The Paul H. Townsend Still at Rest

No trip to Muskegon would be complete for me without a stop at the Paul H. Townsend.

The Paul H. Townsend is still being used as a storage ship.  I don't think that status will be changing at anytime in the future for her.  It's a shame, since she's such a nice looking boat.

A Whirlwind Tour Starting in Muskegon

I was going to the Eastern Michigan basketball game at Western Michigan yesterday.  The game wasn't until 4:30, so I decided to head over to the west side of the state first.  I was hoping that I would catch some lighthouses that were frozen over.  Fortunately it was a nice enough day because I was looking forward to it for a while.

 I started the day with a trip to Muskegon and the dock where the Paul H. Townsend is tied up.  She is a pretty nice looking ship and it's kind of a shame that I don't get to see her on the Lakes.  I think she was being used as a storage ship for a while and now I don't even think she is being used for that.

 She cuts a pretty nice profile.

 Next up is the barge portion of the McKee Sons.  I've only seen her once before and she is currently in layup.  I'm not sure what is going to become of her though.

 Then I headed over to where the Silversides is tied up.  I've wanted pictures of her for a while but I didn't really have time for the tour (not that I think the museum was open).  The Silversides is one of three submarines on the Great Lakes and she has the best record of the ships still around.

 She was commissioned 8 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was built at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.  She had a total of 14 patrols and ended up sinking 23 ships for a little over 90,000 tons.  In 1987, she was moved to her current location where she serves as a museum ship.

 Her mascot of sorts.

 Her five inch gun.  Typically this was used to finish off targets.  A sub would not have a chance against a surface escort.

 A shot of her bridge and anti-aircraft weapons.  Again, they were not very useful against an aerial target.

 A shot of her from another angle.

 The US Coast Guard Cutter McClane also served in World War II where she served as a sub chaser.

 I'm not sure what kind of duck this is but I think it looked pretty cool.

 I believe this one is a canvasback duck.

 That black and white duck again.

 A redheaded duck.

 Another angle of that duck.

 Of course the reason I was on the west side of the state was for the lighthouses.  Here is a closeup shot of the Muskegon Lighthouse.

And pulled out a bit.

The Paul Townsend and Friend

My next stop was Muskegon because of the lighthouse there but I couldn't resist another stop.

 The Paul Townsend has been featured on this blog before, so I'm not going to go into her history again.  Since I am kind of anxious to take ship pictures again, I had to take pictures of her to reduce some of the itch.  It is pretty sad that she just lays here to be used as cement storage.

 She is kind of a neat looking ship but I'm going to imagine that sitting idle has taken a toll on her engines and other things.

 Across the little bay there is a park where I could get my favorite ship angle.  She definately has nice clean lines and I would love to see her out on the water again some day but I'm going to guess that is not going to happen.

 Just a shot of her bow and pilothouse.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this vessel is, but she is called the Trieste.  She looks like she could be a fishing boat of some sort but again I'm not sure.

A Pair of Boats

So I made it to Muskegon.  I arrived there a little later than I had hoped but then again, I started a little later than I had hoped.

 The W.G. Jackson is a vessle that is used by Grand Valley State University for water research.  She was built in 1996 through funds raised by the Making Waves in Muskegon.  She is powered by twin diesel engines.  She also does tours around Lake Michigan.

 Normally, I don't call ships boats and vice versa but with the other boat, I decided to call this a boat for this post.  The Paul H. Townsed was born in 1945 in Wilmington, CA as the Hickory Coll for the US Maritime Service but as with many other ships in that situation, her name didn't stay that way for long.  In September of that year, she was renamed the Coastal Delegate and was chartered to the Southern Steamship Company of Philadelphia.

 In 1952, she was acquired by the Huron Transportation Company and converted to a self-unloading cement carrier.  In 1957, she was lengthened to her current length of 447 feet.  She can carry almost 8,000 tons of cargo.  She was later acquired by National Gypsum as they bought Huron Cement.

Current she is in long term layup as most of her duties are handled by her fleetmate the Alpena.  Occasionally, she serves as a storage barge.  I would love to see her in action though as she is a pretty cool looking ship.