Originally designed and built with a low superstructure for passage beneath the bridges of the waterways in and around Chicago, this large tugboat was built in 1928 as hull # 241 by Manitowoc Ship Building Inc. of Manitowoc, WI. The tug was launched April 16, 1928 as John F. Cushing for the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. of Chicago, IL. She was powered by a 1928 built Busch-Sulzer model 6-CM-17 6-cylinder 1,000 b.h.p. (745 kw) diesel engine.

John F. Cushing remained with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock until 1965, when the tug was acquired by the Chicago Marine Fueling Service Inc. and renamed James E. Scully. Her tenure with the company was short, as she was acquired by a Robert C. Fox of Deerfield, IL, in 1966. That same year, ownership of the tug passed to the Socony Mobil Oil Co. Inc. of New York, NY, which renamed her Olive L. Moore. As the Olive L. Moore, on May 5, 1966, the tug ran aground about 1/2 mile (0.8 k) from shore between Muskegon and Ludington, MI, after striking her tow and holing herself. The tug and barge were in transit from Chicago to Rockland, ME. After temporary repairs were completed, the tug was tied up at the William W. Stender yard at Bay City, MI, and was offered for sale by the U.S. Marshal of Detroit on September 21, 1967.

The tug was purchased by South Range Aggregates Co. of South Range, MI, in 1968 (a Van Enkevort family-owned company) after being rebuilt and repowered at the Stender yard during the winter of 1967/68. The tug was repowered with a Fairbanks Morse 12-38D8-1/8 12-cylinder 2,000 b.h.p (1,490 kw) diesel engine built by Fairbanks Morse (Canada) Ltd., Kingston, ON. The Olive L. Moore’s ownership has remained with Van Enkevort family-owned or affiliated companies since 1968. On November 2, 1972, the towline between the Olive L. Moore and the barge A. E. Nettleton parted during a snowstorm with gale force winds 17 miles (27.36 k) west of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. The barge developed a 15-degree list as its grain cargo shifted. Three of the barge’s five-man crew was airlifted by U.S.C.G. helicopter to the tug to help re-rig the towline. The barge was towed to the Lily Pond on the Keweenaw Waterway to trim its cargo. Of note, the A. E. Nettleton had been converted to a push barge after being chartered by Escanaba Towing Co. of Escanaba, MI, in 1971. Escanaba Towing was also the owner of the Olive L. Moore at the time of the occurrence.

From 1979 to 1990, the Olive L. Moore was used as a conventional push/tow tug mated to the self-unloading (crane) barge Buckeye (2). The former steamer had been purchased from Oglebay Norton by family-owned Lake Transportation Co. of Toledo, OH, in 1979. The tug was rebuilt and repowered again in 1980 with 2 Alco 16V251 four-stroke cycle, v-16 cylinder 2,915 b.h.p. (2,174 kw) diesel engines. In 1991, the Olive L. Moore was converted to an articulated tug at Menominee, WI, by All Purpose Marine Products (APMP) with the installation of an APMP designed Hydraconn connector, and was mated to the similarly converted chartered self-unloading barge McKee Sons. APMP was also a Van Enkevort family-owned business.

On October 15, 1998, the Olive L. Moore pushing the McKee Sons ran aground in the Saginaw River while inbound to the Bay Aggregates dock, Bay City, MI. The pair was freed the next day with no apparent damage after lightering 900 tons (914 mt) into the Joseph H. Frantz. After seeing only limited use in 2000, the McKee Sons was chartered to Grand River Navigation Co. with the Olive L. Moore returning to Escanaba, MI to tie up. The tug saw very little service until January of 2003, when she towed the old vehicle ferry Viking I from Erie, PA, to Menominee, MI. The tow departed Erie on January 14 arriving at Menominee on January 19.

