that visit Duluth still. Arthur M Anderson, Philip R Clarke, Wilfred Sykes and Alpena. That ship might be gone, or its engine might have been replaced by a modern one at some point, like this vessel.
Tks
She is cool 👍
She’s a dieing breed of ship like the Anderson and the rest of the tin stackers , the older she gets the better she becomes , nothing is better than the classic ships ,
Best dining room on the Lakes facing aft on the upper fan tail. Between the McKee Sons and the JJB was where American SS /B&C directed most of their guests to ride on. The deck under the pilot house had accomodations for 8 guests. I was on the Richard Reiss and we got passed like we were half ahead going westbound on Lake Erie as we were racing to Marblehead Quarry. Captain Jim VanDongen and Chief Engineer Paul Baker wanted to show off their 8000 SHP steam turbine to our 2800 BHP EMD. Would a coat of paint kill the owners bottom line?
Oh very cool! What year was that if I may ask? As for the paint, I hear painting costs upwards of million dollars per application these days so yeah it would probably dig in a little but she needs it lol
It was June 1992. The JJB had been a bit late coming out of hibernation and still in shake down mode. Normally the extra fuel consumption was excessive.
Probably a shipyard paint job by the time they sand blast the hull would be stupid expensive. There are alternatives such as a winter paint job via rollers rather than spray you just have to be careful to set drops to catch the drips and such. This is beat done while standing on some surrounding ice opposed from work floats.
This ship along with anderson, alphena, Tregurtha and ryerson need to be saved in the future.
Add Lee A Tregurtha to that list and agreed. Canada hasn’t saved any of their lakers, they should look into that lol
@@jonathanellsworth21 done, i forgot she was a converted ww2 freighter.
@@RailPreserver2K 👍🏻 I have a feeling the community might have to start acting on those wishes sooner rather than later if we want to make any of it happen
8200hp 😮would love that in my Celica haha 😜
Lol that would be a heck of a car 😂
Nice Vid!
Thanks!
That is one hell of a band aid.
WoW. The SAGINAW is still running on it's own power. Must be the only of that type ship in service.
Nope! Far from actually, in fact she’s 11 years younger than the oldest cargo ship still sailing the lakes, Alpena. But she’s the only one from that era that still has her original design that hasn’t been extensively modified and changed around. The ships built in 1952 and 1953 have proven incredibly long lived, many from those two years are still around, some of them still look almost new they’re in such good shape!
For an old girl she still looks grand.
A true workhorse.
6 cylinder Mack engine, how big are those cylinders???
What happened to the side? Did it get torpedoed?
Lol, no torpedos 😂 I’m not exactly certain because that patch just sort of appeared there in 2020 without much explanation but I’d guess she scraped the side of a lock too hard and caused a dent or something.
We are repairing ships here in Belfast that are less than 20 years old and inserts in the Hull ,, just old lady proper steel not modern cheap,,repo steel ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ from northern Ireland
Shes a frequent visitor to the Saginaw river. 😎
Were her steam engines scrapped or saved?
No clue honestly
In all probability scrapped, unless there was a secondary market for steam engines and I think by that time they were all but phased out.
That boat has been beaten up by the Soo Locks over the years
I've seen this one in Toledo
Oooh such a sweet face!!!
Her eyes set straight ahead and cute bowtie mouth. She beautiful.
WOW ... At first glance I thought it was the return of the Edmund Fitzgerald 😳
Yep! There’s a few of these older ships still around and kicking! Including the ship that tried to rescue the Fitzgerald, Arthur M Anderson. Saginaw’s 90ft shorter than Fitzgerald was, they served together on the lakes for nearly two decades, probably crossed paths a lot.
Is it a Lake Cruise Ship yet. 😊
Old school style 35 bucks a night. One week out.
Required one hour chores duty on deck & below.
10 Coffees and 5 sandwiches a day. Tuna fish, egg salad, BLT, pulled chicken, and bratwurst in-half.
Settee bed wool army blanket, tiny desk & folding canvas chair, a mini head-shower, and one porthole looking out at the Water.
😁
Lol these ships usually have better accommodations than that 😂 I’ve heard from a few crew members on lakers (granted not this particular vessel) that the food and rooms are often nicer than cruise ships
@@jonathanellsworth21
😲...😃!!
New paint job
She visits Owen Sound regularly.
Probably why she hardly ever comes here lol.
Say is John D Leitch still over there? Lots of rumors flying around here that she’s done for good, but ultimately when you try and dig into it, nobody actually knows anything. The fact that she hasn’t sailed yet this year doesn’t help, and I believe she laid up for winter in that area?
She's as big as a Independence class light fleet carrier.
👍👍👍👍👍 👌
She acquitted herself with dignity and grace. People today are so seldom able to witness dignity or grace. Perhaps, for this reason, it appeared to you as frailty.
Battle-scarred.
That is back when America was America 🇺🇸
It looks like the Saginaw River.
She slips into Owen Sound from time to time.