Big Ship in the Chicago River

 

On March 5, 1953, The Marine Angel freighter, became the largest vessel to transit from the Gulf of Mexico, north via the Mississippi River, and the Illinois Waterway, through downtown Chicago on the Chicago River, and out onto Lake Michigan, en route to her destination of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to be retro fitted with “self-unloading” equipment, and converted from a

Salt water vessel to a Great Lakes freighter.

This Library of Congress photo shows the Marine Angel passing under an upraised Michigan Avenue Bridge, and executing a tight right hand turn at the Wrigley Building. As the freighter navigated the relatively narrow Chicago River, it passed Van Buren Street with a mere seven inches of clearance on each side.

The Marine Angel, a 634 foot, 70 foot wide converted World War II freighter was built in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1945 as a type C4-S-B2 fast troop transport ship. During WWII, the ship customarily carried about 250 Army troops, and housed a 100 bed Naval hospital, making regular runs from the East Coast ports to Bombay and back. Like many war veterans, the ship settled into more domestic responsibilities post war, transporting grains and ore.

After passing through Chicago, The Marine Angel arrived at Manitowoc Shipbuilding in Wisconsin on March 13, 1953. Retrofitting was completed and the boat, renamed “McKee Sons”, (after the 11 McKee sons of the owner), and departed Manitowoc in October 1953.

The “McKee Sons” sailed as a Great Lakes steamer until 1979, and in 2014, she was moved to long-term storage at Muskegon, Michigan, where she sits today, and no doubt dreaming of that one day she passed through Chicago in 1953.