Lee Murdock has a wonderful song about a ship that used to bring trees back from the north woods to chicago after it's cargo deliveries were done.

The story of the Rouse Simmons, Chicago's Christmas tree Schooner, has gained notoriety through a number of books and via Lee Murdock's song and annual Christmas Ship Concert.

It is the title song on his C.D. and after the ship sank with all hands lost at sea, the captain's wife continued the mission .

Too bad this question didn't come up about 20 days ago, as he gave a
concert on Dec 6, 2009 ... LEE MURDOCK : CHRISTMAS SHIP CONCERT -
The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI http://theark.org/2145.html

http://www.leemurdock.com/ Lee specializes in songs about the great lakes in the U.S. http://www.leemurdock.com/store/index.html

more info here:
http://christmasship.org/
here is a story of the current ship Big Mac,
a coast Guard ship--video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubC5ue1s4i0