The story of Lee A Tregurtha: an 82 year old ship on the Great Lakes

The Lee A. Tregurtha might be the most interesting Great Lakes freighter! Starting out in 1942 as a wartime oil tanker, she saw Japan surrender World War 2, and sailed the world before being converted in to a bulk freighter. She's been sailing for 82 years, and now steadily hauls bulk cargo (such as taconite, iron ore, wheat and salt.
A few facts that didn't make it into the video:
- She was tied for the longest ship on the lakes (very) briefly after her initial lengthening, earning her the title "Queen of the Lakes"
- Until her diesel retrofit (2005), she was the longest steam powered ship on the Great Lakes
- Her first conversion entirely swapped out her oil tanker mid-section for a longer, wider, and deeper cargo hold midsection...she was mostly a new ship!
- She was named after Interlake Steamship's vice chairman's wife
All video was shot by myself using my DJI Mavic 3 Classic. Music tracks are "Seeking the Truth" by J Scott Rakozy, and "Kenosis (Instrumental)" by NOVAYR, both licensed through Audiio.
Sources: www.interlake-...
en.m.wikipedia...

[@fnln544]

Absolutely honorable the ship wears her military decorations. Incredible history!

[@NorthernElevations]

It's amazing the history of some of these ships - and they don't get more historic than the Mini Tregurtha!

[@nicholaslhoneck]

My 6-year-old twins and I love your videos! This one was excellent! Thank you!

[@NorthernElevations]

Very glad to hear it, thanks for watching ☺️

[@flynorthproductions]

Great job on the narration, you're a natural. Interesting history about its wartime service. Your videos are very enjoyable to watch. 👍👍

[@NorthernElevations]

Thanks for always tuning in! I'm still working on making it feel a bit more natural, but I suppose that comes with time

[@andrewspearey392]

Fantastic. I had no idea she had been ocean going in her first configuration. Excellent video

[@NorthernElevations]

Thanks, really appreciate it! It's crazy how many modifications a ship can have cutting sections apart, and welding new additions and all that. It's kept her afloat all these years!

[@dawnroberts8701]

Many viewing this video wouldn't know how drastically her appearance was changed from USS CHIWAWA to a Great Lakes freighter. The midsection and pilot house are most obvious. You mentioned the convoy she was in being attacked by a German U-boat. Did you know (from "King of the Oilers," by Jon Strupp, son of a crew member) that two torpedoes went UNDER her? The twin "plumes" coming from her stacks are from her scrubber system, which cleans the exhaust from pollution particles before releasing it into the atmosphere.

[@NorthernElevations]

I had no idea about the torpedos going under her, that's an impressively powerful detail! I work in an industrial setting with boilers and steam equipment, and have a theoretical awareness about scrubbers. It's kind of insane to think of replacing boilers with a diesel engine - the plant I work at was constructed in the 1940's era as well (albeit on land). Our boilers are tightly integrated with their auxiliary equipment, and if it was same on this ship would have been a crazy undertaking.

[@dawnroberts8701]

Add to that removal of asbestos, accepted as safe in the past. In fact, as an elementary school student, I was awed that, by wearing asbestos suits, our firefighters would be safe from the flames.

[@Sparrow_Outdoors123]

Love the music in this one, very cinematic!

[@NorthernElevations]

Thanks! I swear finding music is one of the hardest parts of putting videos like this together. Nothing really feels 'right' until you've started working with it