SS Alabama
Encyclopedia
Construction
Alabama was built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding CompanyManitowoc Shipbuilding Company
Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was a major shipbuilder for the Great Lakes. It was founded in 1902, and made mainly steel ferries and ore haulers. During World War II, it built submarines, tank landing craft , and self-propelled fuel barges called "YOs". Employment...
at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...
in 1909.
She was 275 ft (83.8 m) in length, had a 46 ft (14 m), 6 in (15.2 cm) beam, and drew 17 in 1 in (5.21 m) She was equipped with a 2,200 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
quadruple expansion steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
and a three coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-burning Scotch marine boiler
Scotch marine boiler
A "Scotch" marine boiler is a design of steam boiler best known for its used on ships.The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler shell. Above this is a large number of small-diameter fire-tubes...
s.
Owners
Alabamas first owner was the Goodrich Transit Company.After Goodrich Transit went bankrupt in 1933 she joined the Chicago, Duluth and Georgian Bay Transit Company
Georgian Bay Line
The Georgian Bay Line is the popular name of the Chicago, Duluth and Georgian Bay Transit Company. From 1913 until 1967, the Georgian Bay Line provided transit service and cruise voyages to passengers on North America's Great Lakes.-Formation:...
, which also owned the SS North American
SS North American
SS North American was a Great Lakes steamboat built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan in 1913 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company...
and SS South American
SS South American
SS South American was a Great Lakes steamboat built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan. It was built in 1913 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company. The vessel was launched on February 21, 1914 and was the newer of two sister ships, the older one being the SS...
.
In 1946, the Georgian Bay Line sold Alabama for conversion to barge service. She was moved to Detroit's Rouge River
River Rouge (Michigan)
The River Rouge, also known as the Rouge River, is a river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. It flows into the Detroit River at Zug Island, which is the boundary between the cities of River Rouge and Detroit....
where her passenger cabins were removed and her hull renovated for use as a cargo barge to haul scrap metal.
Purchased in 2005 by Dean Construction, she was towed to LaSalle, Ontario
LaSalle, Ontario
LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, on the Detroit River. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor and part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and is located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement area in Southwestern Ontario,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that October. It was later scapped.