After another period of relative inactivity, the tug towed the former Oglebay Norton self-unloader Buckeye (3) from Toledo, OH, to Erie, PA, arriving there on December 4, 2005. The Buckeye had been purchased by Buckeye Holdings, LLC of Menominee, MI, to be converted to an articulated barge at Erie, PA. As the assigned tug for the new barge, Olive L. Moore returned to Escanaba, MI, for necessary modifications. Included was a raised pilothouse to allow for proper line of sight over the self-unloading equipment of the barge. By then also owned by Buckeye Holdings LLC, the Olive L. Moore returned to Erie to be paired with the newly-named self-unloading articulated barge Lewis J. Kuber in August of 2006.

In February 2011, Rand Logisitcs acquired the two tug / barge units Lewis J. Kuber and James L. Kuber from KK Integrated Shipping for $35.5 million in cash as well as more than 1.3 million shares of its common stock. The vessels are operated by Grand River Navigation. Lewis J. Kuber now sails as Menominee (3), while James L. Kuber sails as Maumee (2).

Written by George Wharton

In the early 1950s and due to the Korean War, extra carrying capacity was needed for the movement of iron ore from the upper Great Lakes to the steel mills of the lower lakes. With Great Lakes shipyards booked to capacity, ship owners had to look elsewhere to build new vessels. Bethlehem Steel Co. of Cleveland, OH, chose to build two new ships for their Great Lakes fleet at their Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard at Sparrows Point, MD. The second of the pair was launched on April 18, 1952 as the Sparrows Point, entering service for the Bethlehem Steel fleet in November of that year. The new vessel was named in honor of the shipyard that built her. The Point’s cargoes were focused in the iron ore trades supplying Bethlehem Steel’s lower Lake Michigan and Lake Erie mills with ore from ports in upper Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, with the occasion trip through the St. Lawrence Seaway after it opened in 1959 to Gulf of St. Lawrence ports for cargoes of Labrador ore.

In fact, the Sparrows Point was the third of three sister ships built at the Sparrows Point shipyard at that time. The first was the Johnstown (3) launched January 24, 1952 for the Bethlehem Steel fleet (scrapped in 1985). The second was the Elton Hoyt II launched March 7, 1952 for the Interlake Steamship Co. of Cleveland, OH, (now sailing for Lower Lakes Towing as the Michipicoten (2)). The dimensions of these bulk carriers were: 626′ 00″ (190.80m) loa x 70′ 00″ (21.34m) beam x 37′ 00″ (11.28m) depth with a carrying capacity of 19,595 tons (19,910 mt). Following six years of relatively uneventful sailing, the Sparrows Point was lengthened 72′ (21.95m) in 1958 by American Ship Building Co. of South Chicago, IL. At her new overall length of 698′ 00″ (212.75m), her capacity increased to 23,350 tons (23,724 mt) at a mid-summer draft of 26′ 11″ (8.20m) or 22,250 tons (22,607 mt) at a Seaway draft of 26′ (7.92m) contained in five holds serviced by 20 hatches. Her power plant consisted of a Bethlehem Steel-built 7,700 s.h.p. cross-compound steam turbine engine with two Foster-Wheeler heavy fuel oil fired water tube boilers, the power being fed to a single fixed pitch propeller.

On September 1, 1976, the Sparrows Point received rudder damage while backing away from the Mesabi No. 5 dock at Duluth, MN. She had to be unloaded and towed to Fraser Shipyards at Superior, WI, for repairs. Then, in December 1977, she grounded while upbound in the Beauharnois Canal of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The bulker had to be unloaded and laid up at Lorain, OH, for winter lay-up and repair. She had received over $1 million in bottom damage.

During her 1979/80 winter lay-up at the Fraser Shipyards of Superior, WI, Sparrows Point was converted to a self-unloader, and a bow thruster was added. Her capacity dropped slightly to 22,300 tons (22,658 mt) at a mid-summer draft of 26′ 11″. She could carry approximately 21,974 tons (22,327 mt) at the new Seaway draft of 26′ 06″ (8.08m) implemented in 2004 or 21.756 tons (22,125 mt) at the previous Seaway draft of 26′ 03″ (8.00m). The new self-unloader’s cubic capacity for coal was 12,975 net tons (11,586 tons / 11,771 mt). The self-unloading system could discharge at a rate of up to 5,327 tons (5,443 mt) per hour via a 250′ (76.20m) stern mounted discharge boom. The bulker also had a capacity for 554.16 tons (563.06 mt) of fuel oil.

