''Algoma Compass'', formerly ''Roger M. Kyes'' and ''Adam E. Cornelius'', is a self-unloading

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

built in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

in 1973 for the

American Steamship Company The American Steamship Company (ASC) is an American transportation company that operates a fleet of self-unloading vessels in the Great Lakes. The company is currently owned by Rand Logistics Inc. History The American Steamship Company was fo ...

. The bulk carrier carried bulk cargoes throughout the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

. The vessel has earned a reputation as a ''"hard luck"'' ship, experiencing mechanical failures and groundings. In 2018, the ship was acquired by

Algoma Central The Algoma Central Corporation is the result of a reorganization of the Algoma Central Railway in 1990. The company claims assets in excess of $400 million and revenue of $280 million. Corporate headquarters is located in St. Catharines, Ontario, ...

and put in service as ''Algoma Compass''.

Design and description

A self-discharging

, ''Algoma Compass'' initially measured and . The ship was later remeasured, though the sources disagree on the totals, at or at midsummer draught. The deadweight tonnage increased to 29,127. The ship is

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . The vessel has a midsummer draught of . ''Algoma Compass'' is powered by two General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) type 20-645-E78 two-stroke cycle, single acting V-20 cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s through single reduction gears to a single controllable pitch propeller turning one propeller. The vessel is also equipped with stern and bow thrusters. Sources disagree on the vessel's maximum speed, quoting and . The bulk carrier has four

holds A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions: :1. Enters the game in a save (baseball), save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply: :: (a) He appears i ...

and 20 hatches serviced by a single belt gravity system feeding a stern-mounted incline belt elevator. They supply a boom capable of luffing 18 degrees and operating 90 degrees to either port or stern. ''Algoma Compass'' has a discharge rate of per hour.

Construction and career

The ship was ordered from the

American Shipbuilding Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the World War II, Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed ...

with the

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

200. The ship was launched on March 28, 1973, named ''Roger M. Kyes''. The vessel was named after

Roger M. Kyes Roger Martin Kyes (March 6, 1906 – February 14, 1971), born Rogers Martin Kyes, was a General Motors executive who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1953 during the Eisenhower administration. Background Roger Martin Kyes ...

, a former executive with

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and former

United States Deputy Secretary of Defense The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the se ...

, who served from 1969–1970 as the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

. The ship was sponsored by his wife and marked the first ship to be constructed in Toledo since 1959. ''Roger M. Kyes'' was completed on August 1, 1973, registered in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

for the American Steamship Company and placed in service, transporting bulk cargoes of items such as iron ore pellets throughout the

and St. Lawerence Seaway. In 1975/76, the bow was ice-strengthened. On September 22, 1976 while in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

's harbour ''Roger M. Kyes'' struck bottom tearing holes in two

double bottom A double hull is a ship Hull (watercraft), hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull ...

tanks and damaging three others. The vessel sailed to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

arriving on September 27 for repairs. On September 7, 1978, the bulk carrier required the aid of

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s to get the ship to dock after losing power on

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...

. While sailing up the Rouge River, ''Roger M. Kyes''s radio mast struck the

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

freeway bridge over the river on July 24, 1983. On August 23, the ship ran aground in the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

's Trenton Channel. The vessel's cargo was lightered and ''Roger M. Kyes'' was freed with the aid of ten tugboats, being taken for repair at

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 Census. The city is well-known regionally for being the largest city of the Door Peninsula, after which the county is na ...

. The ship returned to service the following year. On October 27, 1987, ''Roger M. Kyes'' ran aground again, this time on Gull Island Shoal in

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. The ship's cargo was lightered again and ''Roger M. Kyes'' was able to free herself on October 30. Sent for repair again, in June 1989, she was renamed ''Adam E. Cornelius'', after Adam Edward Cornelius, one of the co-founders of the American Steamship Company, after an older ship named after him was sold. She was the fourth vessel to be named after Cornelius. From 1994 to 1998, ''Adam E. Cornelius'' was chartered to Inland Steel. The vessel ran aground again on July 14, 1994 near the

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lowe ...

in the St. Marys River. Her cargo was lightered again and after being freed, completed the unloading of her cargo before sailing for Sturgeon Bay for further repairs. In March 1996 and January 1997 ''Adam E. Cornelius'' suffered ice damage while operating on the Great Lakes, the latter incident forcing the ship to be escorted to Sturgeon Bay for repairs by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

and tugboats for fear of the ship sinking. The ship returned to service in 1999. Algoma Compass Detroit River (June 2021)

Algoma Compass and the Rosaire A Desgagnes in the Detroit River

She was laid up in

in 2012–2014 and in

Huron, Ohio Huron is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,149 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Huron Township surrounds the City of Huron. History and culture Huron Townshi ...

in 2015. In late 2017 she was sold to the Algoma Central Corp., registered in

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontari ...

and renamed ''Algoma Compass'' in 2018. She returned to service in May 2018 after being laid up for nearly two-and-a-half years. In Algoma service, the ship primarily services the

road salt Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35.45 g ...

and construction material markets.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{cite web , url=https://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/AlgomaCompass.htm , title=Algoma Compass , work=Boatnerd , last=Wharton , first=George , access-date=July 3, 2021 , url-status=live Great Lakes freighters 1973 ships Algoma Central Marine Ships built in Toledo, Ohio

Design and description

Construction and career

See also

Notes

Citations

References