Algoma Compass, formerly Roger M. Kyes and Adam E. Cornelius, is a self-unloading bulk carrier built in Toledo, Ohio in 1973 for the American Steamship Company.

The vessel has earned a reputation as a "hard luck" ship, experiencing mechanical failures and groundings.

[4] The ship was ordered from the American Shipbuilding Company of Toledo, Ohio with the yard number 200.

[5] Roger M. Kyes was completed on August 1, 1973, registered in Wilmington, Delaware for the American Steamship Company and placed in service, transporting bulk cargoes of items such as iron ore pellets throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawerence Seaway.

On September 7, 1978, the bulk carrier required the aid of tugboats to get the ship to dock after losing power on Lake St.

The vessel's cargo was lightered and Roger M. Kyes was freed with the aid of ten tugboats, being taken for repair at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

[5] On October 27, 1987, Roger M. Kyes ran aground again, this time on Gull Island Shoal in Lake Erie.

In March 1996 and January 1997 Adam E. Cornelius suffered ice damage while operating on the Great Lakes, the latter incident forcing the ship to be escorted to Sturgeon Bay for repairs by the United States Coast Guard and tugboats for fear of the ship sinking.