Benson Ford (1924 ship)

MV Benson Ford was a lake freighter built for hauling raw material to Ford Motor Company's River Rouge manufacturing plant in Dearborn, Michigan. The ship was named for Benson Ford Sr., grandson of the late Henry Ford.

History

Design and construction

MV Benson Ford was constructed in 1924 at Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan, for the Ford Motor Company/Rouge Steel Company, as one of two “state-of-the-art” bulk carriers that were ordered by Henry Ford to transport raw materials such as coal and iron ore, the sister ship was MV Henry Ford II, which was built by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio. Rather than being powered by coal fired steam propulsion engines like most ships of the day were, the two Ford ships were had 3350 horsepower Sun Doxford diesel propulsion engines and electrically powered systems. They also had luxurious passenger accommodations for Henry Ford and his guests.
In order to be an efficient carrier in the ore and coal trades, MV Benson Ford was constructed with large cargo holds.

Retirement, scrap, and current day

The first MV Benson Ford was decommissioned, so the Benson Ford name could be used for another ship in the Ford fleet SSBensonFord III and out of service in December 1981, it was later renamed the Dykstra and then the Frank J. Sullivan. Frank J. Sullivan, Jr. purchased this vessel and renamed it to honor his father who served in the Great Lakes shipping industry his entire life. Sullivan, Jr. had intentions of renovating the ship and adding it to his lake fleet, but this soon proved to be uneconomical he decided to preserve it and turn it into an island retreat. It was most recently purchased by the Kasper family of Sandusky, Ohio, and is their private island retreat. The ship can be seen by on the Jet Express high-speed ferry route from Port Clinton, Ohio.