MV Roger Blough

MV Roger Blough is a ship built in 1972 by American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. She serves as a lake freighter on the Great Lakes. The ship is owned by Great Lakes Fleet, Inc. and is named for the former chairman of U.S. Steel, Roger Blough.

History
United States
Name: MV Roger Blough
Builder: American Ship Building Company[1]
Yard number: 900[1][2]
Laid down: September 3, 1968
Launched: June 5, 1972[1]
In service: June 15, 1972
Identification:
Status: in active service, as of 2018
Notes: Shuttle Boom type Self-Unloading dry bulk carrier
General characteristics
Class and type: Lake freighter
Tonnage:
Length: 858 ft (262 m)[1]
Beam: 105 ft (32 m)[1]
Draft: 39.2 ft (11.9 m) (hull depth)[1]
Propulsion: 2 x SEMT Pielstick, 16PC2V-400 four stroke, single acting V-16, 7,100 bhp (5,300 kW) each

Service history

The ship's launch was originally planned for July 1971.[3][4] However, on June 24, 1971, the ship suffered a major engine room fire which killed four and caused serious damage. Sea trials and delivery were delayed by a year to June 1972.[5]

The Roger Blough assisted in the search for SS Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 11, 1975, the morning after the sinking, the crew of the Roger Blough recovered a 25-person life raft from the Edmund Fitzgerald.[6]

She was stuck in the ice in Lake Erie near Conneaut, Ohio for eight days in February 1979[7] and then was laid up from 1981 to 1987 due to the economy and the capacity of the newer 1,000 feet (300 m) lake freighters.[8][3]

On May 27, 2016, the Roger Blough ran aground on Gros Cap Reef in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior with some minor flooding reported.[9] She remained aground on May 29, 2016 near Gros Cap Reefs Light with the United States Coast Guard vessel USCGC Mobile Bay on station monitoring the situation and enforcing a 500-yard (460 m) safety zone around the vessel.[10] At 5:45 AM on June 3, the Roger Blough began offloading some of its taconite cargo to the SS Philip R. Clarke to lift the ship off the reef.[11] The vessel was refloated off the reef at 10:45 AM, June 4, and anchored at Waiska Bay for further evaluation or repairs.[12] Lightering operations were completed at Waiska Bay on June 7, 2016 with the SS Philip R. Clarke and the SS Arthur M. Anderson receiving the remainder of the taconite cargo.[13] Starting off on June 11, 2016, the Roger Blough was escorted by the tug Candace Elise to Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for repairs.[14]

On February 1st, 2021 the vessel was engulfed in flame while docked at Bay Shipbuilding [15]

References
  1. "Vessel Documentation Query". NOAA/US Coast Guard. 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
  2. Colton, Tim. "AmShip Lorain, Lorain OH". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-02.
  3. Wharton, George. "Roger Blough". BoatNerd.com.
  4. "Fire damages new Ore ship". Reading Eagle. June 25, 1971. p. 17.
  5. "Great Lakes Ore Carrier in Sea Trials". The Milwaukee Sentinel. June 13, 1972. p. 8.
  6. United States Coast Guard (USCG) (July 26, 1977). "Marine Board Casualty Report: SS Edmund Fitzgerald; Sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975 With Loss of Life". USCG: 42. hdl:2027/mdp.39015071191467. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Freighter Freed". The Tuscaloosa News. February 17, 1979.
  8. Bawal, Raymond A. (2009). Twilight of the Great Lakes Steamers. Inland Expressions. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9818157-2-5.
  9. "U.S. Coast Guard responding to grounded freighter in Whitefish Bay". Soo Today. May 27, 2016.
  10. "MV Roger Blough Aground in Lake Superior". uscgnews.com. May 29, 2016.
  11. "Lightering Operations begin on Motor Vessel Roger Blough in Lake Superior, Update 9". uscgnews.com. June 3, 2016.
  12. "Motor vessel Roger Blough safely anchored in Waiska Bay, Update 11". uscgnews.com. June 4, 2016.
  13. "Lightering operations complete on motor vessel Roger Blough, Update 13". uscgnews.com. June 7, 2016.
  14. "Roger Blough enroute to Sturgeon Bay for Repairs, Update 14". uscgnews.com. June 11, 2016.
  15. "Roger Blough starts on fire in Sturgeon Bay, Update 15". WBAY Wi. February 1, 2021.
The Roger Blough heading north at the St. Clair Light.
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