SS ''Arthur M. Anderson'' is an American

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Freighters typically have a long, narrow hull, a raised pilothouse, and the ...

. She is famous for being the last ship to be in contact with before she sank on November 10, 1975. ''Arthur M. Anderson'' was also the first rescue ship on the scene in a vain search for ''Edmund Fitzgerald'''s survivors. The vessel's namesake, Arthur Marvin Anderson, was director of

U.S. Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

, a member of its finance committee and vice chairman of J.P. Morgan & Co. at the time. The ship was launched in 1952 and is still in active service.

History

''Arthur M. Anderson'' came out of the drydock of the

American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio, in 1898. It changed its name t ...

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

in 1952. She had a length of , 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 ...

, a depth, and a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

of roughly 20,000 tons. She was second of eight of the AAA class of

s; the others being, in order, SS ''Philip R. Clarke'', SS ''Cason J. Callaway'', SS ''Reserve'', SS ''J.L. Mauthe'', SS ''Armco'', SS ''Edward B. Greene'', and ''

SS William Clay Ford SS ''William Clay Ford'' was a lake freighter, bulk freighter built for hauling material on the Great Lakes. She was named for William Clay Ford Sr., grandson of Henry Ford. Her keel was laid in 1952 at River Rouge, Michigan by the Great Lakes ...

''. ''Arthur M. Anderson'', along with ''Philip R. Clarke'' and ''Cason J. Callaway'', were built for the Pittsburgh Steamship Division of

. ''Arthur M. Anderson''s

sea trials A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on o ...

commenced on August 7, 1952, and she loaded her first cargo at the Two Harbors dock on August 12, 1952. She received several refits in her life including the addition of a new midsection in 1975 which added about 6,000 tons to her gross tonnage, bringing the total to about 26,000 tons. During the Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, she was operating in close company with and reported her loss to 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 ...

. In 1981, she received a self-unloading boom which improved her cargo loading and unloading. She is unique among the three Great Lakes Fleet steamships in that she has a softer midsection that prohibits loading as much cargo as the others; roughly 1500 tons less. In February 2015 ''Arthur M. Anderson'' became stuck and stranded in several feet of ice 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 ...

near Conneaut Harbor, Ohio. ''Arthur M. Anderson'' was freed from the ice on February 21, 2015, after five days with the help of the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

vessel . was slated to escort ''Arthur M. Anderson'' to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. had also become stranded while attempting to free the ship from the up to thick ice. ''Arthur M. Anderson'' was put on long-term lay-up in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

on January 15, 2017, at the end of the 2016 shipping season. In April 2019, she was transferred to the nearby

Fraser Shipyards Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

for a five-year survey and refitting to prepare for her return to service. The vessel returned to service on July 25, 2019.

Notes

References

External links

AIS Tracking of SS ''Arthur M. Anderson'' via marinetraffic.com

sailwx.info: ''Arthur M Anderson'' current position and weather
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur M. Anderson Great Lakes freighters Merchant ships of the United States 1952 ships Ships built in Lorain, Ohio