The ''H.P. Bope'' was an American steel-hulled, propeller-driven

Great Lakes 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 ...

built in 1907 by the Superior Shipbuilding Company of

Superior, Wisconsin Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

for service on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

of North America. She was used to transport bulk cargoes such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

History

The ''H.P. Bope'' was launched on October 19, 1907, as hull

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

519. She had a length of , a beam of and a depth of . She was powered by a

quadruple expansion steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...

and fueled by two coal-fired

Scotch marine boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a short horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

s. In 1913 the ''H.P. Bope'' was transferred to the Lackawanna Steamship Company of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. Later that year the fleet was renamed Interlake Steamship Company. In 1916 the ''H.P. Bope'' was renamed ''E.A.S. Clarke''. The ''E.A.S. Clarke'' anchored off the Great Lakes Engineering Works in the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

on October 26, 1924, because of heavy fog. As she was swinging at anchor the steamer struck the ''E.A.S. Clarke'' near her aft deckhouse causing her to sink almost immediately. There were no deaths in this incident. In 1952 the ''E.A.S. Clarke'' had a new top tank and two new side tanks installed. She also had her cargo hatches rebuilt from 32 cargo hatches on centers to 16 hatches on centers. In 1953 she had new Foster-Wheeler water tube boilers installed. She went into layup in the winter of 1960. She remained in layup when she was transferred to the Pickands Mather Company.

''Kinsman Voyager''

In April 1970 the ''E.A.S. Clarke'' was sold to the Kinsman Marine Transit Company of

and renamed ''Kinsman Voyager''. On September 30, 1972, the ''Kinsman Voyager'' was departing the Globe elevator in

when she backed into a mud bank and severely damaged her rudder. She was laid up on May 26, 1973, in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. In the Spring of 1974 the ''Kinsman Voyager'' was sold to the Marine Salvage Ltd. of

Port Colborne, Ontario Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

. She arrived in Port Colborne on April 22, 1974, towed by the tug ''Salvage Monarch''. She was eventually sold to Lutgens & Reimers of

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. On May 2, 1975, the ''Kinsman Voyager'' passed Cape Vincent towed by the tugs ''Salvage Monarch'' and the ''Helen M. McAllister'' bound for

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. The ''Kinsman Voyager'' and the steamer ''James E. Ferris'' departed

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on June 7, 1975, towed by the Polish tug ''Jantar''. They arrived at Hamburg on July 4, 1975. The hulls of the ''Kinsman Voyager'' and the ''James E. Ferris'' were used as storage hulks. The ''Kinsman Voyager'' arrived in

Bilbao, Spain Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the province of Biscay and in the Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of more th ...

on June 26, 1978. She was later towed to

Pasaia Pasaia () is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community of northern Spain. It is a fishing community, commercial port and the birthplace of the famous admiral Blas de Lezo and of the fashion de ...

, Spain on July 16, 1978. On August 29, 1978, she was towed to

Santander, Spain Santander ( , ; ) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It has a population of 172,000 (2017). It is a port city located in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Cantab ...

where she was scrapped by Recuperaciones Submarinas S.A.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:H.P. Bope 1907 ships Great Lakes freighters Maritime incidents in 1924 Merchant ships of the United States Ships built in Superior, Wisconsin