The Lee A Tregurtha On The Detroit River

Title

The Lee A Tregurtha On The Detroit River

Artist

Gales Of November

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

In the early days of World War II Bethlehem Steel began construction of the tanker Mobiloil. At her launch in June 1942 she was renamed Samoset. In December of the same year, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy who renamed her U.S.S. Chiwawa. The U.S. Navy chose the name of its tankers from the Native American names for rivers and lakes. She had a length of 501 feet and a beam of 68 feet.

She was assigned to convoy UGS-6 bound for Casablanca. The Chiwawa�s main duties were refueling the destroyers that escorted convoy. The convoy was attacked by 17 U-boats which resulted in the sinking of 4 ships. The Chiwawa was awarded a battle star for this engagement. She returned to America assigned to convoy GUS-6. She continued to service ships and convoys for most of 1943 and 1944, during which time she earned a second battle star.

She was transferred to the Pacific Fleet after a refit. She was based in in Okinawa for several months before returning to the States. For this, she earned the �Navy Occupation Service Medal-Asia.� In 1946 she was decommissioned.

In her service to the U.S. Navy, she travelled roughly 164,000 miles and carried nearly about 2.8 million barrels of cargo.

In 1947 she was purchased by Cities Service Oil Company and worked the eastern seaboard and Caribbean.

In 1961 Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company purchased her for conversion to a Great Lakes ore carrier. A new midsection was built in Germany and towed to Lorain, Ohio. This brought the ship�s length to 730 feet with a beam of 75 feet. The center section of the Chiwawa was scrapped and the new midsection mated to the bow and stern sections. In May of that year she was rechristened Walter A. Sterling, named after the president of Cleveland-Cliffs.

In 1966 a bow thruster was added. The following year improvements were made to her boiler controls. Then in 1976 another 96 feet were added to her, again in Lorain. This made her the largest steam powered vessel on the Great Lakes. A self-unloading system was added in 1978 and in 1982 a stern thruster was added.

In 1983 she collided with an unidentified obstruction which punctured the hull. Eighteen feet of water found its way into the ship and she was intentionally beached to prevent sinking. After unloading a portion of her cargo to another ship, she finished her trip, and then proceeded to Lorain for repairs. The 280 foot gash was repaired.

At the end of the 1984 shipping season the Sterling was sold to Ford Motor Company�s Rouge Steel division and renamed William Clay Ford. Rouge steel upgraded her electrical and boiler systems. Rouge Steel decided to end its marine division in 1989 and sold its fleet to Lakes Shipping Company which was a part of Interlake Steamship Company. Part of the sale included a long term contract to carry materials for Rouge Steel and the Rouge Plant.

The ship was renamed Lee A. Tregurtha after the wife and owner of Interlake Steamship Company.

In 2006 her steam engine was replaced with a new diesel setup.

The Lee A. Tregurtha is 826 feet long, has a beam of 75 feet and is capable of carrying over 29,000 tons of cargo.

Here, the Lee A. Tregurtha turns in the Detroit River to head up the Rouge River.

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July 5th, 2022

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