1942                                 Benjamin F. Fairless                                              1988

Steel Great Lakes bulk freighter

Built at Lorain OH by American Ship Building Co., Hull 824
Launched April 25, 1942
With Leon Fraser, Enders M. Voorhees, A. H. Ferbert and Irving S. Olds longest vessel on the Great Lakes (until Wilfred Sykes of 1950 – superseded Carl D. Bradley of 1927)

639’6” LOA, 623’3” LBP, 67’ beam, 35’ depth
1 deck, arch cargo hold construction, hatches @ 24’, coal-fired boilers, steam turbine engine, 4000 SHP

Enrolled at Cleveland OH Sept 15, 1942 (Temp #2)
622.6 x 67.2 x 30.3, 10294 GT, 6439 NT     US 242260     to:
Pittsburgh Steamship Co., Cleveland OH (home port Duluth MN)

Entered service Sept 15, 1942 clearing Lorain OH light for Duluth MN

Permanent enrollment at Duluth MN Sept 18, 1942 (#10)

Fleet reincorporated 1949 in Delaware (home port to Wilmington DE)

Fleet merged July 1951 into parent United States Steel Corporation (home port to New York NY)

Fleet renamed United States Steel Great Lakes Fleet 1967 (home port to Wilmington DE)

Boilers converted to oil firing 1973 at Bay City MI by Defoe Shipbuilding Co.

Fleet made a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation 1981, renamed USS Great Lakes Fleet Inc., Duluth MN (home port to Duluth MN)

Laid up Oct 4, 1982 at Duluth MN and did not operate again

Sold for scrap 1988 to Marine Salvage Ltd., Port Colborne ON.  Resold to Taiwan shipbreakers. 

Cleared Quebec QC July 9, 1988 with str. Irving S. Olds towed by German tug Osa Ravensturm.  Tow arrived Kaohsiung Taiwan Nov 8, 1988.

IMO 5041279

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See history in Scanner May 1990 (#183)

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