104 (barge)
41°30′16″N 81°43′21″W / 41.50444°N 81.72250°W
104 before she sank
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | 104 |
Namesake | Her hull number |
Owner | American Steel Barge Company of Buffalo, New York |
Port of registry | Buffalo, New York, United States |
Builder | American Steel Barge Company of Duluth, Minnesota |
Yard number | 104 |
Laid down | October 23, 1889 |
Launched | February 6, 1890 |
In service | April 21, 1890 |
Out of service | November 10, 1898 |
Identification | Registry number US 53257 |
Fate | Sank on Cleveland, Ohio |
General characteristics | |
Type | Whaleback barge |
Tonnage |
|
Length | |
Beam | 36.1 feet (11.0 m) |
Depth | 18.9 feet (5.8 m) |
Propulsion | Towed by a steamship |
Capacity | 3,300 tons |
Crew | 7 |
104 (also known as Barge 104,[1] or No.104[2]) was an American whaleback barge in service between 1890 and 1898. The fourth whaleback constructed, she was built between October 1889 and February 1890, in Duluth, Minnesota by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for McDougall's fleet of the same name, based in Buffalo, New York. She was a whaleback, a class of distinctive, experimental ship designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 104 entered service on April 21, hauling iron ore from Two Harbors, Minnesota.
On November 10, 1898, while being towed out of Cleveland harbour with a cargo of coal bound for Duluth, she broke away from the tug Alva B. 104 crashed into Cleveland's west breakwater. She sank quickly, with her crew being rescued by the Cleveland United States Life-Saving Service. 104 was a total loss, becoming the first whaleback to be lost on the Great Lakes.
History
Background
104 was a whaleback, an innovative but not widely accepted ship design of the late 1880s, designed by
After McDougall was unable to persuade existing shipbuilders to try his designs, he founded the American Steel Barge Company in Superior, Wisconsin in 1888, and built them himself. McDougall actively promoted his design and company by sending the steamer Charles W. Wetmore to London, and starting another shipyard in Everett, Washington, which built the steamer City of Everett.[8] Despite McDougall's further efforts to promote the design with the excursion liner Christopher Columbus, whalebacks never caught on, with only 44 of them being built.[3][4][9]
Design and construction
104 (also known as Barge 104,[1] or No.104[2]) was constructed between October 1889 and February 1890[11] in Duluth, Minnesota by the American Steel Barge Company.[12] Her first hull frames were laid down on October 23, 1889.[11] 104 was launched on February 6, 1890,[1][11][13] becoming the fourth whaleback built by Alexander McDougall's company.[1] 104 was identical to 105 and 107, launched in April 1890 in Duluth,[14][15] and August 1890 in Superior, Wisconsin, respectively.[16][17] She had an overall length of 288 feet (87.8 m) (length between perpendiculars of 276.5 feet (84.3 m) or 276 feet (84.1 m)).[11][18][12] Her hull was 36.1 feet (11.0 m) (or 36 feet (11.0 m)[11][18]) wide,[12] and 18.9 feet (5.8 m) (or 19 feet (5.8 m)[18]) deep. 104 had a gross tonnage of 1,295 (or 1,295.44, tons[19]) tons, and a net tonnage of 1,230 (some sources state 1,230.69,[19] or 1,231[18]) tons. She had a cargo carrying capacity of 3,300 tons.[19] 104 was an unrigged barge, and was towed by a steam-powered ship.[18]
Service history
104 was built by the
On April 24, 1896 while upbound, in tow of the whaleback freighter A.D. Thompson in the
On June 8, 1896, 104 and the whaleback barge 134 broke away from the whaleback freighter
Final voyage
Late in the evening on November 10, 1898, 104, with 7 crewmen on board,
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zoss (2007), p. 26.
- ^ a b c d e Maritime History of the Great Lakes (2) (1896).
- ^ a b About the Great Lakes (2007).
- ^ a b c d e Ebeling (2001).
- ^ a b Minnesota Historical Society (2008).
- ^ a b Croil (1998).
- ^ Duerkop (2007).
- ^ Oakley (2005).
- ^ a b c Leonard (1983).
- ^ Scientific American (1891).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Berry (1) (2021).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bowling Green State University (1) (2021).
- ^ Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1890).
- ^ Berry (2) (2021).
- ^ Bowling Green State University (2) (2021).
- ^ Berry (3) (2021).
- ^ Bowling Green State University (3) (2021).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Swayze (2001).
- ^ a b c d Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (1) (2021).
- ^ Toronto Marine Historical Society (2000), p. 9.
- ^ a b c d Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1) (1896).
- ^ Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (2) (2021).
- ^ Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (3) (2021).
- ^ a b Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1898).
Sources
- About the Great Lakes (2007). "Remember the Whaleback Steamers". About the Great Lakes. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (1) (2021). "104 (1890, Barge)". Alpena, Michigan: )
- Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (2) (2021). "Ward, J.W. (1891, Tug (Towboat))". Alpena, Michigan: )
- Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (3) (2021). "Inman, B.B. (1892, Tug (Towboat))". Alpena, Michigan: )
- Berry (1), Sterling (2021). "104". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Berry (2), Sterling (2021). "105". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Berry (3), Sterling (2021). "107". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Bowling Green State University (1) (2021). "0104". Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Bowling Green State University (2) (2021). "0105". Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Bowling Green State University (3) (2021). "0107". Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Croil, James (1998). Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States. Toronto, Ontario: Montreal News Company. pp. 362–64. OCLC 1082014. Retrieved January 25, 2021. Google books has images of those pages in the chapter entitled The Turret Steamship
- Duerkop, John (2007). "Some Marine Terminology". Research Resources (definition 65, "Whaleback". Kingston, Ontario: Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Ebeling, Charles W. (2001). "You Call That Damn Thing a Boat?". OCLC 11638224. Archived from the originalon September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Leonard, John (1983). "A Whaleback Quiz". Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Marine Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1890). "104 (Barge), U53257, 8 Feb 1890". Ontario, Canada: Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1) (1896). "104 (Barge), U53257, sunk by collision, 24 Apr 1896". Ontario, Canada: Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Maritime History of the Great Lakes (2) (1896). "No. 104 (Barge), U53257, aground, 8 Jun 1896". Ontario, Canada: Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1898). "No. 104 (Barge), U53257, aground, 10 Nov 1898". Ontario, Canada: Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- Minnesota Historical Society (2008). "Thomas Wilson - Whaleback freighters". Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- Oakley, Janet (2005). "Charles W. Wetmore arrives". Washington, United States: Washington State online history encyclopedia. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Scientific American (1891). "The McDougall Steel Whaleback Vessel". New York City: Scientific American. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Alamy.
- Swayze, David (2001). "Great Lakes Shipwrecks - B". Port Huron, Michigan: Boatnerd. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Toronto Marine Historical Society (2000). "Ship of the Month No.260". Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Marine Historical Society. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- Zoss, Neel R. (2007). McDougall's Great Lakes Whalebacks. Charleston, South Carolina: ISBN 978-0-7385-5143-2. Retrieved February 6, 2021.