View source for SS Col. James M. Schoonmaker

{{Short description|1911 lake freighter}}
{{More citations needed|date = May 2015}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=yes}} <!-- commercial vessels -->
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Col James M Schoonmaker_IMO 5077228_B_Toledo_31-07-2018.jpg
|Ship caption=''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' as museum ship in 2018 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States 
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United States}}
|Ship name=*''Col James M. Schoonmaker'' (1911–1972)
*''Willis B. Boyer'' (1972–2011)
*''Col James M. Schoonmaker'' (2011–)
|Ship owner=*Shenango Furnace Company
*[[Interlake Steamship Company]]
*[[Cleveland-Cliffs|Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company]]
|Ship operator=
| Ship registry = {{flagicon|US}} [[Toledo, Ohio]]
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|Ship builder=[[Great Lakes Engineering Works]]
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|Ship yard number=Hull 82
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|Ship launched=1 July 1911
|Ship completed=
|Ship in service=11 October 1911
|Ship out of service=1980
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|Ship identification={{IMO Number|5077228}}
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=[[Museum ship]]
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship tonnage={{GRT|12200}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|617|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|64|ft|abbr=on}}
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|Ship depth={{convert|34|ft|abbr=on}}
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|Ship power=triple expansion steam engine
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|Ship speed=12 knots
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|Ship crew=29
|Ship notes= oldest ship to carry the distinction of [[Queen of the Lakes]] 
}}
|}'''''Col. James M. Schoonmaker''''', formerly '''''Willis B. Boyer''''', is a [[lake freighter]] that served as a commercial vessel on the [[Great Lakes]] for much of the 20th century.  Named for Medal of Honor recipient [[James Martinus Schoonmaker]], it is currently a [[museum ship]] in [[Toledo, Ohio]].

==History==
[[File:Schoonmaker1911.jpg|thumbnail|''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' prior to launching in 1911]]
The steamship ''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' began life on 1 July 1911 at the [[Great Lakes Engineering Works]] in [[Ecorse, Michigan]]. At the time of her launch she took the title of [[Queen of the Lakes]] which is given to the biggest ship on the [[Great Lakes]]. She became the flagship of the Shenango Furnace Company. She broke many cargo records for iron ore, grain and coal in her first year. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine which was replaced by a steam turbine in 1955. She sailed as part of the Shenango fleet until 1969 when she was sold to the [[Interlake Steamship Company]] who chartered ''Col James M. Schoonmaker'' to the [[Republic Steel Corporation]]. After a three-year charter to that company Interlake decided to sell her to the [[Cleveland-Cliffs|Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company]], who renamed the ship ''Willis B. Boyer'' after the company's president. They operated the laker for 7 years in the iron trade until she was laid up in 1980 due to a downturn in the steel industry. After sitting unwanted for 7 years, the city of [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]] decided to purchase her for use as a museum. She sat as the centerpiece of the International Park in that city for several decades before being rechristened back to her original name ''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' and being moved one last time to the site of the [[National Museum of the Great Lakes]] on the banks of the [[Maumee River]] in Toledo.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Col. James M. Schoonmaker - The Great Lakes Historical Society|url = http://www.inlandseas.org/museum/col-james-m-schoonmaker/|website = www.inlandseas.org|access-date = 2015-05-07}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Toledo freighters (Buckley, Boyer).jpg|thumb|''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' in 2006, when she was known as the ''Willis B. Boyer'' in her Cleveland-Cliffs fleet livery]]
''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' is {{convert|617|ft|abbr=out}} long overall. She has a beam of {{convert|64|ft|abbr=out}} and a depth of over {{convert|33|ft|abbr=out}}. Her carrying capacity is 12,200 gross tons at {{convert|21|ft|abbr=out|adj=on}} draft.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Gary |last=Dewar |date=September 1987|magazine=Telescope|title=Telescope Magazine |volume=36 |number=5 |publisher=Great Lakes Maritime Institute |page=119}}</ref> A unique feature of the ship is inside her pilothouse. She was one of the few ships on the Great Lakes to have twin steering wheels. The starboard is the main wheel while the other was an auxiliary. As the flagship of the company for many years she was fitted with many features a normal laker would not have. She was fitted with 5 luxury guest suites in the bow of the ship. One of the guests was [[Andrew Carnegie]], whose many business interests coincided with the ship's cargoes. She also carried a guest lounge and dining room for the comfort of passengers.

''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' was one of several dozen vessels based on the influential design of the [[SS J. Pierpont Morgan|''J. Pierpont Morgan'']] - known as the ''"[[600 footers]]"''.<ref name=QueenOfTheLakesSchoonmaker/>

==Museum ship== 
On 17 December 2009 the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority Board of Directors authorized a Memorandum of Understanding with the Great Lakes Historical Society of Vermilion, Ohio, for the creation of the National Museum of the Great Lakes at the Toledo Maritime Center.
 
''Willis B. Boyer'' was repainted in her Shenango Furnace fleet livery and, on 1 July 2011, rechristened back to her original name, ''Col. James M. Schoonmaker''. In October 2012, ''Col. James M. Schoonmaker'' was towed by tugs downriver to her new berth next to the museum.  The museum opened in spring 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Home - The Great Lakes Historical Society|url = http://www.inlandseas.org/|website = www.inlandseas.org|access-date = 2015-05-07}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[James Martinus Schoonmaker]]
* [[SS William G. Mather (1925)|SS ''William G. Mather'' Maritime Museum]] The Schoonmaker's sister ship at one time, now a museum ship in [[Cleveland, Ohio]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=QueenOfTheLakesSchoonmaker>
{{cite book
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=irtD2o_uQ88C
| title       = Queen of the Lakes
| publisher   = [[Wayne State University Press]]
| author      = Mark L. Thompson
| year        = 1994
| pages       = 121–127
| isbn        = 9780814343371
}}
</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.inlandseas.org/museum/col-james-m-schoonmaker/ Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship]


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{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}

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[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Museum ships in Ohio]]
[[Category:Museums in Toledo, Ohio]]
[[Category:1911 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Ecorse, Michigan]]
[[Category:Queen of the Lakes]]
[[Category:Great Lakes freighters]]
[[Category:Lake Erie]]
[[Category:Toledo, Ohio]]