SS William A. Irvin: The Flagship of the Lakes
Near Duluth, Minnesota
The red-hulled vessel moored in Canal Park is not just a museum ship. It is a record holder. The William A. Irvin was launched on November twenty-first, nineteen thirty-seven, at a cost of one point three million dollars, and for nearly four decades it served as the flagship of the United States Steel Great Lakes Fleet, hauling iron ore and coal between Duluth and the steel mills on Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
At its peak, the Irvin set an unloading record of thirteen thousand eight hundred fifty-six tons of iron ore in two hours and fifty-five minutes. That record has never been broken and almost certainly never will be, because the automated self-unloaders that replaced the old Hulett crane systems work on an entirely different principle. The ship carried luxury guest accommodations for dignitaries and company executives and hosted company guests on the Great Lakes. It was retired in nineteen seventy-eight and now sits at Duluth's waterfront as a museum and, each October, a haunted attraction. The record, at least, is permanent.
