Breaking the Ice: The 1942 Great Lakes "Winter Fleet"

“We must move that ore, and keep it moving!” –Spokesman for the United States Army Engineers, Detroit Free Press, March 8, 1942.

“There is going to be a tremendous movement of iron ore in the Great Lakes regions.” U.S Interior Secretary, Harold Ickes to the Solid Fuels Advisory War Council, Toronto Evening Telegram, March 11, 1942.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor the US was suddenly thrust into World War II. Every manufacturing concern was now faced with the daunting tasks of converting production facilities to wartime goods at levels never before seen during peacetime. The focus on the US steel industry was of particular concern, as nearly all weapons and wartime support derived from their factories and workers. However, nearly all of the leaders and owners of the US steel industry were either very dismissive or even obstructionist of the prospects the US would become involved in the war, and President Roosevelt’s attempts to ready the country for war.

Nearly all of the iron ore, as well as much of the limestone, needed for the steel industries were shipped over the Great Lakes from the iron ore fields in Minnesota to the ports at Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo in the US and Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. From those ports the iron ore was shipped by rail to the steel mill complexes in Gary, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Hamilton. The massive ore carriers that plied the waters of the Great Lakes sailed from mid-April to late November when weather and water conditions permitted. However, it soon became apparent that the amount of iron ore laid up in late November 1941 for use during the winter and spring was totally inadequate for the war effort. The US “arsenal of democracy” would be essentially shooting blanks due to shortages of steel and idle plants if the shortfalls of iron ore and limestone were not quickly addressed. In a bold decision it was decided to mobilize at least part of the Great Lakes ore carrier fleet to allow it to begin loading and delivering the badly needed iron and limestone ores a month ahead of the regular start of the sailing season. Besides the severe challenges of the late winter weather, with severe storms, ice bergs and jams and frigid waters, finding officers, crew, and dock workers to work at the loading and unloading ports would be difficult as wartime drafts and the demands for materials and men from other wartime challenges were encountered. Historically, the “Winter Fleet” led to 1942 setting all-time new records in the delivery of ore via the Great Lakes, as well as production of steel. But the risks and costs were high.

Breaking the Ice is a solitaire play game on the Great Lakes “Winter Fleet”. The player will have to allocate valuable resources and deploy the car ferry ice breakers to support the ore fleet in the mission of delivering the most ore to the production ports as possible, with a minimal amount of damage to the fleet as possible. Can you do as well, or better, than your historical counterparts?

—description from the publisher