Doing things Backwards- John D Leitch Arrives in Reverse

John D Leitch making a rare appearance in the Twin Ports and not exactly how I expected her to! The one of a kind, iconic vessel was showing an unusual amount of lights as she approached Superior Entry, and as she got closure I began to suspect why. Sure enough, she was coming in backwards! The ship had been anchored out on the lake, waiting for the Paul R Tregurtha to depart, which was taking up the iron ore dock she was going to load at. While waiting, the wind blew her so her nose was facing away, and rather than spin around, and then need to spin around a second time once she was loaded and done, she simply backed in the whole way, then left straight out when she was done. That’s one way to do it, but pretty unusual nevertheless! Built in 1967, John D Leitch is the oldest vessel of the Algoma fleet, and the very last of their classic designed vessels. She was built for the Upper Lakes Towing Company as the Canadian Century, one of the last Canadian ships to claim the Queen of the Lakes title at 730ft long, a length which she shared with several other ships, but due to her boxy design she was the first laker to reach a 30,000 ton carrying capacity, making her the single heaviest ship on the Lakes at the time. She would carry both records for 5 years until 1972 when the 1000ft Stewart J Cort and her nearly 60,000 ton capacity took the Canadian Fleet out of the size record game entirely, making this among the last Canadian Queens. Her unloader was originally built with a bucket system specifically for the coal trade, that only lasted a few years before being replaced by a traditional conveyor system to increase her versatility. In 2002 she was laid up and cut apart, her cargo section being entirely replaced by an all new wider and flat-bottomed mid-section, extending the ship’s lifespan, and increasing the ship’s capacity to 34,100 tons at the cost of losing the hull slopes which fed the conveyor belt, now needing front loaders stored in the hull to feed the belt. The rebuild came with a rename to John D Leitch. In 2011 Upper Lakes sold their entire fleet to Algoma Central, the Leitch was the only ship to retain her name, and is now the only surviving ship from that fleet as well. In 2012 she rammed and rescued the crew of a small law enforcement boat which improperly crossed in front of her in Lorain Ohio, the most notable incident in her entire career so far. In 2019 the ship underwent a major refit. She spent much of the 2024 season in layup, only returning to sail the months of November and December, leading to a lot of talk she was being pulled out of service, with some people even traveling to say farewell to the vessel. Instead, she was given a maintenance overhaul of her electrical and exhaust systems and has had an extremely active 2025 despite many far newer vessels spending significant time at the docks. Hopefully that trend continues and she continues to sail as a last survivor for years to come! Hope you enjoy!