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Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature -- Reserve
By Brian Ferguson
Oglebay Norton's Steamer Reserve was built in 1953, at Great Lakes
Engineering Works in River Rouge Michigan. She was designed along the
classic lines of the AAA class vessel. All AAA's were built in the early
1950's. The first being the Philip R Clarke for Pittsburgh Steamship
Co. (U.S. Steel) in 1952. The AAA's were 647' long at there launch. All but one, the J.L. Mauthe (now self-unloading barge Pathfinder) were
lengthened 120' in the 1970's making them 767'long with a beam of
70'. Seven out of the Eight AAA's are still active today. This makes the
AAA one of the most successful designs on the Lakes. The only boat of
this class to be scrapped was the William Clay Ford (I). Almost a
cruel joke she was the youngest AAA on the lakes.
The Reserve is 767' feet in length with a beam of 70'and a
mid summer draft of 26' 11.75". Her 7000hp oil fired steam turbine can
make 15.5 mph under a full load of 25,500 tons of ore, or 17,900 tons
of coal. Stone is also a common cargo for the Reserve. She carries a
260' self unloading boom with a unloading rate of 6000 tons per hour.
Maneuverability of the vessel is aided by a bow thruster.
Common trips for the Reserve include Silver Bay to
Toledo, or Taconite Harbor for Lorain.
| Overall dimensions |
| Length |
767' 00" |
| Beam |
70' 00" |
| Depth |
36' 00" |
| Capacity (tons) |
25, 500 |
| Steam Turbine Horse Power |
7,000 |
