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The Calumet was built in 1929 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge (Detroit), MI as their hull # 269 and was launched as the Myron C. Taylor on July 15, 1929 for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company (the private fleet of the U.S. Steel Corp.). Constructed as a Great Lakes traditional styled straight decker, the Myron C. Taylor was 1 of 3 new vessels joining the Pittsburgh fleet that year; the other 2 being the William G. Clyde (now the Maumee) and the Horace Johnson (scrapped 1984). By the end of 1929, the Pittsburgh fleet consisted of 70 steamers and 14 barges. Upon entering service, the Myron C. Taylor was named the fleet’s flagship, an honor retained until 1938 when the designation was passed to the William A. Irvin. The title was inherited from the James A. Farrell which had been the fleet’s flagship since 1913. The vessel’s namesake was Mr. Myron Charles Taylor; Chairman of the Finance Committee of the U.S. Steel Corp. from 1927 to 1934 and was their chairman of the board from 1932 through until 1938. Mr. Taylor died May 6, 1959, remaining a director of the corporation until his death.
As built, the Myron C. Taylor was powered by a yard-built 2,200 i.h.p. (1,618 KW) triple expansion, 3 cylinder steam engine with 2 coal-fired water-tube boilers. The straight deck lake boat had a cargo capacity (dwt) of 12,500 tons (12,700 mt). The vessel was built with an extra “guest” deck directly below the wheelhouse to accommodate company management and corporate guests.
The Myron C. Taylor sailed on her maiden voyage from Detroit, MI to Duluth, MN on August 27, 1929. The lake boat serviced the Pittsburgh fleet until the spring of 1956. Due to an increase in limestone demand, she was transferred to the Bradley Transportation Co. fleet out of Rogers City, MI (managed by the Pittsburgh fleet). Also transferred to the Bradley fleet at this time was the steamer A. F. Harvey. Her early years on the lakes were untarnished by any major incidents.
On May 21, 1956, the Myron C. Taylor departed Duluth, MN with her last load as a straight decker arriving June 1, 1956 at the Christy Corp. shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, WI; emerging 4 months and 11 days later as a self-unloader. This was the fastest self-unloader conversion on record. Also included were the lengthening of the forward cabins and aft deckhouse to allow for the expansion and modernization of the crew’s quarters. Her self-unloading system as installed consisted of pneumatically controlled gates opening to 2 four-foot wide (1.22m) rubber conveyor belts feeding a forward mounted bucket elevator leading up to a hopper. This hopper fed a bow-mounted 250′ (76.20m) discharge boom that could be swung 110 degrees to port or starboard. The Taylor left Sturgeon Bay in the fall of 1956 to pick up her first cargo as a self unloader from Michigan Limestone’s new plant at Port Dolomite, MI.
The self-unloader had 4 holds serviced by 16 hatches where she was capable of carrying 12,450 tons (12,650 mt) at a mid-summer draft of 22′ 02″ (6.76m). Her holds had the cubic capacity to handle 12,600 net tons (equivalent to 11,250 tons / 11,430 mt) of coal. The Taylor was repowered during the winter lay-up of 1967/68 at Toledo’s American Ship Building Co. with a new Nordberg FS-1316-HSC four stroke cycle 4,234 b.h.p. (3,114 KW) diesel engine burning intermediate grade 180 fuel, the power being fed to a single fixed pitch propeller. A bow thruster was installed in 1988.
Following the break-up and sinking of Bradley fleetmate Carl D. Bradley on November 18, 1958, in a precedent for the shipping industry, the remaining 8 boats of the Bradley fleet tied up on November 22 out of respect for the lost crewmen. Four the fleet tied up at Rogers City, MI where, at noon, remembrance services were held. The Myron C. Taylor tied up at Conneaut, OH where arrangements had been made with local clergy to conduct similar services at noon to coincide with the Rogers City services.
