Governor Ames
The Governor Ames
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Another view of the Governor Ames
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History | |
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United States | |
Namesake | Oliver Ames |
Builder | Leavitt-Storer Shipyard, Waldoboro, Maine[1] |
Cost | $75,000[1] |
Launched | December 1, 1888 |
Fate | Wrecked off Cape Hatteras, December 13, 1909 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 1,690 tons[1] |
Length | 265 ft (81 m)[1] |
Beam | 50 ft (15 m)[1] |
Draught | 20 ft (6.1 m)[1] |
The Governor Ames was the first five-masted schooner. In the late 19th century, she was the world's largest cargo vessel.
She was launched on December 1, 1888, by the Leavitt-Storer shipyard of Waldoboro, Maine, United States, and was named for Oliver Ames (then the Governor of Massachusetts).[2] The Governor Ames was owned and operated by the Atlantic Shipping Company based in Somerset, Massachusetts.
Although the Governor Ames was the first five-masted schooner, she was preceded by the five-masted
The schooner's first voyage, in
Refloated and towed to port, the vessel was remasted with shorter masts,[4] following which it sailed from Maine to Buenos Aires in Argentina with a cargo of 1,896,000 board feet (4,470 m3) of spruce and pine lumber valued at $29,868, believed to be the largest or second largest cargo ever taken by an American vessel at the time.[5]
The lumber trade proving profitable, she was employed for the next five years in that trade, venturing far away from the Eastern seaboard and its coal trade for which she was built. She rounded
On May 30, 1899, the Governor Ames grounded in eighteen feet of water near
The Governor Ames was wrecked in a gale on December 13, 1909, four miles off
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Five-masted Schooner Missing" (PDF). The New York Times. March 3, 1895. p. 14.
- ^ Becker, Rick. "RBHS - Redondo Pier". Redondo Beach Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
... the five mast Schooner Governor Ames, then the largest cargo ship in the world ...
- ^ "An Unlucky Voyage" (PDF). The New York Times. December 17, 1888. p. 2.
- ^ "A Big Lumber Schooner" (PDF). The New York Times. February 16, 1889. p. 1.
- ^ "A Large Cargo of Lumber" (PDF). The New York Times. May 1, 1889. p. 12.
- ^ "Schooner Governor Ames Ashore" (PDF). The New York Times. May 31, 1899. p. 12.
- ^ "Schooner Governor Ames Floated" (PDF). The New York Times. May 31, 1899. p. 4.
- ^ "Thirteen Lost in Schooner" (PDF). The New York Times. December 26, 1909. p. 1.