Steamer Ocotorara on St. Clair River - Louis Pesha Postcard

Passenger Steamer Ocotorara on St. Clair River by Louis Pesha, famed Great Lakes Maritime Photographer. Built by Detroit Ship Building Co. in Wyandotte, MI, 1910 for the Erie & Western Transportation Co. (Anchor Line) of Buffalo, NY U.S. Rebuilt as intermediate troop transport at New Orleans over winter, 1943-1944, and saw service in Western Pacific Ocean. After World War II, laid up in reserve fleet at Suisin Bay, CA. Lay idle, 1936-1943, after passenger operations were ceased by Great Lakes Transit Co. This vessel appropriately bears the name of the Iroquois Indian word "long remembered." She was designed primarily for the 2,952 mile Great Lakes run from Buffalo to Duluth and back, with a stop at Chicago - a trip costing less than $100 in the 1930's! This steamer gained a reputation as a luxury ocean liner in miniature. Her 594 passengers enjoyed a daily newspaper, a library, barbershop, soda fountain, large dining saloon, shore excursions, dances and bridge tournaments. The OCTORARA had a traditional Lakes design with engine aft and pilot house foward, creating a large center deck for passengers. During World War II she served as a Coast Gaurd barracks ship, and after the war was used as a Pacific inter-island steamer. She was scrapped in 1952.