Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!



Have a great 2008!

The photo above depicts the South American on the Detroit River going past Ford Motor Company Of Canada. The passenger steamer was built in 1914 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan. She spent her career providing regular service to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Mackinac Island, Chicago and Duluth. She retired in 1967 and was to be used as a dormitory and class room for the Union's Lundeburg School of Seamanship but did not pass inspection. The South American was scrapped in 1992. If you would like to learn more about the South American as well as see additional pictures and listen to her whistle blow, please click here.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

South American? You sure, oopik?
I see what appear to me ( and my feeble eyeballs)to be "double windows" on C deck, not portholes. The North had those distinctive windows, the South had the portholes.
At the risk of being banned from further postings on this very interesting and entertaining website, I am going to take exceptions with the wisdom of its creator.
Now I am in trouble! Happy New Year to all (anyway)!!!

January 01, 2008 5:36 PM  
Blogger Ookpik said...

Hi Rock,

You aren’t banned…yet! ;) You are the one who told me about the differences on the C deck – portholes on the South American versus windows on the North American. That piece of information proved to be invaluable when it came to sorting out my ship photos. Upon reading your comments and commencing an exhaustive study of both ships, I stand by my identification. My identification is based on the porthole/window patterns, not the portholes/windows themselves. The North American’s window pattern going toward the stern appears to end like this: double window then an open deck. The South American’s porthole pattern going toward the stern appears to end like this: double porthole and at least one or two single openings of some type before the open deck. Use this link to see an enlarged view of the photo: http://tinyurl.com/2p4kfr

I used the photos at the Bowling Green site to make the determination. Phew! That is a whole lot of thinking for the first day of the year! I would never ban you Rock, you have identified 98% of the ships! Oh, by the way, Happy New Year! :)

January 01, 2008 8:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great research job, ookpik. And Bowling Green is a valuable tool. I remember when they got started.
But I'm am not throwing in the towel yet.

January 02, 2008 6:41 PM  
Blogger Ookpik said...

Hi Rock,

The pictures associated with the following links will prove my case beyond a reasonable doubt. ;)

The first link is to the picture in question:

http://tinyurl.com/2p4kfr

The second link is to an enlarged picture showing the stern of the North American:

http://tinyurl.com/2xsplh

The third link is to an enlarged picture showing the stern of the South American:

http://tinyurl.com/ysbdlj

Clearly, the photo in question is that of the South American. I rest my case. :)

Seriously though Rock, I’m glad you questioned the photo. It allowed me to critically examine the differences between the two ships. Until I started this site, if someone had mentioned the North American or South American, I would have thought they were talking about the indigenous people of a particular continent! :)

January 02, 2008 8:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your research is very thorough. You have rested your case, and I have granted you a directed verdict. No costs to either party as there is a public policy question involved.
Next case.

the rock, judge

January 03, 2008 2:20 PM  
Blogger Ookpik said...

Hi Rock,

I think it took me longer to figure out what you said than it did for me to find discernable differences between the North and South American. :)

January 03, 2008 4:38 PM  

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