Duluth Ship Canal 1

The way ships’ names work for me . . . they’re memorable!  I recalled immediately having seen Orsula upbound on the St. Lawrence 10 months ago here.   Here Orsula departed the grain docks for Montreal . . . 1344 miles and 129 hours away.  Click here for some facts for Twin Ports, the mid-continent intermodal hub.

Walter J. McCarthy, 1000′ loa, had just come through the ship canal and was headed for the coal docks, I believe.  Coal arrives here from out west, lots from Wyoming.

 

 

The aerial lift bridge can accommodate air draft of up to 180.’

Since I’m writing with hindsight, Ursula went to Montreal and is currently at sea, headed for Ravenna, Italia.

Click here to see Heritage Marine’s tug Nels J clearing out April ice….

Below, I don’t know the date of the outbound (down bound) steam ship, but

this Viking ship sailed here in 1926, with a crew of three humans and one dog, and started an exchange that continued until it was not last summer….

So here’s a research request:  the Viking ship below, still in Duluth but undergoing restoration, traversed the Erie Canal on the way here.  Has anyone ever seen photos of this ship in the Erie Canal?  And while I’m making request, has anyone ever seen a photo of a new build military vessel–of which supposedly there were more than 400–headed eastbound on the Erie Canal during and before WW2?

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who took the two vintage photos on the walls of Grandma’s Saloon & Grille.