SS Spartan
{{Short description|Railroad car ferry}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=SS Spartan- C&O Carferry.jpg |Ship caption=SS Spartan sailing on Lake Michigan in her prime }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|cival}} |Ship name=SS Spartan |Ship namesake=Michigan State University |Ship owner=Interlake Maritime Services |Ship operator= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Christy Corporation, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=Hull No. 369 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=4 January 1952 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened=6 September 1952 |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=October 1952 |Ship out of service=November 1979 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= | Ship registry = 20px Ludington, Michigan |Ship identification=*Official No. 264500
|Ship motto= |Ship nickname=The mighty Spartan |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship fate= |Ship status=Inactive |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=Passenger, and automobile car ferry |Ship tonnage=4,244 gross tons |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|410|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|59|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{convert|24|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} molded depth |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power=Steam, coal-fired |Ship propulsion=Two compound Skinner Unaflow steam engines, totaling {{convert|7560|hp|MW|2|abbr=on}}; four Foster-Wheeler water-tube type D boilers, {{convert|450|psi|MPa|2|abbr=on}} |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|18|mph|kn km/h|1|abbr=on}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= 620 passengers, 180 automobiles, also tour buses, RVs, motorcycles, and commercial trucks |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Spartan is a railroad car ferry on Lake Michigan owned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) from 1952 through 1979. The ship alternated routes from Ludington, Michigan, to Milwaukee, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Commissioning and early history
The C&O fully absorbed the Pere Marquette Railway in 1947, inheriting the car ferry service already established in Ludington. The division became known as the "Pere Marquette District" of the C&O railroad. There were already several car ferries working out of Ludington at the time, including the Pere Marquette 21 and Pere Marquette 22, the City of Saginaw 31 and City of Flint 32, and the {{SS|City of Midland 41||2}}. C&O decided to improve its ferry fleet by adding two new ships. While similar in design to the immensely popular City of Midland 41, the new ships would have several notable design changes, such as a full-width pilot house that gave the crew an almost 360-degree view, and new lifeboat davits that freed up deck space.
Hull 369, which would become the Spartan began construction in late 1950 by the Christy Corporation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. She was launched on 4 January 1952 without fanfare; the {{SS|Badger||2}} was being built at the same time, and the owners preferred a double-christening ceremony. During construction, many cities on both sides of Lake Michigan lobbied for their names to go on the new ships, as was the tradition with previous Pere Marquette car ferries (i.e. City of Midland 41). C&O decided that fewer feelings would be hurt if the twin ferries were named Spartan and Badger, after the mascots of Michigan State University (then Michigan State College) and the University of Wisconsin. The ships were christened on 6 September 1952 after the Badger was successfully launched. The Spartan completed her sea trials on 27 September 1952 and was delivered to C&O on 23 October. She was the first carferry to enter Ludington's harbor since a strike idled C&O boats on 4 July. The strike ended at noon on 25 October. Six hours later, Spartan entered service when she departed Ludington for Kewaunee, Wisconsin.
Abandonment and the final years
In the mid-1970s, the C&O railway decided that the car ferries were no longer profitable to operate and petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to allow them to abandon the ferry routes. There were only three ferries left in service by this point: the City of Midland 41 (built in 1940), the Badger, and the Spartan. In 1978, C&O was granted permission to systematically eliminate its ferry routes. There was no longer a need for three ferries, and in September 1979 the Spartan was laid up in Ludington. In spring 1980 she was steamed up again to run as part of a lease agreement with the Ann Arbor Railroad, then operated by the Michigan Interstate Railway, out of Frankfort, Michigan, but was abandoned after it was discovered Frankfort harbor was too shallow for the Spartan. The ship was tied up at Ludington's number {{frac|3|1|2}} slip for many years. She has since been moved to number {{frac|2|1|2}} slip.
Since 1992
File:SS Badger and SS Spartan.jpg
In 1992, Ludington resident Charles Conrad formed Lake Michigan Carferry Service and acquired all three ships. Originally, he planned to begin service with the Badger, then they would have the Spartan join her as demand increased. While demand for the new service had been steady over the years, it never quite reached level required for a second ferry.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} SS Spartan today{{when|date=April 2023}} sits at Ludington's {{frac|2|1|2}} slip, one of the last of the true railroad-car ferries remaining. Due to the rarity of her coal-burning Skinner Unaflow steam engines that she and the Badger share, the Spartan has been used frequently as a parts ship to keep her twin running. There were also occasions she had been used for police training.{{cite web |last1=Begnoche |first1=Steve |title=New use for SS Spartan? |url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/archives/new-use-for-ss-spartan/article_2e89d59a-030e-5de7-899f-37eb47c27dda.html |publisher=Shoreline Media Group |access-date=10 October 2021 |language=en}} In the early 2000s, when a new passenger ferry service was proposed from Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lake Michigan Carferry (the owners of the Badger and Spartan since 1992) proposed a diesel-converted Spartan as the ship of choice for the run.{{cite book |last=Chavez |first= Art |series=Images of America |title=SS Badger: The Lake Michigan Car Ferry |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2003 |isbn= 0-7385-2304-6 }}{{page needed|date= April 2015}} But that proposal was rejected in favor of the high-speed Lake Express.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}
In December 2020, the Spartan was sold to Interlake Steamship Company.{{cite news |url = https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/12/31/iconic-ss-badger-car-ferry-sold/4104061001/ |title = Iconic Great Lakes Car Ferry SS Badger Sold |first1 = Christine |last1 = Ferretti |newspaper = The Detroit News |date = 31 December 2020 |access-date = 1 January 2021 }} The deal also includes the City of Midland 41 and SS Badger.{{cite news |url = https://www.htrnews.com/story/news/2020/12/31/manitowoc-car-ferry-s-s-badger-has-new-owner/4099649001/ |title = SS Badger Car Ferry Has New Owner as Part of Lake Michigan Car Ferry Co. Sale to Interlake Holding Co. |first1 = Jake |last1 = Prinsen |newspaper = Manitowoc Herald Times |date = 31 December 2020 |access-date = 1 January 2021 }} It was a part of a larger sale of assets. Interlake is based in Middleburg Heights, Ohio.{{cite news |url = https://mibiz.com/sections/economic-development/s-s-badger-iconic-cross-lake-car-ferry-in-ludington-sold-to-ohio-firm |title = SS Badger—Iconic Cross-Lake Car Ferry in Ludington—Sold to Ohio Firm |author = MiBiz Staff |newspaper = MiBiz |date = 30 December 2020 }}
In late 2021, Lake Michigan Carferry General Manager Sara Spore said that they had engineers conduct a survey of the Spartan in order to see what they can do with her, if anything.{{cite web |first1=David |last1 = Bossick |title=SS Badger to head to drydock next month for inspection, new paint job |url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/ss-badger-to-head-to-drydock-next-month-for-inspection-new-paint-job/article_85efd3b2-f302-51a1-a079-d49129ff603e.html |publisher=Shoreline Media Group |access-date=21 October 2021 |language=en}}
References
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External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Spartan (ship, 1952)|SS Spartan|position=left}}
{{Coord|43.948449|-86.450362|display=title}}
{{Christy Corporation ships}}{{Interlake Maritime Services}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Spartan}}
Category:Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Car Ferries
Category:Transportation in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin