The Trials of Harry

The Captain relaxes in the Officers' Dining room aboard the William G. Mather (photo by the author).

In addition to having a wonderful family, I have had the honor of being friends with many fantastic people.  Among these treasured friends is a retired Great Lakes captain by the name of Harry Anderson.  The lessons that I've learned from Harry are priceless; from the intricacies of navigating Georgian Bay to his insights regarding the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Harry has been beyond generous in sharing his pearls of wisdom.


Perhaps the greatest lesson Harry has passed along, however, is patience.  And, more specifically, how to be patient in regard to one's career.  I know many good people who are struggling a bit in this less-than-stellar economy.  A lot of folks out there have worked hard to accrue education and skills, but are left waiting for the right opportunities to come along.  If anyone could be called an expert on waiting for the ship to come in, it's Harry.


We only think of him as the Captain now, but in truth Harry had to wait many years before he was a full-time master (merchant captains are often referred to as "masters") on the Great Lakes.  The main obstacle in Harry's way was a cohort of officers who were a few years older than he was.  Harry was an outstanding officer himself, but the fellows ahead of him always had the edge in seniority.  As such, Harry's trip up the hawespipe to the captain's chair took a rather long time.  Reading his discharge book, looking over interview notes, and recalling my own conversations with the Captain reveal the story of man blessed with phenomenal determination.


Harry started his maritime career sailing on the Herzogin Cecilie, a four-masted German barque.  Even though steam ships were well-established by the time Harry went to sea, windjammers like the Herzogin Cecilie were still a faster option when it came to long distance trips.  Interestingly enough, Harry would eventually find himself in command of one the Great Lakes' fastest ships, but that's a story for a little later.
  
In 1927, Harry shipped out on his first Great Lakes boat.  He worked for several different fleets before signing on with Cleveland- Cliffs in 1930 and by 1937 he had his third mate's license.  


While Harry's early progress was relatively steady, his next 28 years on the Lakes would prove to be challenging.  It seems like for every step forward that Harry would take, Cliffs would make sure that he had to take a step or two back.


For example, Harry spent the 1937 shipping season as the third mate on the S.S. Michigan.  When 1938 got rolling, however, Harry found himself as a wheelsman on the Marquette.  He was able to finish the year as the third mate on the Pam Schneider, but he was dropped back to wheelsman on the same boat at the beginning of the 1939 season.


And so the pattern would go for the next two and a half decades.  Harry would be a second mate on one boat, but then be dropped down to third mate on the next trip.  One season may start with Harry as a first mate, but then his next job would be a second or third mate gig.  There was even one final drop to wheelsman on the Grand Island for the last two months of the 1949 season.


It would not be until 1963 that Harry would finally be able to pencil "Master" into the rating box of his discharge book.  However, this was only an end-of-season relief job on the Frontenac: April of 1964 saw Harry on the Champlain as the first mate.


Then, on June 21, 1965, Harry was named the master of the Pontiac.  He had the job for a mere five days, but his next assignment would not be a mate's position.  Harry got the call to be the captain of the La Salle on June 28 and this time the title of Master was for good; he would serve as a captain for the rest of his career.


The boats Harry would be put in charge of during these years form a collection of lakeboat hall-of-famers: Pontiac, William G. Mather,Cadillac, Walter A. Sterling, Cliffs Victory, and eventually the flagship of the fleet, Edward B. Greene.


Of all of these fine vessels, Cliffs Victory was Harry's favorite.  Since it was a converted Victory class cargo ship, the Victory was quite different than standard lakeboats.  She had a sharp bow that sliced through the waves with ease and a very powerful (9,350 shaft horsepower) steam turbine powerplant.  These features meant that the Victory was able to travel at over  20mph in an age where a boat that made 15mph was doing pretty well.

Harry at the center window of Victory (photo from Rickard Anderson)

  

As much as Harry loved the Victory, however, the Greene was the assignment to have.  Maritime tradition holds that a flagship is the domain of the fleet's senior-most captain (apparently, Cliffs did use the term "commodore" in regard to its senior captains).  When Harry was put in charge of the Greene for the 1973 season, he had truly reached the top of the pyramid.

Sadly, Harry's time at the summit was far too brief.  While he was again the captain of the Greene in April of 1974, his season would only extend to October 5th.  The reason: this was his 65th birthday.  As Harry noted in his discharge book:

Company policy was at that time all had to retire at age 65.  I felt I was too young for my age to retire.  A very sad day. 

And so it went; on one day Harry was responsible for a 647 foot-long ship, its cargo and, most importantly, the lives of the men aboard.  On the next day, he was back to stay at his home in Lakewood, Ohio.  This author is not so sure he could have made the transition as smoothly as Harry did.

There are at least two emotions that no person could blame Harry for possessing.  One of those is bitterness.  I have known of folks who, after facing the very tamest of obstacles, come out ranting and raving about the vicissitudes of life.  Meanwhile, Harry remains serene whilst discussing his career. 

And of all people, Harry could be excused if he were a tad boastful about his accomplishments.  Here is a man who served as an officer on the Inland Seas for nearly half a century.  Oh, and I almost left out his deep water service (and the ribbons on his uniform to prove it) during World War II.  The Captain is truly a national treasure, but he is the most humble person I have ever known.

Harry's humility and his aforementioned patience would be keys to his success. And certainly these traits would be vital for anyone looking to advance in life.  One could do very well by following the lead of our Captain.