Sailing into History: Great Lakes Bulk Carriers of the Twentieth Century and the Crews Who Sailed Them

by Frank Boles

Overview

The Great Lakes create a vast transportation network that supports a massive shipping industry. In this volume, seamanship, cargo, competition, cooperation, technology, engineering, business, unions, government decisions, and international agreements all come together to create a story of unrivaled interest about the Great Lakes ships and the crews that sailed them in the twentieth century. This complex and multifaceted tale begins in iron and coal mines, with the movement of the raw ingredients of industrial America across docks into ever larger ships using increasingly complicated tools and technology. The shipping industry was an expensive challenge, as it required huge investments of capital, caused bitter labor disputes, and needed direct government intervention to literally remake the lakes to accommodate the ships. It also demanded one of the most integrated international systems of regulation and navigation in the world to sail a ship from Duluth to upstate New York. Sailing into History describes the fascinating history of a century of achievements and setbacks, unimagined change mixed with surprising stability.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611862232
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2017
Edition description:	1
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Frank Boles has been involved in preserving and documenting Michigan history for more than forty years. From 1991 until 2021, he served as the director of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University. Prior to coming to the Clarke Historical Library, Frank worked at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. In 2017, he published Sailing into History: Great Lakes Bulk Carriers of the Twentieth Century and the Crews Who Sailed Them, which was named a Michigan Notable Book by the Library of Michigan in 2018.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Chapter 1 Remaking the Lakes to Move the Cargo 1

Chapter 2 The Crew 13

Chapter 3 The Ships 53

Chapter 4 Changes Aboard 79

Chapter 5 Loading and Unloading 105

Chapter 6 Ashore 127

Notes 161

Bibliography 201

Index 215

Editorial Reviews

This volume is a good read for those who know about Great Lakes shipping, and an easily accessible work for those who don’t. It’s well organized and covers a lot of material in an economical, yet coherent, way. Put it this way: I read—and dismiss—a lot of books on the topic of Great Lakes ships and shipping, but this one is a keeper.”
—Roger Lelievre, editor/publisher at Know Your Ships
 


"This book makes a substantial contribution to the field of Great Lakes maritime history. The author successfully blends a wide array of factors into a complete story, including modifications to the travel routes, gradual increases in ship sizes and carrying capacities, changes in the nature of the crew makeup, port loading and unloading operations, and technological advancements such as radio’s impact on navigation. While there have been a substantial number of works about nineteenth-century ships and their cargoes and crews, the author does the audience a great service in bringing out and synthesizing what has happened on the lakes in the last century to tell the significant stories that affected the industry."
—Scott M. Peters, curator of collections, Michigan Historical Museum
 

From the Publisher