Pere Marquette 41-tug Undaunted

Pere Marquette 41/tug Undaunted was built in 1941, is 403 feet long and flies a U.S. flag

The tug Undaunted brought the ex-railcar ferry named the City of Midland 41 to Duluth for the first time on May 28th, 2009. The original ferry was launched in 1940 and was called the most luxurious ferry ever built. It could hold 34 rail freight cars and 50 autos along with 376 passengers in 60 staterooms and 12 parlors. She served in Lake Michigan until 1985, was sold several times and then sat idle until 1997 when she was refitted to become a barge. Now she carries bulk cargo, in this case a new cargo for the port, taconite rock, or as I would call it, taconite, or as the Natural Resource Research Institute at the University of Minnesota, Duluth (henceforth referred to as the NRRI) would call it, Mesabi Hard Rock. The tug began life in 1943 when she was launched as the Krystal K. at Port Arthur, Texas. She was armed with twin 40mm gun mounts and served in the Second World War servicing and salvaging US war ships. She was decommissioned in 1947 and sat idle until 1963 when NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) bought her as a research vessel. Less than a year later, she was purchased by the US Merchant Marine Academy and served there as a training vessel for the next 30 years. She then went into service as tug on the Great Lakes and eventually found her way into the notch in the bow of the Pere Marquette.  Picture above taken Monday, September 14, 2009

Picture above taken Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Picture above taken Thursday, May 28, 2009

Picture above taken Thursday, May 28, 2009

Picture above taken Thursday, May 28, 2009

Photo above courtesy of Pere Marquette Shipping