Encounter Group #22 Shipmen

[Matt W]

There are several ships on the Great Lakes that are 70 years old (cold fresh water isn't as bad for steel as seawater) and there a few that are even older.

However, 150 year-old ships are likely to be uncommon. It seems plausible that there would be some sort of manufacturing industry. In my opinion, Superior in Wisconsin would be a good location for this. Possibly Fraser Shipyards

http://www.frasershipyards.com/

[ArmySGT.]

This actually starts to make them more plausible. Where exactly are the docks and shipyards these are being built and the ship builders themselves?

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/...s_to_race.html

[mmartin798]

This shows the major dry docks and shipyards currently on the Great Lakes.

http://www.tmacog.org/Transportation..._Dry_Docks.pdf

I would also not be so quick to write off steel ships. Iron and steel were preferred instead of wood for ship hulls as early as the 1870's. Granted we would not see many ships in the 300m range, but with the wealth of iron ore still in the region it is possible for smaller ships to be built powered by wind and steam. Take fine vessel for instance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Great_Britain

[ArmySGT.]

So they need coal, coke, kerosene, crude oil, or charcoal for steam boilers.

Carpenters to log trees...... Probably a smelter and foundry.... Then there are mechanical trades building parts. Probably a network of guides and lighthouses.

Shipmen can be a bigger deal. The shippers in a triangle trade scheme that operates a few months a year before ice and fierce storms makes sailing unprofitable. Think of all the industries and trade skills just to keep a ship afloat not even considering the crew.

[mmartin798]

When we look at early industry on Lake Superior, that is exactly what we see. Iron ore was mined from the Marquette Ridge, taken by rail to the harbor in Marquette and loaded onto freighters, wooden and otherwise. The iron ore was sailed about 40 miles East to Munising. There it was converted to pig iron using charcoal from local trees and limestone from the cliffs behind the blast furnace. This process could start up again, though some of the infrastructure would have to be rebuilt. They could then add a finery forge in Munising as well to make plates and then rivet and weld a hull together at a dry dock. If K.I. Sawyer AFB can be made into a farming community, you can probably support this.

Not saying this would be easy, but it is possible.

[ArmySGT.]

Funny you should mention K.I. Sawyer AFB... I mentioned this in the Damocles module thread.... Something Damocles would need, or covet, to reintegrate itself into the DoD infrastructure.

[mmartin798]

This is a picture of what remains of the ore dock in Marquette's lower harbor. Ore cars were pushed on top of it and the ore dumped under them. Then the ore was loaded into ship's holds using conveyor belts operated between the pillars. Built in 1931, it operated until 1971. In 1968, it loaded over 1 million tons of iron ore.