Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail
Steamship William G. Mather Museum Ship, OH

The Mather is one of four Great Lakes freighter museums. Visitors explore living quarters, the pilothouse, galley, and four-story engine room.

Demand for steel had an unprecedented increase during World War II. Steel mills within the Great Lakes basin supply 70 percent of the nation's supply, and bulk carriers delivered raw products to these mills. In 1941, the Mather led 13 freighters through frigid Great Lakes waters to load iron ore for the war effort.