''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 naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

built in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

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 spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

and

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

. 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 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 is also u ...

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 ster ...

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 *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

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 the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

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 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 chan ...

with the

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

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

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

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 chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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 Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

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 a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

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

double bottom A double hull is a ship 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 which is some di ...

tanks and damaging three others. The vessel sailed to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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, suc ...

s to get the ship to dock after losing power on

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair () 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 they first saw the lake. ...

. 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 System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

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

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

'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 Door County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the bay of Sturgeon Bay for which it is named, it is the most populous city o ...

. 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 ( ) 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 also has the shortest avera ...

. 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 Lock (water navigation), locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between ...

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 Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

and tugboats for fear of the ship sinking. The ship returned to service in 1999. She was laid up in

in 2012–2014 and in

Huron, Ohio Huron is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, located at the mouth of the Huron River on Lake Erie. The population was 6,922 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Sandusky micropolitan area. History Huron Township was at the center of ...

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

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

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 Road salt (also known as de-icing salt, rock salt, or snow salt) is a salt used mainly as an anti-slip agent in winter road conditions, but also to prevent dust and snow build-up on roads. Various kinds of salts are used as road salt, but calciu ...

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 Great Lakes freighters 1973 ships Algoma Central Marine Ships built in Toledo, Ohio

Design and description

Construction and career

See also

Notes

Citations

References