Cort Showing Off with a Rare Barker-like Master Salute!

4th of July crowds were gathered at the end of Wisconsin Point and the Cort made the most of it! Moving incredibly slowly at about 1 knot (slower than a walking pace) she put on a long show, completed with a long two tone Master Salute eerily similar to those delivered by her fleetmate. Look out James R Barker! You’re not the only game in town anymore!
Built in 1972, the Cort was by far the largest ship on the Great Lakes and one of the largest freighters in the world at the time. She measures 1,000ft in length and able to carry 58,000 tons, more than twice the amount of the previous record holder, Edmund Fitzgerald with her 26,000 ton capacity (the two ships sailed together for 3 years). Her size makes her an extremely effective hauler, but several experimental design elements such as a short shuttle boom and rotating hatch covers limit her operations to running iron ore to just one or two ports on the Lakes. She is extremely specialized but is able to do it incredibly well. Today the Cort runs almost exclusively between Superior, WI and Burns Harbor, IN, occasionally loading at Silver Bay. Because of this she can be a little tricky to catch, the Superior Entry is quite remote and can be extremely difficult to get timing correct due to the dock layout. Once the ships move, there’s very little time to successfully catch them in the channel! Because of this difficulty, it’s not often that many people are out on the piers waiting for her, so the captain and crew clearly had some fun entertaining the crowds gathered for the holiday.
Also coming and going from the channel before the Cort were a pair of large sail boats, including the large two masted one that I’ve seen on the horizon several times before, but never up close! Both had some difficulty with the stiff wind coming off the lake, with the two masted one having to come about in a circle to reorient themselves after getting pushed sideways slightly, and the second one… well let’s just say I’d have turned back and gone sailing in the harbor instead because that looked ROUGH!
Hope everyone enjoys!

[@richardjohnson2965]

Being able to be so close, and watch the big boats come through the canal, watching the bridge, hearing the salutes…..is amazing….what an opportunity we have that some have never experienced.

[@samuelcollins1331]

@Richardjohnson: Yes, you are most fortunate to be able to enjoy the ships in the Duluth Canal. My wife and I recently flew from Baltimore to Minneapolis, rented a car, drove several hours to Duluth, stayed in the Canal Park Lodge at a total trip cost of THOUSANDS of dollars. And it was worth EVERY PENNY!! Thanks, Duluth, for providing us with a Bucket List experience!👍 Sam, Towson, md

[@jonathanellsworth21]

It’s definitely a special thing! So many people in Duluth take it for granted and don’t even pay attention

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@samuelcollins1331very glad you had a great time! When were you up here?

[@Bobbyo60]

She is huge! Magnificent lady!!

[@RitzBitz96]

I love the way the two tones overlap! That's gotta be just as good as the Barker!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yeah she sounds really good!

[@rottenroads1982]

The Stewart J. Cort showing off its new horn has now weakened the James R. Barker’s Ego, because now both are evenly matched with two of the Best Sounding Horns on the Upper Great Lakes (Lake Ontario will never get to hear it).

[@ProfessorIgor]

@@rottenroads1982 The Munson would argue that...

[@dianebeier8379]

In a mini kind of way...but great sounding & impressive!!😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@dianebeier8379]

No one can out do THE BARKER. !!!!!❤❤❤

[@elizabethw.8561]

Oh my goodness!!! How adorable was that!????? I was shocked and thrilled at the same time!!!!! wowza!!! She looks like she got a new paint job this year.....looking GREAT SJC!! thanks Jonathan, looks like the Cort is one of my new favorites next to the JRB and the munson!!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@elizabethw.8561 that was a very nice surprise on the pier as well! Awesome salute, especially for the Superior side! Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@elizabethw.8561]

@@jonathanellsworth21 I always do!!! Thank you!

[@earllutz2663]

Thank you for the video showing the Humongous Ship. Enjoyed very much.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@earllutz2663 glad you enjoyed!

[@jlions72]

Love it ..I didnt know it had a two tone horn...Pretty Cool

[@gregmctevia5087]

That was amazing. If you close your eyes eyes and listen to the salute you’d swear it was the JRB.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@gregmctevia5087 pretty close yeah! Hope she does that more often!

[@Bobbyo60]

Close, but the Barkers doesn’t overlap, they sound together .

[@ellenhalpern1882]

Love the salute and the sailboat too

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Glad you enjoyed!!

[@pixie706]

Wow the full orchestra today . She will have to salute like this every time 😊

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@pixie706 yes I hope she does 😃

[@jonplummer117]

First the famous barker bark and now we have the Stewart bark 😁👍

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@jonplummer117 😃 I’m all for that!

[@melodymiron4901]

I call it the Cort Cantare. Cantare is Italian/Latin for "to sing"

[@HistoryRocksMuse]

one of my favorite ships; beautiful design. And you are correct, reminds me a lot of the Jame R Barker's horn!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Definitely a very unique and very good looking ship!

