Former Heavy Lift Crane Vessel JOHN HENRY

Photo by Randy Terpstra

It was truly a new day when Randy Terpstra captured these wonderful photos near Mariatown and Iroquois Lock on August 24th, 2015. It was also a new journey and new sense of hope for the 282.75' heavy lift crane barge. She also had a new name though no one seemed to have time to paint it anywhere on her blue hull. Over the years she has had several new names but when she built at Peterson Shipbuilders of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1978, for her owners, American Heavy Lift of Wilmington, Delaware, she was given a "Grand" name, one of distinction and of the true grit and strength that would surely make her a legend just like her namesake, JOHN HENRY.

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Photo by Randy Terpstra

There was no contest that morning. It was the right thing to do, to give way to the speedy and confident JANA DESGAGNÉS and allow her to make her way to Iroquois Lock up ahead. There was absolutely nothing wrong with skirting along the shoreline for the unusual looking barge because there enough channel for the both of them. On that day she went where or at whatever speed her pull and push tugs took her. She had no choice. It wasn't always that way. There was a time when she looked and behaved very much like the Groupe Desgagnés tanker. No she didn't have all those red pipes on her deck, but she had a tall superstructure with a wide commanding wheelhouse, and it was also white. But most all, she had her own powerful engines and just like in René Beauchamp's photo below of her entering New York harbour in 1979, she looked powerful, she was in control of her destiny, she was the JOHN HENRY. 

Photo by René Beauchamp

Unfortunately there wasn't as much work for the muscle bound JOHN HENRY as thought, so in 1980 after being acquired by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the mighty JOHN HENRY was added to the U.S. Government's Ready Reserve Fleet (just like in my previous post of the New Orleans based carriers CAPE KNOX & CAPE KENNEDY  http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/08/roro-carriers-cape-kennedy-cape-knox.html). 

For the HENRY, her opportunity to show off her capabilities and enduring strength while cleaning up or hauling away the carnage due to a nature disaster or conflict never came, and after nearly 20 years of laying in wait, the unique heavy lift ship was sold to the Worldwide Water Foundation in December of 1999 and renamed, REVIVAL. 

It wasn't a bad name because after all she had been technically mothballed all that time in a fresh water basin on the Neches River near Beaumont, Texas, so it was like being brought back from the dead or reincarnated to do what she was meant to do. Based in Orange, Texas, the REVIVAL was perfect as a base of operations for any humanitarian effort. Her shallow draft offered access up rivers that would otherwise be unnavigable and with her big steel ramps that could be lowered through her broad bow doors onto a riverbank or from the stern onto a dock, all kinds of supplies, drilling equipment and container could easily be driven on and off, or positioned with her the two heavy lift Stuelcken booms. Her superstructure and lower decks included a functioning wheelhouse, chart room, officers staterooms, galleys, and bunks for 24 persons. The REVIVAL would be deemed a leader in humanitarian efforts worldwide. However the project fell through and the ship was laid up once again.

Photo by Ron Beaupre

Meanwhile, Upper Lakes Shipping had set up a grain shuttling service from the Lakehead using inland covered barges like one might see on the Mississippi River to move prairie grain through the Great Lakes and Seaway system to their grain elevator in Trois-Rivieres on the St. Lawrence River. In 2008, Upper Lakes created Marinelink Inc. and with the intent to haul wind turbines to Kingston, Ontario through Nadro Marine, ULS sent their tug, the 350' COMMODORE STRAIT to Texas to bring the laid up heavy lift ship REVIVAL to Canada. Renamed, MARINELINK  EXPLORER she was moved again, this time with the assistance of the then Norlake tug, RADIUM YELLOWKNIFE to brake or keep the tow in control while the COMMODORE STRAIT lead the way past Ron Beaupre's place in Mariatown (nice snaps Ron) before making their way to Port Weller Dry Dock where MARINELINK EXPLORER would receive under the waterline repair work and a new coat of paint **. Unfortunately since both the wind turbine project and another opportunity to haul steel coil for U.S. Steel fell through, the EXPLORER was towed to the Century stone dock in Port Colborne where she remained for the complete 2009 shipping season **. While parked there it was discovered that since the wheelhouse needed far too much work to meet Transport Canada specifications, it was decided that the superstructure would be removed completely. Also, since seawater had somehow gotten into the engines' sumps causing a lot of damages, the once powerful motor vessel would simple become a barge. 

Photo by Ron Beaupre

Though not exactly being used as original intended and desperately wanting some kind of return on investment from their acquisition, COMMODORE STRAIT pushed her new "barge-mate" MARINELINK EXPLORER to the former government elevators located at Port Colborne's outer harbour as the 2010 shipping season was about to begin and took on over 2,000 tons of grain destined for Trois-Rivière **. While making their way downbound, the unintended duo were award Top Hat honours for being the new season opening vessel on the Welland Canal on March 25, 2010 **. Soon after unloading her cargo of grain at Trois-Rivières, the heavy lift barge got to show her real might while taking on a load of railway locomotives from Bécancour, a community located about 150 km from the beginning of the lower St. Lawrence, to Sept-Iles at the big river's mouth. Work went dry after that and when Upper Lakes was sold to Algoma Central in 2011, the tug & barge combo were put up for sale***.  

