Re: WW2 trade-in tonnage

From: Russ
Location: Las Vegas
Email: COGIT8R@aol.com
Remote Name: 198.81.26.10
Date: 07/28/04
Time: 07:35:56 PM

Comments

The U.S. maritime Commission designed a program to upgrade and increase the capacity of U.S. Great lakes fleets during WWII. This program required the fleets to turn in existing or obsolete vessels with a tonnage equal to that of the new boat plus cash. The existing boats were then chartered back to the company for the duration of the war. Nine Great Lakes fleets participated in the program and turned in 36 older boats for the 16 Maritimers. Bethlehem turned in the Johnstown (1), Saucon, and Cornwall for the Steelton and Lehigh; Cliffs traded in the Chacornac, Colonel, Munising, Negaunee, and Yosemite for the Champlain and Cadillac; Interlake traded in the Cetus, Corvus, Cygnus, Pegasus, Saturn, Taurus, and Vega for the Frank Armstrong, Frank Purnell, and E. G. Grace; Pioneer traded in the Amazon and S. B. Coolidge for the Clarence B. Randall; Buckeye traded in the Alexander McDougall, Mariposa, and Maritana for the John T. Hutchinson; Pittsburgh traded in the Clarence A. Black, Robert Fulton, Pentecost Mitchell, Queen City, Rensselaer, Herman C. Strom, and Zenith City for the Sewell Avery, George A. Sloan, and Robert C. Stanley; and Wilson traded the Captain Thomas Wilson and A. W. Osborne for the Thomas Wilson. After the war, most of the older boats were laid up in Erie Bay. Cliffs ran sime boats until at least 1949 and I believe some operated until the early 1950's.