[@gabekillian18_K518]

It is so very rare for the Cory to do the dual tone! I’ve actually been looking for this for the past week!!! She really needs to do it more! Thanks for the find!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@gabekillian18_K518 a week? That’s actually very interesting! I filmed it on the 4th of July so it hasn’t even been that long! So that means she’s done it more than once 🤔. Good sign that she might keep doing it!

[@gabekillian18_K518]

@@jonathanellsworth21 this is actually the second video, one other video exists 12 days ago at the soo locks, so a pretty good sign

[@gabekillian18_K518]

If I’m honest, I was trying to find it when I figured out she had dual horns 😂

[@tmayer0009]

I love the duel horns, wish all the ships had them!

[@Silvery1313]

Nice! Hearing the Cort is a rare treat.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@Silvery1313 yeah she’s tough to catch!

[@briangustafson5757]

Fantastic sound .. Thank you for sharing

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Thanks!

[@rottenroads1982]

Think of the Lakes like a Highway system. All the smaller Sail Boats, Pontoon Boats, Speeder boats, canoes, and all other boats used by Boaters for Recreation, those are like the cars of the lakes. Then there is the Life Guard Vessels, they are like the Police of the Waters and also the search and rescue team. Then there are larger Passenger vessels. They are like the Busses of the lake, transporting lots of people. Finally, there are the large Lake Freighters, and you can say they are the Major Semi-Trucks of the lakes, being the vessels that represent all the major commerce of the lakes. Also, the Stewart J. Cort is now smugly smiling at his fleet mate the James R. Barker because he too now has a similar, and fantastic sounding horn.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yeah they definitely mirror each other! Not a perfect match but still very similar. And yes the Cort’s captain had to be loving that 😂

[@audreyjohnson4599]

You forgot the tugboats. They're the tow trucks and snow plows of the lakes.

[@frankpeck1448]

Great Anology! A different perspective on Great Lakes traffic!

[@edwardpate6128]

I've always loved the appearance of this ship since she was first built. She stuck with the traditional pilot house forward and engine room aft design.

[@JtGorski00]

Gotta love ol' Stubby!

[@RJ-pr6mj]

Ive been wanting to here this for a while now. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@williamphillips6247]

Wow this is neat. Wish she'd come by Port Huron some time.😊

[@skycvg]

One of the coolest features of the Cort is her twin booms that come out of the doghouses on the stern. Rather stubby in nature, but then again, she started life as ole STUBBY.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Yeah it would be interesting to see one deploy in person someday! Doubt it’ll happen but it would be cool

[@jlions72]

I want A tour of This One real Bad ...love it !

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@jlions72 inside? Yeah that would be amazing!

[@Peoplemvr]

Schooner Charley is gorgeous. Stewart Cort also!

[@andyloper44]

Didn't know she could salute like that. Needs come through Duluth occasionally.

[@user-jz2el6go2n]

I love it..

[@wilfstor3078]

At least one of the horns on the Cort is actually the same exact model as the Barker, the Stern Horn or the low note, is a Leslie KT230/75, but I'm pretty sure its bow horn is different than the KT150/110 that the Barker has as it's high note

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Possibly, I think the Cort’s is a much smoother sound but maybe I’ll put up a video or short either a side-by-side comparison if people want. Barker’s here today

[@wilfstor3078]

​@@jonathanellsworth21the bow horn being pilothouse mounted makes me think it's likely a piston horn, but what model, no clue...

[@frankpeck1448]

Is that Leslie, the same company that makes the Leslie speakers on some organs?

[@wilfstor3078]

@@frankpeck1448 The company is called Leslie, the matter of if it's the same Leslie as the one your talking about, no clue...

[@wilfstor3078]

​@@jonathanellsworth21I'm not going to take credit for it, but someone on a different video of her doing it called it the "Stewart Shout" which I absolutely love, we need to make that a common term if a comparison video is made

[@henriettadenzig3825]

Good afternoon everyone hope you are having a good day. Greetings from ohio.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@henriettadenzig3825 hope you have a good one as well!

[@johnbeck8812]

I’m considering a ship airhorn for my 3500 duale the cost is up there but kids will enjoy it as I go by

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@johnbeck8812 I wouldn’t lol, these horns can be heard up to 15 miles away. In the wrong hands they can cause a lot of damage, I’d go with a semi horn

[@MarkStamcoff]

Good to see, new sub.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@MarkStamcoff glad you enjoyed it!

[@jonpotter570]

Looks like she has a few good doinks in the port side hull. Seems they just painted over them.

[@comradeyuri8492]

For some reason, the new paint looked black at the beginning of video. Sail boats are always getting in the way, ask any owner of a larger power boat, pests. Horns are getting there !

