SS Arthur B. Homer

Arthur B. Homer in 1978
History
United States
Name	Arthur B. Homer
Owner	Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Operator	Bethlehem Transportation Corporation
Port of registry	Wilmington, Delaware
Builder	Great Lakes Engineering Works
Launched	7 November 1959
Out of service	4 October 1980
Identification	U.S. Registry #280946
Fate	Scrapped 1987
General characteristics
Class and type	Lake freighter
Tonnage	1,339 GRT 8,442 NRT
Length	730 ft (220 m) (as built) 826 ft (252 m)
Beam	75 ft (23 m)
Depth	39 ft (12 m)
Installed power	Steam Turbine

SS Arthur B. Homer was a 730-foot (220 m) Great Lakes freighter that was built in 1960 by Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, Michigan for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The ship was launched in November 7, 1959 and being lowered sideways, which made it the largest side-launching in maritime history at that time. The ship's capacity was 25,000 tons, and it was the twelfth vessel of the Bethlehem Steel fleet. The ship was able to operate anywhere in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, and parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ship was 730 feet long and had a 75-foot (23 m) beam, the maximum size allowed by the Soo Locks and St. Lawrence Seaway locks. Over the winter of 1975-76, the Homer was lengthened 96 feet to bring her total length of 826 feet. She was laid up on October 4, 1980 and did not sail again. Towed to Port Colborne in December of 1986, she was scrapped in 1987 and remains the largest ship ever scrapped on the Great Lakes.

Arthur B. Homer was a sister ship to the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was lost with all hands in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975.