Friday, January 11, 2008

Algosteel (1)



Who am I?

Thanks to The Rock for providing clues that led to the ship being identified as the Algosteel (1). The ship was named the Thomas Barlum when it was launched in 1907. In 1935, the ship became part of the Algoma Central & Hudson Bay Railroad Company fleet and was renamed the Algosteel. During a 1967 inspection, the vessel was found to be in need of repair. The repair was deemed to be too costly and the ship was sunk as a breakwater at Burns Harbor, Indiana. If you would like to see a color photo of the Algosteel (1) taken by William Lafferty in 1962, please click here.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The stack marking would indicate one of the old Algoma Central boats, and furthur evidenced by the circular logo on her hull below the pilot house. The Algoma's black bear logo is still displayed on their vessels today. So your choices include Algocen, Algoway, Algorail, Algosoo even Godreau from the late 40's.
But the name also appears on the hull by the stern cabins and the markings seem "longer" than any of these names.
The plot thickens.

January 12, 2008 8:23 AM  
Blogger Ookpik said...

Hi Rock,

Thanks for the information! Your clues led me to a similar conclusion. I came up with the ALGOSTEEL (1). ALGOSTEEL appears to be a perfect match to the letters on the hull. What do you think?

January 12, 2008 11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of the old Algo boats, the Steel has the longest name and she had her stern mast located behind the funnel, so I'd say ALGOSTEEL(1) works!
I used to climb aboard those old Algoma Central boats when they tied up for the winter in Goderich Ontario. Pat Labadie, formerly of the Dossin Museum ,and I brought back the name board from the Algocen one year before she was to be scrapped. Climbed up and unscrewed it from atop the pilothouse on a cold Canadian winter day. The board is now hanging from the ceiling in the Dossin.
I have a tough time thinking we could get through Customs today with that nameboard in our trunk. We would probably end up in the slammer.

January 12, 2008 3:17 PM  

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