Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Roger Blough Sets Out for Sea Trials – June 1972

Roger Blough ore carrier setting out for sea trials in June 1972
(Courtesy ClevelandMemory.org)

MV Roger Blough – the ore carrier built by American Ship Building in Lorain for U. S. Steel – seems destined to forever be in the news. 

Fire on Roger Blough ore carrier
(Courtesy ClevelandMemory.org)
As many of us remember, it suffered a major engine room fire in June 1971 which killed four shipyard workers. It played a part in the search for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk in November 1975.

But the Roger Blough continues to make headlines.

It got stuck in the ice in Lake Erie in February 1979; it ran aground in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior in May 2016. And last month, it suffered $20 million in damages due to a fire while it was at its winter storage dock in Wisconsin.

But way back in June 1972, with the tragic fire behind it, the Roger Blough was being towed out of the Lorain shipyard in preparation for sea trials.

Read all about it in the article below, which appeared in the Journal on June 3, 1972.

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 9, 2021 at 8:57 AM

    Hi Dan - The father of a grade school friend was a Lorain fireman and was injured fighting the Roger Blough fire. If memory serves I believe he fell off a ladder and broke both heels, OUCH!. As a kid growing up in the 60's and spending a lot of time driving up and down Colorado Ave. the shipyard was always a busy with activity. A real treat to see the ore boats in various stages of completion. As a side note my Mom remembers George Steinbrenner bringing his black Lincoln to the car wash (Ace). Todd

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  2. Dan BradyMarch 9, 2021 at 1:41 PM

    Hi Todd! Thanks for leaving the reminisce. Yes, the shipyard was a big part of what Lorain used to be. I remember our Cub Scout pack going down there to watch a ship get launched. Pretty exciting!

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  3. Mike KozlowskiMarch 9, 2021 at 3:58 PM

    ...Loving that pic of the BLOUGH leaving on sea trials - my Dad was aboard, he was at his trials station down in the engine room.

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