FYI one thing you have to keep in mind that in the timeline there would be at least two and possibly three steam fired coal ships still in operation on the Great Lakes
SS City of Midland 41 was a four thousand ton train ferry that in our real world was converted to a barge in late 1997 - but with the need for transport and the oil shortage most likely would have still been operational - and she operates on coal, not oil
SS Badger is still operating on the Great Lakes today - again a 4000 ton coal powered steam fired train ferry
SS Spartan was used as a parts ship for the other two - but might be able to be made functional
Those two (or three) ships would be hugely of use to either CivGov or MilGov - and are more than big enough to mount a decent amount of armament on them
and these are big ships - they had staterooms and other accommodations - they could haul 600 or more in comfort - and probably a lot more in less comfort - i.e. troops and their vehicles
Not sure if they have been discussed here before - they are home ported in Wisconsin and go back and forth to Michigan
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