S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum, Duluth, MN

In 1938 the S.S. William A. Irvin was launched on the Great Lakes. It is a lake freighter designed to sail throughout the Great Lakes and most particularly on Lake Superior. This ship was the flagship for the company. It was in working order until 1975. The ship was officially retired in 1978. Today the ship rests in Duluth, Minnesota as a museum. The ship is a perfect example of a straight decker, though it does not have a self unloading system.

Visitors who wish to tour the ship can find their way to Canal Park and downtown Duluth. The museum is located at 350 Harbor Drive. The tour is about $9 per person. Children will be less and there are some discount options. The tour takes about half an hour with the guide. One is limited to the guest rooms, captain's rooms, one of the kitchens, the cargo hold and part of the engine room. During October visitors can take part in the more expensive Haunted Tours. It is all about Halloween with that tour.

The Ore Boat has a capacity for 14,000 tons and a 2,000 horsepower turbine engine. Despite being an ore boat they did have staterooms for more important personnel. Some dignitaries and other wealthy riders were able to take a room on board to travel from one lake to the other. The ship was built in Lorain, Ohio by the American Ship Building Company. The ship was designed as a class four, and took 1.3 million dollars to build.

The christening of the boat was for Gertrude Irvin, William Irvin's Wife. Most of the ore that was taken in the ship came from Lake Superior to the US Steel mills in Lakes Michigan and Erie. There were three other boats built in this ship's likeness, which also made the same route.

During the career of this ship there was an unloading record of 13, 856 tons in 2 hours and 55 minutes. They were using the Hulett Unloaders at the time. The record as of 2007 was still unbroken, making it one of the longest records in history.

The ship's specifications include 610 feet from bow to stern, with 60 feet in width. The depth of her is 32 feet 6 inches. On the tour one is able to see the immensity of the ship and how people lived on it. The engine room one gets to see on the tour shows the area where 266 tons of coal could be kept to run the boiler room. It also shows the turbine and the shaft that would turn at 5, 600 RPM to propel the boat around the great lakes. When empty the Irvin could sail at 12.5 mph and when full only 11.1 miles per hour. These facts and many others are shared when one takes a tour of the museum. There are artifacts from the crew that have been places throughout to give a better idea of life on the boat.