Inland Steel Company records

This collection contains log books, articles of agreement and crew lists from vessels in the Great Lakes fleet of the Inland Steel Company for the years 1978-1981. The material does not cover a lengthy time span, but does provide detailed daily information on vessel operations to researchers interested in a time capsule view of what activities were logged in official form on a Great Lakes freighter.

The log books (32 volumes) record technical data on vessel performance in a daily format. Logs from 1978-1981 appear for the E. J. BLOCK, JOSEPH L. BLOCK, L. E. BLOCK, PHILIP D. BLOCK, EDWARD L. RYERSON, and WILFRED SYKES. Efficient engine operations are sought in the sailing of commercial vessels. The engineer's log books reflect the chief engineer's concerns with fuel consumption and general speed in completing each vessel trip for the Inland Steel fleet.

Official logs were maintained to monitor loading and unloading activities at the lakeside docks. Vessel masters recorded the cargo handling process to locate any defects in procedure that were either unsafe or inefficient. Type and tonnage data brings the researcher in contact with the purpose of the fleet, commercial transport of industrial raw materials.

Rough deck logs were prepared by deck watch crew to document activities occurring on the vessel decks during their watch. Telephone calls, drills, and work assignments were noted.

Articles of Agreement (six file folders) for officers and crew note the terms of employment each member of the crew agreed to honor before being allowed to sail on Inland Steel vessels. These items can have value to genealogists in that crew names and job titles are included.

Genealogical information also appears in the Crew Lists (five file folders) series. These lists were recorded before each trip, to have an accurate accounting of who was on board each vessel when a trip began.