The Herbert C. Jackson

The other ship for the day was the Herbert C. Jackson and she was pretty much ontime to the listing in boatnerd.

The Herbert C. Jackson was built at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, MI in 1959. Her namesake was a vice president for the shipping company that would own her. She was the second to last ship built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works and shares some commonality with other ships built there.

She is powered by a G.E. 6,600 horsepower steam turbine engine. Originally coal fired but was converted to oil fire by the Defoe Shipbuilders in Bay City, MI.

She is 690 feet in length and can carry almost 25,000 tons of cargo. She is still owned by her original owner, the Interlake Steamship Company.

She has the classic lines of a lake freighter.

I think this is one of my favorite angles for viewing ships.

A shot almost straight on of her.

The ship as she is heading away.

A closeup of her pilot house.



A shot with Detroit to the side. It's amazing, for as big as some of these ships are, they are still dwarfed by the buildings.

Heading towards the Ambassador Bridge.

Almost gone.

Heading past the Ambassador Bridge.

So these were my first two ships of the season. I hope to get more chances to boatwatch. As I look on the boatnerd list, I am seeing alot more ships so far this year. It was almost like they couldn't wait for the lakes to thaw. In my opinion, this is a good thing because much of their cargo goes to the steel mills and what not of this country.