Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading.
Book Review
On the Great Lakes
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
May 3, 2026
“The Great Lakes Ships of Frank E. Kirby: America’s Greatest Naval Architect,” by Richard Gebhart, Michigan State University Press, May 2026, 231 pages, $59.95 (Hardcover), $29.10 (Paperback), $29.95 (E-book)
From the 1870s through the 1890s most of the world’s ships not built in British shipyards were built on the North American Great Lakes, a vast interconnected yet isolated inland sea system. Of these Lakes vessels built during that period and for the first two decades of the 20th century, many, including the best designs came from the mind of naval architect Frank E. Kirby.
“The Great Lakes Ships of Frank E. Kirby: America’s Greatest Naval Architect,” by Richard Gebhart, is a biography of the man and a history of his ships. It charts his career, and follows the course of the shipyards he ran and the ships he built.
Kirby was born into a shipbuilding family in Cleveland, Ohio in 1949. His father Stephen and older brother Fitzhugh were formidable naval architects and shipbuilders in their own right. Father Stephen started as a sailor, evolved into a shipbuilder, creating some of the earliest steamships on the Great Lakes. Eventually he started shipyards at Detroit and Wyandotte, Michigan, building in iron as well as wood.
Originally working with his older brother at the family’s Wyandotte yards, Frank soon surpassed his brother and father as a naval architect. Gebhart lists some of the innovations Frank Kirby introduced. He pioneered steel-hull construction in the Lakes. He introduced bow propellers to Lakers, an innovation that lifted a ship’s bow, improving icebreaking ability. He designed and built some of the most important car ferries (railroad cars) on the Lakes. He pioneered techniques to speed loading of bulk carriers.
His designs covered every aspect of Lakes seafaring. He designed package freighters, bulk carriers, passenger liners, icebreakers, and excursion boats. Kirby also participated in the design and supervised the construction of the World War I Eagle boats, submarine chasers.
He was best known to the public for his passenger liners. They were side paddlewheel designs, known for speed and comfort. They were also magnificently finished, filled with carved wood and elaborate paintings. Three of his best-known ships still exist, the passenger sidewheeler Tashmoo, and the beloved Boblo Island boats Columbia and Ste. Claire.
This is a long-overdue biography of an influential turn-of-the-century engineer who has been largely forgotten today. Encyclopedia entries about Kirby are sparse, belying the changes he introduced to American naval architecture. Gebhart has restored Kirby to the prominence Kirby merits, revealing the man behind the design as well as the ships he created.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Lakes-Ships-Frank-Kirby/dp/1611865654/