Self-unloading Ore Carrier <I>James R. Barker</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1978
label: year the James R. Barker was built
content: 1976
name: label: built James R. Barker
content: American Shipbuilding Co.
label: bought the James R. Barker
content: Interlake Steamship Co.
label: maker
content: Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: The <I>James R. Barker</I> was built in 1976 by the American Shipbuilding Co. at Lorain, OH for the Interlake Steamship Co. It was named after the head of the Moore-McCormack Steamship Company, which owned Interlake. Costing over $43 million, <I>Barker</I> was the third 1000-footer to sail the Great Lakes, and the first built entirely on the Lakes. These big bulk coal and ore carriers were constructed to fit the largest locks connecting the Great Lakes.
label: Description
content: <I>Barker'</I>s two big 8,000-hp engines turn two 17-1/2-foot propellers, pushing the vessel at a speed of 15.75 knots (18 mph). The ship can transport 59,000 tons of iron ore pellets or 52,000 tons of coal. The self-unloading rig has a 250-foot-long boom that can unload 10,000 tons of ore or 6,000 net tons of coal per hour. By contrast, Interlake’s first bulk carrier, the 1874 wooden-hulled steamer <I>V.H. Ketchum</I>, could carry only 1,700 tons of ore and took nearly twelve days to unload using manual wheelbarrows.
label: Description
content: The Barker was still in service in 2009.
place: label: Associated Place
content: Great Lakes
topic: label: related event
content: Contemporary United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Work
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content: Energy & Power
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Lake Carriers' Association (through Vice Adm. Paul E. Trimble, USCG Ret.)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.336153
label: catalog number
content: 336153
label: accession number
content: 1978.0374
objectType: label: Object Name
content: carrier
label: Object Type
content: Carrier
label: Other Terms
content: carrier; Maritime; Ore
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 63 in x 6 in; 20.32 cm x 160.02 cm x 15.24 cm