The Taylor rejoined the Pittsburgh fleet on July 1, 1967 when the U.S. Steel Corp. announced the merger of the Bradley fleet and its Pittsburgh fleet, the merged fleets being renamed US Steel Great Lakes Fleet. This combined fleet became a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corp. in 1981 thus becoming a common carrier. At this time, the fleet was renamed USS Great Lakes Fleet and consisted of 34 vessels. Considered huge at the time she was built, the Myron C. Taylor was now one of the fleet’s smallest carriers. The Taylor’s smaller size permitted her access to many of the smaller ports bordering the Great Lakes. Before her transfer to the Bradley fleet, the Taylor’s activity was primarily focused in the iron ore trade. After becoming part of the Bradley fleet and its subsequent merger into the Pittsburgh fleet, the Taylor’s cargoes changed to limestone, stone, aggregates, coal, and salt with only the odd spot load of iron ore.
On December 1, 1983, the Taylor transited the Welland Canal for the first time, the self-unloader being laden with sand for Hamilton, ON. Then, on September 25, 1985, the Myron C. Taylor carried the first load of sand out of Brevort, MI. On October 14, 1989,a reduction gear failure on Lake Huron 2 hours north of Port Huron, MI required the towing of the vessel to Calcite, MI for repairs. The carrier returned to service on November 25, 1989. An allision with a bridge abutment in Cleveland on July 2, 1997 resulted in leaky rivets, tripped and fractured frames necessitated the Taylor to go to Toledo for temporary repairs.
The Myron C. Taylor laid up for a final time in USS Great Lakes Fleet colors at 5:01pm on November 11, 2000 in Sarnia, ON. Her lay up in Sarnia was a result of a pending sale to a U.S. affiliate of a Canadian shipping company. Late March, 2001; the sale of the Myron C. Taylor and her fleetmate Calcite II was announced: the vessels had been sold to Grand River Navigation Co., Cleveland, OH; an affiliate of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., Port Dover, ON. On Saturday, April 21, 2001; the vessel was christened Calumet in honor of the Calumet River which empties into Lake Michigan at Chicago, IL. Also christened at this time was the Calcite II which became the Maumee. A third former fleet mate, the George A. Sloan, was reflagged Canadian and christened Mississagi as part of the same ceremony, being part of the initial sale.
After a refit including the painting of her hull Lower Lakes grey, the Calumet departed Sarnia May 10, 2001 on her maiden voyage under the management of Lower Lakes Transportation Co., Williamsville, NY in ballast to Calcite, MI where she loaded stone for Ontario Stone in Cleveland, OH. The Calumet’s activities for her new owners continued to be concentrated in the limestone, stone, aggregates, coal, sand, and salt trades primarily on the lower lakes, servicing many of the customers she had previously serviced before her sale.
In early July, 2003, the end of the Calumet’s self-unloading boom was damaged during a thunderstorm when a strong gust of wind caught the boom causing it to strike the dock at Marblehead, OH. The vessel went to Sarnia for repairs, returning to service on July 18, 2003. On April 2, 2004, the Calumet ran soft aground on an uncharted shoal in the shipping channel while entering the harbor at Fairport, OH. The vessel was drawing 21′ (6.40m) at the time and shoaling had reduced the depth to 18′ (5.49m) where the charts indicated there should have been in excess of 22′ (6.71m) of depth. The Calumet was not damaged. While docking at Detroit’s Motor City Intermodal dock # 2 on January 6, 2007, the Calumet struck a submerged object causing a 10 degree twist to the rudder stock. The carrier laid up there for the winter and repairs.
On November 15, 2007, the Calumet struck a concrete wall along the Old River in Cleveland, OH after having offloaded stone at Ontario Stone. The incident expedited the ending of the Calumet’s years on the Great Lakes as it was expected that the veteran laker was to be scrapped at the end of the 2007 season. After necessary temporary repairs were made to the starboard hull damage, on November 18, 2007 the Calumet departed the Ontario Stone Dock in Cleveland sailing to Port Colborne, where she was expected to be scrapped. After arriving at Port Colborne’s stone dock, the crew shut the Calumet down and left the vessel for the last time. On November 20, the Calumet was shifted to International Marine Salvage’s south salvage berth (in Port Colborne) where her final fate awaits her.
| Overall Dimensions (metric) | |
| Length | 603′ 09″ (184.02m) |
| Beam | 60′ 00″ (18.29m) |
| Depth | 32′ 00″ (9.75m) |
| Capacity (mid-summer) | 12,450 tons (12,650 mt) at a draft of 22′ 02″ (6.76m) |
| Power (diesel) | 4,234 b.h.p. (3,114 KW) |
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