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Floating Palaces
The Steamships of the great lakes have existed since the mid-1800s, with some persisting even today. But the true glory days of the Great Lakes paddle steamers came in the early 1900s, five stories tall, rising from the water with huge paddles and even larger grand halls. Heavily decorated interiors, luscious appointments, and promenades galore, these steamers easily outclassed their Transatlantic counterparts. TheOceanLiner.com presents: not ocean liners!
SS Greater Buffalo (1920s)
Giants of C&B and D&C
The protagonists of this story are the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company, and the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company, referred to as C&B and D&C respectively. There were other lines, but most of the competition was bought out by the two companies. Both companies controlled rail lines and steamship lines, having a monopoly over transport on both land and lake. The D&C was established in 1868, and C&B was established in 1888, two decades later. Both companies would realize that the great lakes needed more transport options, and that steamship routes would be extremely lucrative.
Slowly, they would start to dominate the lakes and expand their operations, picking up steam literally and figuratively and swallowing smaller companies and making alterations to their fleet to accommodate the new vessels. As the passenger market shifted from mere transportation to pleasure voyages, the two companies would pick up on this and begin to put more emphasis on their onboard amenities, services and entertainment, and decorating their ships more to make them seem appealing to wealthier clientele.
SS City of Detroit III
By the year 1900 new designs for steamships were being drawn up on a scale no one had ever seen before. In 1911 the City of Detroit III was launched a the largest paddle steamer in the world at 470 feet, complete with salons, a palm court, a winery, and a massive richly decorated smoking room known as the Gothic Room.
This was huge for a paddle steamer, and it would be followed by yet more vessels of similar size, the largest of them all being the Seeandbee of C&B lines. The Seeandbee was perhaps one of the most astonishing vessel ever built for the Great lakes, as the paddle steamer was one of the legendary four-stackers, alongside the likes of the Titanic, Olympic, Lusitania, and many more. She was an absolute monster of a ship quite likely the largest true passenger steamer ever to sail the Great Lakes at 500 feet long, and her interiors were even more impressive. Following in the footsteps of paddle steamers before her, she had a great wealth of salons, restaurants, ballrooms, lounges, and other assorted luxurious spaces, all covered in rich decoration, paneled in wood, and blanketed in lush carpet.
An average voyage went like this; you would board around noon, spend the rest of the day socializing, dining, reading, and strolling the decks, before having a final meal, going to bed in your luxurious cabin, and waking up the next morning for arrival and disembarkation. This truly was the way to travel the lakes, but sadly this era would only last around 3 decades before cracks began to form in both C&B and D&C's operations, and beginning of the end was upon them.
SS Seeandbee
Scrap them All
The recent advent of personal automobiles was what really killed the trans-lake passenger service. With cars taking to the newly built highways, passenger numbers began to fall, and services began to falter as C&B and D&C began to lose money and struggled to keep up with the operating costs of their massive ships. C&B suffered heavy financial losses, and was liquidated in 1939. By the dawn of WWII, the largest of the paddle steamers failed to turn a profit and both the Seeandbee and Greater Buffalo were sold off to the navy to be stripped down and turned into aircraft carriers for pilot trainees. After the war, profits fell again, and only a couple ships remained, and in their darkest hour, disaster struck.
On June 26th, 1950, SS City of Cleveland III was rammed by the Norwegian freighter SS Ravenfjell. Her stern was severely damaged, with 5 passengers dead and dozens more injured. This incident, along with the dramatic growth of automobiles, killed D&C. In 1951 the company was dissolved and their remaining vessels were scrapped, SS Greater Detroit and SS Eastern states were taking out into the lake and set ablaze to burn away their superstructures and reach the iron underneath. Once they were finished their anchors were cut loose and they were towed to the scrapyard.
Aftermath
The days of the giant paddle steamers were over. C&B D&C, the companies that had brought the steamship to the Great Lakes, were gone, and they weren't coming back. Large-scale passenger steamers would not be seen on the great lakes for decades, and even when they returned they were mostly utilitarian ferries, built simply to shuttle people around. In 2014 SS Greater Detroit III's anchor was raised from the bottom of Lake St. Claire, almost 60 years after it was cut loose from the ship and her smoldering hulk was towed off. It was restored and is now displayed at the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority building as a monument to these great ships and all who sailed aboard them. Gone but not forgotten, the paddle steamers of the Great Lakes are a unique chapter in history, and deserve their place in the hearts of enthusiasts.
Restaurant onboard Seeandbee
Atrium onboard Seeandbee
City of Detroit III's Gothic Room
City of Detroit III's Grand Salon.
Fun Fact! Although Seeandbee and her fleetmates may have been the largest paddle steamers of their day, the title of largest paddle steamer ever actually goes to the SS Great Eastern, although she also carried sails and screw propulsion.
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