Great Lakes Ships Moved iron ore to the steel mills on the lower Great Lakes.

Liberty Ships
Were mass produced to replace the ships sunk by U-Boats.

Clipper Ships
United the east and west coast of the U.S. during the 1848 gold rush.

s/s Edmund Fitzgerald
Was launched in 1958, named for the chairman of Northwestern Insurance Co.The ship was built with prefabricated sections, and welded together. The night of Nov.10th, 1975 the Fitzgerald's Capt. Ernest McSorley, was in contact with Capt. J.B.Cooper of the s/s Arthur.M. Anderson, when she disappeared from the radar screen. Capt. Cooper notified the U.S. Coast Guard, who then called for search volunteers, the vessels s/s Arthur M. Anderson, s/s Wm. Clay Ford and s/s Hilda Marjanne responded. The wreck was found on Nov 14th when a U.S. Navy plane with "MAD" equipment.The U.S.C.G.Woodrush with CURV III viewed the sunken ship on May 20, 1976, for the first time.

Liberty Ships
Is dedicated to last surviving Liberty Ships s/s John W. Brown and s/s Jeremiah O'Brien. Restored and sailing again by the hard work of many volunteers. The U.S. Maritime Commision cargo ship design was No. EC2-S-C1, some were built as oil tankers, coal colliers (engine aft) and hospitals ships. The first ship order was Jan. 3, 1941 for 60 British "Oceans" and 200 Liberty ships.The first ship was launched on Sept. 1941, the last one on Oct.1945. A total of 2,710 Liberties were built.The US Merchant Service lost over 1500 ships of all tonnages, including 215 Liberties to enemy action. The U.S. Merchant Service lost 6,835 seamen, US Navy Armed Guard fatalities were 1,810 officers and enlisted men.

Clipper Ship "Flying Cloud"
Donald McKay designed and built the "Flying Cloud" in 1851. The Clipper Ships were built for the California Gold Rush . The race course was from New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn, The "Flying Cloud's" time was 89 days , 21 hours in 1851. Clipper "Andrew Jackson" in 1860 beat this record by 17 hours. The Clipper Ship era was from 1845 to 1860. The hull design was by John W.Griffith. Both Donald McKay and Samuel Pook improved the design and built ships on their own.The British in 1858 pioneered the use of iron hulls and masts. This gave greater a cargo capacity to the clipper ship design. After the Civil War only wooden clippers were built in the U.S.A.