Paul R. Tregurtha - The Largest Ship on the Great Lakes

Sometimes, a video title just needs to tell it like it is. Regular boat watchers on the Great Lakes are already aware that the Paul R. Tregurtha is the longest ship on the lakes. But that might not necessarily be apparent to the casual observer... though if you ever see the Tregurtha in person, you will be mightily impressed by her size. The Tregurtha's hull is 1013 feet and 6 inches long, which gives her the distinction as "Queen of the Lakes," a title she's held ever since her launch in 1981. No other ship on the lakes has held that title for so long, and it's likely that no other ship will hold that title for the foreseeable future. There are 13 ships that are 1000 feet or longer on the Great Lakes, but the Tregurtha is roughly 10 feet longer than her next biggest competitor.

For this video, we see the Tregurtha arriving in Duluth, Minnesota on the afternoon of October 8, 2020. She was in town to pick up her usual load of coal from the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal (SMET). Despite having captured the Tregurtha many times on video over the past five years, this is actually the first time I've captured her in ideal lighting conditions with the sun illuminating her bow as she makes her way through the shipping canal. After passing through the shipping canal, we then catch up with the Tregurtha again at Rice's Point to watch her make a reverse pivot and back under the John A. Blatnik bridge and head towards the SMET dock. Ships typically back up to this dock, which then allows her to depart in a forward direction once they are loaded. Turning around a loaded ship takes considerably more effort than turning around an unloaded ship!

The Paul R. Tregurtha is powered by two Colt-Pielstick model 16PC2-3V-400 V-16 cylinder, four stroke, single acting diesel engines each rated at 8,560 bhp., giving her a total of 17,120 bhp. She has a cargo capacity of 68,000 tons, held in five cargo holds that are accessed by 36 hatches. Her self-unloading system can discharge 10,000 tons of iron ore or 6,000 tons of coal per hour. Despite being the longest ship on the Great Lakes, she is not the most powerful nor does she have the largest cargo capacity. The most powerful is the Edwin H. Gott at 19,500 bhp. The ship with the largest cargo capacity is the Walter J. McCarthy at 78,850 tons. In a way, I like it that three different ships hold their own "biggest" titles on the lakes. And since all three sail for different companies, each company has their own set of bragging rights!

I have a video highlighting all 13 of the 1000-foot lakers, which gives a good look at each ship and how long, powerful, fast, and spacious each vessel is. I will link to it at the end of the video or you can see it by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfwWdbtbD8&t
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