McCarthy, Gott, and Tregurtha - Three 1000-footers Make Late Night Passages in Duluth

McCarthy, Gott, and Tregurtha... it's not a legal firm, but is instead the names of three 1000-foot Great Lakes ships that passed through the Duluth shipping canal between 1:30am and 3:30am the morning of October 17, 2019. These ships represent three of the thirteen 1000-footers that are active on the lakes. They are also representative of the three companies that operate the 1000-foot fleet.

The Walter J. McCarthy Jr. is part of the American Steampship Company fleet that has six of the 1000-footers on the lakes. The McCarthy is seen departing Duluth here with a load of coal she picked up at the Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.

The Edwin H. Gott is part of the Great Lakes Fleet which operates three of the 1000-footers. The Gott is seen here arriving in Duluth to pick up a load of iron ore from the Canadian National dock. The Gott is an infrequent visitor to Duluth, only visiting a couple times a year on average. She mostly picks up iron ore from the docks at Two Harbors or Silver Bay.

The Paul R. Tregurtha is part of the Interlake Shipping Company which operates the remaining four 1000-footers on the lakes. As you may already know, the Tregurtha is the "Queen of the Lakes" due to being the longest ship in operation on the Great Lakes. She is arriving to pick up a load of coal from the Midwest Energy facility, taking the place of the McCarthy who had just departed. The Tregurtha is a very regular visitor to Duluth, usually making a round trip once every week.

One thing to observe in this video is the difference in arrival speed of the Gott versus the Tregurtha. The Gott is making a slow and cautious arrival, not being a regular visitor and likely not used to navigating through the Duluth shipping canal at night. The Tregurtha on the other hand has done this MANY times and is arriving with much more speed. Her captain is obviously much more comfortable making the trip through the shipping canal.

No ship salutes in this video, but that's not unusual for such late night (or early morning) passages through the canal. While some ships will salute at night, many will not in order to avoid disturbing the nearby homes.

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