William Clay Ford
1953
(California CA-12a)
- Type: Great Lakes bulk freighter
- Displacement: 14,630 gross tons / 27,128 dwt
- Dimensions: 647 x 70 ft.
- Machinery: 2-cylinder steam turbine, single shaft, 7,700hp = knots
- Crew:
- Builder: Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Michigan, 1953
- Service: The last of 8 AAA-Korea class lakers built in the early 1950s. Named for the son of Edsel Ford who became a director of Ford Motor Company in 1948, the William Clay Ford was one of a fleet of ore carriers for Ford, with home port at the River Rouge Plant, south of Detroit. She was one of two ships involved in the initial search for the the Edmund Fitzgerald when the latter was lost, 10 Nov 1975 during a severe storm on Lake Superior. In 1979 her hull was lengthened 120 feet. In 1984, ownership was transferred to the Rouge Steel Corp. In 1985 she lost her name to a new William Clay Ford (2) and was subsequently scrapped in 1987. Her pilot house was saved for display at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.
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