1901 Frank T. Heffelfinger 1946
Steel Great Lakes bulk freighter
Built at Chicago IL by Chicago Shipbuilding Co., Hull 49
Launched Aug 24, 1901
450’ LOA, 430’ LBP, 50’ beam, 28’6” depth
1 deck, hold beams, hatches @ 24’, coal-fired boilers, quadruple expansion engine, 1700 IHP
Enrolled at Duluth MN Oct 1, 1901 (#13)
430.0 x 50.2 x 24.5, 4897 GT, 3630 NT US 121205 to:
Peavey Steamship Co., Duluth MN, A. B. Wolvin, Mgr. (home port Duluth MN)
First enrollment showed name as F. T. Heffelfinger and depth as 24.0. Corrected by reenrollment Oct 10, 1901 (#14)
Fleet management transferred 1912 to G. A. Tomlinson, Duluth MN
Fleet sold Feb 18, 1916 to Reiss Steamship Co., Sheboygan WI
Renamed Clemens A. Reiss (1) 1917
Cargo hold rebuilt 1919 to arch construction at Sheboygan WI
Remeasured to 437.5 length and 4463 GT, 3513 NT
Home port to Fairport OH 1920
Side tanks rebuilt 1923
Remeasured to 4378 GT, 3367 NT
Home port to Duluth MN 1925
Home port to Wilmington DE 1928
Renamed Superior (4) 1959
Sold for scrap 1961 to Luria Brothers. Resold to German shipbreakers. Towed from Toledo OH to Detroit MI May 31, where she was loaded with scrap, then towed to Rotterdam, Neth., arriving July 21,where the scrap was unloaded. The tow arrived at Hamburg, Germ. Aug 1, 1961.
0117
I have many photographs of this ship and crew from around 1908 to 1912 if the manager of this website interested. Some are hauntingly beautiful iced up photos taken in Duluth. My grandfather was master at approximately that time and later master of the SS Augustus B. Wolvin after Interlake Steamship Co was formed. His name was Captain John Tower. He was on the Lakes from 1890s to 1932 and with ISC from 1913 to 1932
My grandfather, Captain John Tower, 1862-1935 was the Master of this ship in 1906 and probably a a couple of years before and after that date. After 1913 he was master of the A.B.Wolvin (after the formation of the Interlake Steamship Company0 through around 1929. I have numerous photos taken of both ships and the crew members during that time, some of them astonishingly beautiful. I will share copes with descendants of crew members. I also have a silver plate tea service given to Captain Tower by the crew of the Heffelfinger inscribed as a wedding gift in 1906.
I have a brass belt buckle of this ship I got at an estate sale.