On October 18, 1983, Sparrows Point went aground at Drummond Island, receiving damage to 32 plates along a 100′ (30.48m) section of bottom. Repairs were completed at Bay Shipbuilding at Sturgeon Bay, WI. Major damage was received when she ran aground again off the Door Peninsula on November 30th, 1989 while in transit from Escanaba, MI to Chicago.

By the late 1980s, most of Bethlehem Steel’s cargoes were being handled by the Sparrows Point’s much larger and more efficient fleet mates Stewart J. Cort and Burns Harbor. As a result, on July 16, 1990, the Sparrows Point was sold to Columbia Transportation Div., Oglebay Norton Co. of Cleveland, OH (becoming Oglebay Norton Marine Services Co., LLC in 1994). Columbia Transportation did not take possession of their new addition until December of 1990. Her new owners renamed the self-unloader Buckeye (3), a name selected at a board meeting on February 21, 1991, a name associated with this fleet for over 34 years. The name honored Ohio’s nickname, the “Buckeye State.” With her new fleet, her cargoes were much more varied and included stone, aggregates, limestone and coal as well as iron ore.

Buckeye sailed through the 1990s with the usual scrapes, bumps and minor groundings associated with Great Lakes trading. On July 30, 2001, the crew of the Buckeye spotted and rescued two fishermen from a swamped small boat in Lake Erie, giving them dry clothes and hot food.

Time, however, was not on the Buckeye’s side. In the new century, with her age well over 50 and her steam power plant not being as efficient as diesels, the Buckeye was often one of the last of the fleet to fit out. In fact, she did not fit out at all in 2003 and did not sail in 2004 until late in September, when there were enough cargoes for an extra vessel. On December 20, 2004, while anchored off Port Inland, MI, she was swung around by strong winds and heavy seas hitting a rock causing serious damage. The vessel was allowed to proceed to Nanticoke, ON, to unload her cargo of coal, arriving at Toledo, OH on December 23 for lay-up and repair.

This load of coal proved to be the last load carried for Oglebay Norton and the last as a powered lake boat. After remaining laid up in Toledo (unrepaired) through 2005, on November 29, 2005 Oglebay Norton Marine Services announced the sale of the Buckeye to Buckeye Holdings LLC (an affiliate of K&K Warehousing, Inc., Menominee, MI) for $4 million for conversion to a notched, articulated barge, a $9 million project. On December 4, 2005, the Buckeye arrived at Erie Shipbuilding, Erie, PA, under tow of tug Olive L. Moore. This tug was to be mated with the Buckeye following her conversion, the pair becoming a new articulated tug/barge unit. Buckeye became the first vessel in nine years to be drydocked at the Erie shipyard when she entered the graving dock in late February 2006.

By August 2006, the new articulated self-unloading barge had emerged from the drydock minus her stern accommodations, engine room, stack, forward accommodations and wheelhouse, displaying her new name Lewis J. Kuber. She was named after the father of the owner of KK Integrated Logistics (formerly K&K Warehousing) and KK Integrated Shipping.

In February 2011, Rand Logisitcs acquired the two self-unloading tug barges Lewis J. Kuber and James L. Kuber (formerly the Reserve) from KK Integrated Shipping for $35.5 million in cash as well as more than 1.3 million shares of its common stock. The vessels were operated by Grand River Navigation.

In May 2017, Lewis J. Kuber was renamed Menominee, in honor of the Michigan town in the western Upper Peninsula. She continued to be paired with the veteran tug Olive L. Moore.

Written by George Wharton