Steamship Valley Camp
Encyclopedia
The SS Valley Camp is a freighter boat
that served on the Great Lakes
for almost 50 years and is currently serving as a museum ship in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
.
, in 1917 as the Louis W. Hill for the National Steel Corporation
. She sailed for this company for 38 years hauling iron ore and coal until 1955 when she was sold to the Wilson Marine Transit Company. It was in this fleet that she received her current name. For this company she carried a wider array of bulk goods including grains and stone. The Valley Camp was a member of the Wilson Fleet only until 1959 when the Republic Steel Corporation bought her and several of her Wilson fleetmates, including her identical sister the Silver Bay (formerly the Albert Heiken of National Steel). Republic kept the Valley Camp's name, and for that company she hauled iron ore and coal to their mills in Buffalo, New York
; Cleveland, Ohio
; and Indiana Harbor, Indiana. In 1967, the Valley Camp sailed her last. Her age was not an issue at this time, it was her triple expansion engine that was still being fed by coal burning boilers that doomed her to an early retirement.
Purchased by Le Sault de Sainte Marie Historical Sites, Inc., for $10,000, the ship was towed from Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie on July 6, 1968, during Sault Ste. Marie's tri-centennial celebration. As a museum ship, the Valley Camp is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Visitors have the opportunity to explore and look in every nook and cranny of the ship. In addition, the cargo hold houses hundreds of artifacts, paintings, shipwreck items, models, two lifeboats from the wreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and exhibits of objects related to maritime history.
Lake freighter
Lake freighters, or Lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that ply the Great Lakes. The best known was the , the most recent and largest major vessel to be wrecked on the Lakes. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. In the mid-20th century, 300 lakers worked the...
that served on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
for almost 50 years and is currently serving as a museum ship in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the north-eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River...
.
History
The Valley Camp was launched in Lorain, OhioLorain, Ohio
Lorain is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland....
, in 1917 as the Louis W. Hill for the National Steel Corporation
National Steel Corporation
The National Steel Corporation was a major American steel producer. It was founded in 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with some properties of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation and M.A. Hanna Company. Despite a difficult market in Depression-setting 1930, the company reported USD...
. She sailed for this company for 38 years hauling iron ore and coal until 1955 when she was sold to the Wilson Marine Transit Company. It was in this fleet that she received her current name. For this company she carried a wider array of bulk goods including grains and stone. The Valley Camp was a member of the Wilson Fleet only until 1959 when the Republic Steel Corporation bought her and several of her Wilson fleetmates, including her identical sister the Silver Bay (formerly the Albert Heiken of National Steel). Republic kept the Valley Camp
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
; Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
; and Indiana Harbor, Indiana. In 1967, the Valley Camp sailed her last. Her age was not an issue at this time, it was her triple expansion engine that was still being fed by coal burning boilers that doomed her to an early retirement.
Purchased by Le Sault de Sainte Marie Historical Sites, Inc., for $10,000, the ship was towed from Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie on July 6, 1968, during Sault Ste. Marie's tri-centennial celebration. As a museum ship, the Valley Camp is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Visitors have the opportunity to explore and look in every nook and cranny of the ship. In addition, the cargo hold houses hundreds of artifacts, paintings, shipwreck items, models, two lifeboats from the wreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and exhibits of objects related to maritime history.
The ship
The Valley Camp stretches 550 feet (167.6 m) overall with a 525 feet (160 m) keel. Other dimensions of the ship include a beam of 58 feet (17.7 m) and a depth of 31 feet (9.4 m). Her gross tonnage capacity is 12,000 gross tons. The ship was powered by a 1800 hp triple expansion reciprocating steam engine which she retains to this day. Never the flagship of the fleet, her quarters were spartan yet comfortable. The crews quarters are lined by wood trim and equipped with simple bunks. The wheelhouse is lined with wood and trimmed by brass. Her original steering wheel is in place. In the stern, her original smokestack, including her double chime whistle are still in place. Almost unmodified from her original configuration, she is the most intact example of the classic Great Lakes ore carriers that once numbered in the hundreds and few of which survive to this day.External links
- Historical Collections of the Great Lakes-http://digin.bgsu.edu/cgi-win/xvsl.exe
- Museum Ship Valley Camp-http://www.saulthistoricsites.com/