The Museum Ship William A. Irvin – Fall 1986
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The Great Lakes… 84% of the continent’s fresh water… a different story in every drop.
By Alan W. Sweigert
Cargo hatch crane in a fixed position at mid-ship. Image courtesy of the WILLIAM A. IRVIN Museum.
The port of Duluth has a new museum that has been playing to rave reviews. “Tidal Wave of Visitors Swamp Ship” was the headline of the July 13 edition of the Duluth News-Tribune and Herald.
“In the first two weeks that the S.S. William A. Irvin has been opened to the public, 10,000 people have toured her, often waiting in long lines. Five to six hundred are coming aboard during an average weekday, with attendance increasing to 1,000 on weekends.”
Officers dining room prepped for dinner. Image courtesy of the WILLIAM A. IRVIN Museum.
The Irvin, Hull No. 311, is a 1938 product of American Shipbuilding Company’s Lorain, Ohio, yard. Unique features of this vessel include a direct geared steam turbine, one of the first applications of this type of propulsion system on a Great Lakes bulk carrier, and four luxurious mahogany paneled staterooms located under the pilothouse. She is the namesake of a U.S. Steel president, and was their flagship in her early years. She spent her entire career with U. S. Steel from 1938 to her final layup at Duluth on December 11, 1978. There she waited for sailing orders that never came, becoming obsolete along with her 600-foot-straight-decker fleetmates with the advent of larger self unloading vessels. The scrap yard is the usual fate of these vessels, the
$110,000 selling price represented her salvage value. For this price, Duluth received a sound and complete freighter, including even a portrait of her namesake.
To this was added $210,000 for her refurbishing and dry docking at Frazer Shipyard. On Tuesday, June 17, 1986, the William A. Irvin made her final voyage under tow from Superior to a berth behind the Duluth Arena- Auditorium. A support group, the Friends of the William A. Irvin has been formed for further restoration and for guided tours. Most likely you will be guided by a former crew member of the William A. Irvin.
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