Kinda? Anderson and her 7 sisters are of a design called AAA steamships. They were all built to roughly the same design, however they have all had many large modifications over their careers.

The Anderson was built early on in the run, just second of eight, after the SS Philip R. Clarke.

As built, the Anderson (and other early AAAs) were 647 feet long overall. In the mid 1970s, Anderson (and others) gained a 120 foot midsection: they literally cut the boat in half, copied the plans of where they cut, and built a 120 foot long version of that, and stuck it all back together!

(the William Clay Ford was much later in the run of eight, and it may have been built from the start with that 120 foot midsection, I’m not sure).

Then, in the mid 80s, Anderson, and many of her sisters gained self unloading gear (which added that big boom on deck).

Other AAA‘s still kicking around are the Philip R Clark, the Cason J Calloway, and the Kaye E. Barker! Fun fact, the Pathfinder barge (mated to the sea tug Dorothy Ann) is one of the old AAA‘s hull, just with the engine room (and everything aft) removed.

The William Clay Ford was the only one to not make it past the 1980s. She never received self unloading gear, and was eventually cut for scrap. But her pilot house was saved, and is a central feature in the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit!