The Type L6 ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

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 ...

dry break bulk

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

. The L-Type Great Lakes Dry Bulk Cargo Ships were built in 1943 to carry much-needed iron ore from the upper Great Lakes to the steel and iron production facilities on Lakes Erie and Ontario in support of the war effort. The ships have a 15,675 tonne

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provi ...

. The L6 ships were built by two companies:

American Ship Building 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 ...

, in the case of the type L6-S-A1 models, of which 6 were built; and

Great Lakes Engineering Works The Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW) was a leading shipbuilding company with a shipyard in Ecorse, Michigan, that operated between 1902 and 1960. Within three years of its formation, it was building fifty percent of the tonnage of all ships ...

Ashtabula, Ohio Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the United States micropolitan area, Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, nort ...

/ Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Ohio, in the case of the type L6-S-B1, which produced 10 ships. Steel supply needed for World War was great. To supply

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

to steel foundries, the United States Commission had a series of L6 Lakers ship built. The Maritime Commission ordered ten Great Lakes Bulk Carriers of the L6-S-B1 type. The L6-S-B1 was design with a 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines. The L6-S-A1 used a lentz 4-cylinder compound engine. All L6 ships were

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

burning and delivered between May and November 1943. L6-S-B1 was built for the US Maritime Commission under USMC contract MCc-1834 in 1943 at the River Rouge yard. Each L6 ship cost $2.265 million. The first L6-S-B1 was the SS ''Adirondack/Richard J. Reiss'', hull 290, keel was laid on March 9, 1942 and launched on September 19, 1942. The ships are often called the Class Lake Bulk Freighter now.

Specifications

*Dimensions: 620 feet *Beam 60 feet *GRT 9057 *NRT 6793 *Dwt 15,800 *Two coal-fired water tube boilers. *L6-S-A1 type had Lenz 4 cylinder compound steam engine *L6-S-B1 type had a 2,500 shp, 3 cylinder triple expansion steam engine

Ships in Class

*L6-S-A1 ''Maritimer class'' **''Thomas Wilson'' Hull #826 USMC #565, Sank in Sank 1987. **''Sewell Avery'' Hull #827 USMC #566 Used as a dock at Sault Ste Marie,Ont. 1987 **''J. Burton Ayers'', renamed ''Cuyahoga'' Hull#828 USMC #567 Converted Diesel 3,084 bhp in 1999 **''E. G. Grace'', renamed ''Lincolnshire'' Hull #829 USMC #568, Scrapped 1984 at Port Colborne Ont. **''Belle Isle'', renamed ''Champlain'' Hull #1009 USMC #569 Scrapped in Turkey October 1987 **''John T. Hutchinson'' Hull #1010 USMC #570 Scrapped in Taiwan Oct 2, 1988 ** *L6-S-B1 ''Maritimer class'' **''Adirondack'', renamed ''Richard J. Reiss'', then ''Manistee'' Hull #290 USMC #579 Converted to 2,950 horsepower diesel engine in 1976 **''Lake Angelina'', renamed ''Cadillac'' Hull #291 USMC #580 Scrap in 1962 at Hamilton Ont. **''Hill Annex'' , renamed ''George A. Sloan'' then ''Mississagi'' Hull #292 USMC #581 Converted in 1984 to 4,500 bhp 12-cylinder diesel engine. Sent for scrap in 2021 **''Pilot Knob'', renamed ''Frank Armstrong'' Hull #522 USMC #582 Scrapped in Turkey 1988. **''Clarence B. Randall'' Hull #523 USMC #583 Scrapped in Taiwan Oct 2, 1988 **''McIntyre'', renamed ''Frank Purnell'' Hull #293 USMC #584 Used as barge, now laid up on the Calumet River. **''Robert C. Stanley'' Hull #294 USMC # 585 Scrapped in Turkey May,1989. **' "Lehigh," renamed "Joseph X. Robert," then "Willowglen," scrapped in 2006.

Active

Ship still active on the lakes: *''Cuyahoga'' (former: J. Burton Ayers), New diesel engine install in 2000.

Notable incidents

*SS ''Thomas Wilson'' After worked on the Lakes from 1943 to 1987. She was sold for scrap to Corostel Trading Co. of

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, Que. Canada in September 1987. Tugs were towing her to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

for scrapping. On December 21, 1987 they hit a storm in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and the towline broke. The ''Thomas Wilson'' sank 250 miles northeast of

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, sank near 34 08'N by 61 35'12"W. * SS ''Sewell Avery'' was sold 1986 to A. B. McLean Ltd., she was sunk in May 1987 to be used as part of a

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.greatlakesvesselhistory.com, SS "Sewell Avery"
/ref> *J. Burton Ayers grounded at Stoneport, MI resulting on September 10, 1980, with much bottom damage, she was repaired. She was also grounded in the Detroit River, near the Renaissance Center, on May 8, 1981; she was released by three tugs.

References

{{Subject bar , portal1=World War II , portal2=Transport Merchant ships of the United States World War II merchant ships of the United States Ship types Container ship classes Ship classes +

Specifications

Ships in Class

Active

Notable incidents

See also

References