Photo by Randy Terpstra

Their long term layup ended in late 2013 when they were both acquired by CAI Logistic, a subsidiary of Chaulk Air Inc. of Moncton, New Brunswick, a companying that specializes in forwarding freight to Labrador and the Far North. Not surprising, their names were changed again; the COMMODORE STRAIT became CHAULK DETERMINATION and MARINELINK EXPLORER became known as CHAULK LIFTER ***. Though not driving steel like her original namesake, the CHAULK LIFTER's big cranes with their 300 ton lifting capacity were put to good use once again when used to haul in and then unload multi-purpose building modules at Nain, the northern most permanent settlement in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.    

Photo by Randy Terpstra

She was laid up at Les Méchins, a community and dry dock town located on the south shore near where the St. Lawrence River widened significantly and soon becomes a gulf when the Groupe Océan tugs K. RUSBY and YVES DESGAGNÉS hooked onto the CHAULK LIFTER to commence her latest journey back into the Great Lakes. 

                                                 Photo by Randy Terpstra

At Montreal, the former  World War II TANAC tug, M.R. KANE took over the lead position and because of her compact size, her primary task was to keep the tow on course.

To read more about M.R. KANE (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2016/02/former-tanac-tug-mr-kane.html)
                                                                                                   Photo by Randy Terpstra

                                                 Photo by Randy Terpstra

Meanwhile at the CHAULK LIFTER's stern, the heavier tug and kind of an old acquaintance from when she was towed back into the Lakes as MARINELINK EXPLORER in 2008, the 235'  RADIUM YELLOWKNIFE provided the power as the passage made their way to Iroquois Lock and then eventually Toronto harbour.

Photo by Randy Terpstra

At some point during her transit, new owner, the Toronto Drydock Ltd, renamed the former JOHN HENRY, COASTAL TITAN.

September 24, 2015 - COASTAL TITAN nestled in the background behind TDD tugs, from left, SALVAGE MONARCH, RADIUM YELLOWKNIFE, W.N. TWOLAN, and floating dry dock, MENIER CONSOL.

Still nameless on February 20, 2016

Though anytime I have snapped the crane barge COASTAL TITAN in Toronto, she has appeared to be as she was for all those years as a motor vessel, idle and waiting to prove the value of her machinery and her name. Toronto Dry Dock never did reply to my email asking about the type of work COASTAL TITAN would be doing for their company, though I have heard she has been used to haul up yachts and pleasure crafts onto their dock for winter storage. Hmmm!! I suppose though whether named after JOHN HENRY, a symbol of physical strength and endurance; or TITAN, a Greek word meaning enormous size, strength and power, whenever a heavy lift job come along, she obviously still has what it takes to get the job done. That's all that's been expected of her.  

June 4, 2016 - Name finally appears.

While John Henry is said to be an African American folk hero or tall tale, several tunnel locations that were blasted out of various mountains and opened during the late 1800's, has suggested their site is where John Henry died. There's been many songs written about him and while the author of the original "Ballad of John Henry" is unknown, there have been many versions of it. The one I superimposed on Randy Terpstra's beautiful series of photos above, came from the Pete Seeger sessions sung by Bruce Springsteen in has album "We Shall Overcome". It's a beautiful collection of inspirational songs. I highly recommend it. Meanwhile, the here's a youtube link of Bruce and his band performing "The Ballad of John Henry" (https://youtu.be/U3eutnpTr3E) Take a listen to it when you have a moment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do whenever I hear it.

WHEW!! Much more time that I expected was spent putting this post to bed and I could not have completed it without the help of my boat watching friend, Ron Beaupre of Mariatown, who provided a couple of nice pics and directed me to passages previously written about the JOHN HENRY (and it's many other names) by the Toronto Marine Historical Society's newsletter, SCANNER. Whenever I used a portion of their information in this post, I identified it at the end of the sentence with a "**". The blog Tugfax was also a great resource and they were identified with "***". Thanks again Ron, and also to René Beauchamp for your archive pic of the JOHN HENRY (It's a beauty) and Randy, thanks for being there snapping the COASTAL TITAN's transit on a day I was stuck confined to barracks due a few broken, sprained and bruised joints.
Summer is half way over here in this neck of "The Great White North" and boy do I have a lot of yard work that needs to be completed before winter returns.  I don't know when my next post will be, but don't be surprised if it's less wordy and more pictorial. Take care and enjoy your summer c):-D (or winter for those of you living in the South Hemisphere c):-( ), Carl c);-b