Page 30 - Port of Baltimore Magazine November/December 2016

PORT VIEW 1940 | BALTIMORE
STORY BY KATHY BERGREN SMITH
Freight Schooners, the Diesel Generation
Shallow-draft schooners once plied the Chesapeake, picking
up produce from the farms along the Bay’s many rivers for delivery to the Port of Baltimore, returning laden with fertilizer and other goods. Sailing ships fell from favor as dependable diesel engines became available in the 1930s — and then particularly after World War II, when surplus engines were plentiful. Some
schooners got second lives as motor vessels, and one of these was the 88-foot La Forrest L. Simmons, built in Milford, Del., in 1909. The Simmons is pictured here in 1940, shortly after she was converted to diesel by Smith Shipyard in Baltimore.
After the conversion, the Simmons crew was able to stay out of the weather in the wheelhouse instead of tending her many sails. She also held to a regular schedule
in normal weather, regardless
of wind direction. The Simmons worked until getting caught in a hurricane in 1955 while carrying slag from Sparrows Point. She sank in the Bay, her heavy cargo weighing her down. The crew was rescued but the vessel lost. Soon after,
the first Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened. This spelled the end for the “freight boats” on the Chesapeake, as trucks could make the trip in less time. 􏰀
[28] The Port of Baltimore ■ November/December 2016
COURTESY OF J. WILLIS SMITH / SMITH SHIPYARD