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Lol she’s still reddish brown, no change there! And yeah her horns sound great! Edit- and yeah some sailboats definitely can be… interesting. Algoma Bear came pretty close to nailing one a couple weeks back, and one got pretty close to the G3 just a few minutes before this! The one coming out did a good job of giving the Cort space though, so not all of them are bad 😂

[@blauer2551]

You just discovered you are colorblind to certain shades

[@scottburns2600]

James Barker better go after Mr. Cort for copyright infringement!😅😅

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@scottburns2600 😂😂

[@timlabell]

So much garbage on the internet and then you produce this😮😮😮 thank you very much for some cool stuff. 😎

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Thank you!!

[@mellissadalby1402]

She’s the first footer and also a self unloader even though she doesn’t have the characteristic 250 ft boom

[@sweetg12651]

Thanks for the great video. Love that horn! Any idea why Cort was travelling so slow through the canal?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@sweetg12651 she was coming off anchor and the Superior Ore Dock is immediately at the end of the channel. So they only needed to go about a mile and a half, no use using a ton of gas to speed the ship up only to use up more slowing the ship back down immediately

[@mikeboyer2421]

I was just there last week there. There's no return salute cause there's no greeting authority to do so. A long drive to the Point then a long hike to the piers end. The CN docks looked unused and nearly abandoned, lotta weeds and even trees growing on them

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@mikeboyer2421 BNSF ore docks 1-4 were shut down in the 60s and 70s, maybe very limited operations in the 80s when the current BNSF 5 dock was built. Those docks took days to load even small ships, and because of their design they couldn’t modernize them like the Duluth and Two Harbors docks, so they built a new one instead. The old ones have been abandoned since. Dock 1 was converted into a marina but 2-4 have been sitting abandoned for decades. And yeah no response because there’s no bridge 😂

[@scottmartin6594]

Is this ship not a self unloader? Or does it just have a unique set up with no external boom amd conveyor

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@scottmartin6594 unique! Her unloading booms are inside the stern, tucked under those big hatches you see below the funnels at 7:50

[@lowes2win1]

Metal on Metal ❤ That was Bad to the Bone 🫡 Welcome Home 🙏 🇺🇸 💪

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@lowes2win1 glad you enjoyed!

[@lowes2win1]

I was there on Sunday June 30th on vacation from Fox Lake Illinois and saw 👀 the SAGINAW come into port by chance around 3:30PM what a wonderful experience after watching your Channel to actually witness a real iron ore freighter come in from The Big Lake ( Superior ) woW 😳 over 600ft long buildt in 1953 then we kept driving north 🚗 to Two Harbors Minnesota thru the Tunnel and I swear I saw 👀 the Tugboat that escorted the Michipicoten back from Thunder Bay Canada 🇨🇦 to Duluth after temporary repairs I could not make out the name even with close up shots, she was docked near the iron ore car loading pier going out into the lake in Two Harbors. I will have to investigate that further by watching 👀 your Michipicoten video again 👍 and I Love ❤️ Your videos not Like 👍 them along with all the added information and history on the ships! Thank you! I video recorded it all and plan to put it on my KZbin channel once it's edited later 🫡 Dedicated Boat Person Fan 🚢 lol

[@talonraph6524]

Was it me or, was the Cort anchored for a long period outside the Superior entry?

[@ILikeGT_101]

Do you think she will do this style again? With dual horns?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

No idea, I hope so! Have only heard it the one time so we’ll see if they run with this. That would definitely bring some much needed attention over to the Superior side if they did

[@guyordorff8355]

Is that the new ship that recently came out?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@guyordorff8355 nope! That would be the Mark W Barker. Cort is an oldie, 1972. She just got a refit this year though

[@michaelmalik4416]

They need to get out the tuning fork. The low horn is about a quarter-tone flat.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

Lol maybe, I don’t want to sound exactly like Barker’s though, it’s unique!

[@MaryLouJessop]

Why didn't the bridge salute back?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@MaryLouJessop this is the Superior Entry to the harbor! The lift bridge is about 6 miles north of here. The second entrance is used primarily to get to the BNSF ore dock and a handful of lesser used docks. Most traffic goes through Canal Park and the lift bridge

[@MrBintage]

That's a very low pitched stern horn, could that be the rare Supertyphon 230/75?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

No idea, horn specs aren’t my expertise lol.

[@MrBintage]

@@jonathanellsworth21 same horn as the deep tone on the James R Barker. The bow horn sounds very different though.

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@MrBintage not sure if it’s the same horn or not, I might have to put up a side-by-side comparison. Barker’s is a similar pitch but a bit rougher, more power

[@user-dk4xu5cy4o]

where do they have the black water removed , or is it dumped along the voyage?

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@user-dk4xu5cy4o I don’t know 100% for certain. But this is an Interlake Steamship vessel, the same company that put around 50 million dollars into diesel scrubbers for all their ships even though they didn’t have to, so I’d be a little shocked if they just dumped it into the lake, would go against their whole brand they’ve made for themselves. So they most likely have a pumping station somewhere

[@davetupman462]

thanks I just started watching these and for some reason I thought of that, I was not trying to be offensive

[@jonathanellsworth21]

@@davetupman462 no it’s a great question! No worries there! Just wish I had a more definitive answer for you