Henry Ford began construction of the River Rouge Plant in the late 1910s. This massive manufacturing complex, located on the banks of the Rouge River, needed vast amounts of raw materials to make automobiles and tractors. After World War I, Ford envisioned a fleet of ships to bring in raw materials to feed the Rouge's blast furnaces, coke ovens, powerhouse, and glass and other manufacturing facilities.

Henry Ford initially purchased two small World War I freighters in the early 1920s. More importantly, however, Ford ordered two massive ore freighters that would become workhorses on the Great Lakes.

The two new freighters would be named Henry Ford II and Benson Ford after Henry Ford's grandsons -- the oldest sons of Henry's only child, Edsel Ford.

In 1923, Henry Ford contracted with the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, Ohio, to build the motorship Henry Ford II, and chose the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan, to construct its sister ship, the Benson Ford. When built, these bulk carriers were the most modern ships on the Great Lakes.  

On March 1, 1924, Edsel Ford's eldest son, seven-year-old Henry Ford II, signaled a group of Ford Motor Company officials gathered in Lorain, Ohio, to launch the ship named after him. William B. Mayo, Ford Motor Company's chief engineer, then flipped a switch that cut the ropes constraining the freighter, and the Henry Ford II slipped into the water. Over the next several months, the ship was fitted out and readied for its first voyage.

In late April 1924, five-year-old Benson Ford, Edsel's second child, pulled an electric control and launched his namesake freighter, which then splashed into the waters at Ecorse, Michigan. The Benson Ford would make its maiden voyage in early August, loaded with coal destined for Duluth, Minnesota, more than a week before the Henry Ford II's first trip.

The Henry Ford II and the Benson Ford typically carried coal, loaded in Toledo, Ohio, from Ford mines in Kentucky and West Virginia, to the Rouge Plant or north to ports on Lake Superior, supplying markets in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. On the return trip, iron ore and other raw materials filled the cargo holds.

This ship's log documents a trip the Henry Ford II made in May 1940. It carried limestone back to the Rouge. Limestone, mined from quarries near Rogers City, Michigan, was used as a flux in iron and steel production.

In 1925, the freighters' first full year of service, the Henry Ford II and Benson Ford transported more than 1,500,000 tons of ore, coal, and stone. The Henry Ford II alone logged fifty-five round-trip voyages: twenty-eight to northern ports, and almost as many to Toledo, Ohio. The Benson Ford made 45 round-trip excursions.

Each freighter was more than 600 feet long and had an initial cargo capacity of around 15,000 tons. The ore carriers were powered by a 3,000-horsepower Sun-Doxford diesel engine. The four-cylinder, two-cycle engines efficiently propelled the motorships through the water at speeds of between 12 and 15 miles per hour. Other diesel motors generated electricity to operate pumps and other auxiliaries.

The Henry Ford II and Benson Ford were the most modern freighters on the Great Lakes at the time they were built. Modern nautical and navigational equipment included an automatic sounding device, draught indicator, magnetic compasses, and automatic recording logs and course charts, among other up-to-date technologies.

The Henry Ford II and Benson Ford each had 1,000-watt radio-transmitting equipment to communicate with Ford's commercial radio system in Dearborn, Michigan. The Dearborn station, completed in 1924, became the center of communication for the Ford fleet, tracking and controlling the movements of the freighters and other Ford ships as they shuttled raw materials on the Great Lakes.

Initially, the freighters carried a crew of more than 30. Bridge and deck crews joined engineers and stewards to keep the boats running throughout the regular shipping season (usually mid-April through November).

The crew enjoyed well-furnished quarters and many up-to-date accommodations. Officers' quarters were paneled in imported cabinet woods; crew quarters were finished in English oak. Electric heating warmed living spaces, and every crew member had access to shower baths.

Food was a vital benefit for hungry crew members on the Henry Ford II and Benson Ford, and crews valued the culinary skill of the ship's cook.  Each ship was equipped with modern electric ranges where the ship's cook prepared all meals.

Electric lighting and a built-in sideboard buffet were part of this neat and tidy dining room for crew members.

Henry Ford often used the Henry Ford II as his personal yacht, making annual trips to his summer home in the Upper Peninsula. With Henry and Clara Ford on board, the freighter took a leisurely course to its destination. It might sail into Georgian Bay or detour into Lake Michigan before heading to Lake Superior to dock at Marquette, Michigan. A typical two-day trip may turn into a five-day excursion.

The Henry Ford II had two master staterooms and two smaller staterooms for guests or servants. These rooms were furnished with the finest furniture from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Guest accommodations included electric lighting, electric heaters with thermostatic controls, hot and cold running water, and a spacious bath with a shower.

The Henry Ford II and Benson Ford could not supply the Rouge Plant with all its raw material needs in the decades following World War II. The Ford Motor Company would build or purchase additional lake freighters. The William Clay Ford, named for Henry Ford's youngest grandson, was built in 1952 and launched the following year. Three other ships were purchased and updated: Ernest R. Breech (1962), Robert S. McNamara (1962), and John Dykstra (1966).

Ford Motor Company also modernized the Henry Ford II and Benson Ford over the years, repairing damages, increasing cargo capacity, and updating equipment. In the early 1970s, the Henry Ford II was converted into a self-unloader, shortening time spent unloading coal. The image on this stationery shows the boom conveyor, part of the self-unloader system.

Economic conditions in the late 1970s and 1980s forced changes in Ford's fleet of lake freighters. The Benson Ford was idled in the early 1980s. Sold to a new owner, its pilot house was removed and used as a summer house on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. Its hull was sold for scrap.

Finally, in March 1989, the Ford Motor Company sold its Marine Operations and relied on long-term shipping contracts to haul raw materials to the Ford Rouge Plant. The remaining lake freighters were sold, including the Henry Ford II. The venerable freighter was towed away and was later scrapped in 1994.