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The Great Lakes Engineering Works The Shipyard And Its Vessels

Great Lakes Ships We Remember - Volumes I, II, and III

Ahoy & Farewell

The Detroit Marine Historian, our monthly publication

  - The Great Lakes Engineering Works The Shipyard And Its Vessels -

The Marine Historical Society of Detroit is proud to announce the release of their new book on the history of the Great Lakes Engineering Works, a prominent Detroit area shipbuilder. Over five hundred pages, this hard cover book took nearly four years to complete and is written in two major sections, which are amply illustrated with more than 1000 photographs. The first section depicts GLEW’s three shipyards and their development at St. Clair, Ashtabula and the Detroit area from virtual marshlands to one of the most successful shipbuilding yards on the Great Lakes until its demise in 1961. The second section of the book is dedicated to the 300 plus vessels that were built by GLEW’s three yards, describing each vessel’s history in detail with most being accompanied by an outstanding number of photographs, many of which have never been published and are very rare. This book is a small run limited edition and can only be ordered directly from the Society

Click on the cover image to preview or to order.

- Great Lakes Ships We Remember -
Volumes I, II, and III

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The following publications are our outstanding, hard cover books that cover hundreds of favorite ships that have sailed the Great Lakes. Most of these vessels were briefly discussed in the monthly series of the Detroit Marine Historical Society's "Ships That Never Die." These include wood, iron and steel bulk freighters, schooners, lumber hookers, railroad ferries, tugs and passenger vessels to name a few. Many of the photographs used in these publications are rare and are not available elsewhere.

To view a selection from the more than 1300 pages contained in the three volumes, click on the Cover image located next to each volumes description.

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Great Lakes Ships We Remember

This hardbound, enamelstock book consists of 424 enthralling pages, beautifully illustrated with 675 individual ship photographs. Many of these are extremely rare and have never been published before. The scope of the vessels described ranges from tugs and small ferries to the most modern bulk carriers that have been a part of the Great Lakes scene and are now gone. This book provides a weath of facinating details, largely lacking before. Ship dimensional data, engine specifications, tonnages and ownership are all provided in succinct form. All ship names are cross-indexed!

Great Lakes Ships We Remember II

A continuation of the first award-winning volume These are entirely NEW vessels which have been selected because of their particular contribution to the life and lore of the Great Lakes and could not, because of size constraints, be included in the first volume. As in Great Lakes Ships We Remember this is the result of countless hours of research that historians, buffs and the casual reader will find to be most informative, enjoyable and the perfect complement to both the original volume and volume III.

Great Lakes Ships We Remember III

Great Lakes Ships We Remember III completes the trilogy of the series. Like its two predecessors this volume encompasses a very special era of history and tells the story of more than 160 vessels which, in their passage, touched the lives of many and left their passing indelibly etched in the fabric of life along the Great Lakes As in the first two volumes, Great Lakes Ships We Remember III, contains an abundance of carefully selected photographs from innumerable sources. These along with the tediously researched history, visually chronicle the life of each vessel.

The above 3 books are no longer in publication but may be available at your local book store.

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Ahoy & Farewell

The Revised First Volume of Ahoy & Farewell The first volume of Ahoy & Farewell, no longer in print, was originally written in 1969 and published in 1970 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of The Marine Historical Society of Detroit, Inc. It chronicled vessels that entered service on the Lakes (Ahoy) or that had left the Lakes (Farewell) during the 15-year period starting with the 1954 season. This revised edition has been expanded to include updated information for ships in the first book plus the contents of two supplements that listed ships which left the Lakes during the period 1944 through 1954 and ships new to the Lakes from 1944 through 1955. These supplements were made available to the membership in 1954 for our tenth anniversary and in 1955 for our eleventh anniversary respectively. These three publications together spanned a very active and significant 25-year period. Because of the interest in this era it was decided to rewrite the first “Ahoy & Farewell” with the above mentioned additions; an endeavor that took nearly 6 years to produce. With few exceptions, more than 700 vessels of 1000 gross registered tons or more that comprised the US and Canadian Great Lakes fleet are included in this book, keeping in tune with Ahoy & Farewell II (over 440 vessels). This revised and rewritten hardbound book is 235 pages long compared to 120 pages of the original Ahoy & Farewell book and includes over 90 high quality, and in many cases, very rare photographs. No expense was spared on the heavy duty binding, high quality paper, the colorful dust jacket, or the unique hardbound cover, which includes the dust jacket color photo.    A new greatly expanded "Ahoy & Farewell II" is now available. Volume two presents a much more expanded and detailed account of over 440 Great Lakes ships that were either Ahoyed or Farewelled over the last twenty-five years ending in 1994. Over 60 high quality pictures and an extensive cross-index are additional features. Soft or hard cover.

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The Detroit Marine Historian

The Society's monthly publication, The Detroit Marine Historian , explores the various shipping activities of the entire Great Lakes. The fleets, past and present, new vessels and the scrapping of many ships are covered periodically. Also "The Log" features current events in the shipping industry. Past "Historians" dating back to 1947 (beginning with volume 1) are available to members at a modest cost.

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