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129 (barge)

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Barge 129.jpg
129 loading coal c. 1895[1]
History
Flag of the United States (1896–1908).svgUnited States
Name129
NamesakeHer hull number
Owner
Port of registryDuluth, Minnesota, United States
BuilderAmerican Steel Barge Company of Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number129
Laid downDecember 5, 1892
LaunchedMay 13, 1893
In serviceMay 22, 1893
Out of serviceOctober 13, 1902
IdentificationRegistry number US  53276
FateSank on Lake Superior after a collision
General characteristics
TypeWhaleback barge
Tonnage
  • 1,310 gross tons
  • 1,265 net tons
Length
  • 306 feet (93.3 m) LOA
  • 292 feet (89.0 m) LBP
Beam36 feet (11.0 m)
Depth22 feet (6.7 m)
PropulsionTowed by a steamship

129 (also known as Barge 129, or No.129) was an American whaleback barge in service between 1893 and 1902. Built between December 1892 and May 1893, in Superior, Wisconsin, (or West Superior, Wisconsin), by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for McDougall's fleet of the same name, based in Buffalo, New York. She was one of a class of distinctive and experimental class of ships 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. 129 entered service on May 22, hauling wheat from Superior. She was sold to the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1900. In 1901, she became owned by the Pittsburgh Steamship Company of Duluth, Minnesota, when the Bessemer fleet merged into it.

On October 13, 1902, 129 was downbound, loaded with iron ore, in tow of the bulk freighter Maunaloa. The two vessels encountered rough seas while about 30 miles (48.3 km) northwest of Vermilion Point. 129 broke away, Maunaloa turned around, and attempted to retrieve 129. However, the heavy seas pushed Maunaloa against 129; her port anchor sliced into 129's starboard side. 129 took on water and sank fast. All of her crew were rescued by Maunaloa.

The wreck of 129 has not been located.

History[]

Background[]

Main article: Whaleback

129 was a whaleback, an innovative but unpopular ship design of the late 1880s, designed by Alexander McDougall. A Scottish immigrant, Great Lakes captain, inventor and entrepreneur, McDougall developed the idea of the whaleback as a way to improve the ability of barges to follow a towing vessel in heavy seas.[2][3] Whalebacks were characterized by distinctive hull shapes with rounded tops, lacking conventional vertical sides, and conoidal ends.[4] Their rounded hulls enabled water to easily slide off their decks, minimising friction, and letting them sail quickly and smoothly through the water.[2] Their superstructure was located on turrets mounted on the main deck.[4] The rounded contours of whalebacks gave them an unconventional appearance,[2] and McDougall's ship and barge designs were received with considerable skepticism, resistance, and derision.[2][5] As they had porcine-looking snouts for bows, some observers called them "pig boats".[6][5]

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.[7] 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][2][8]

Design and construction[]

129 under construction. Note the scaffolding on one of her turrets.

129 (also known as Barge 129[9] or No.129[10]) was constructed between 1892 and 1893 in Superior, Wisconsin, (or West Superior, Wisconsin[1][9][11]), by the American Steel Barge Company.[12][13] Her first hull frames were laid down on December 5, 1892. She was launched on May 13, 1893.[11] 129 was the first of six identical whaleback barges launched in spring and summer of 1893. 129 and her sister ships (130,[14] 131,[15] 132,[16] 133[17] and 134[18]) were the only whalebacks built by the American Steel Barge Company in 1893.[19] She had an overall length 306 feet (93.3 m)[11] (292 feet (89.0 m) between perpendiculars[11]), a beam of 36 feet (11.0 m) and a depth of 22 feet (6.7 m).[12] She had a gross tonnage of 1,310 (or 1,311[13]) tons and a net tonnage of 1,265 (or 1,266[13]) tons.[10][11][12] She was an unrigged barge and was towed by a steam-powered ship.[13]

Service history[]

129 was built by the American Steel Barge Company for the fleet of the same name based in Buffalo, New York.[12][20] She was given a temporary enrollment in Marquette, Michigan on May 12, 1893, and was given the US official number 53276. She received a permanent enrollment on June 3 in Buffalo, her home port.[11][12] 129 entered service on May 22, carrying wheat from Superior, Wisconsin.[11]

129 had no recountable incidents during her career.[20] In 1895, management of the American Steel Barge Company fleet was taken over by Pickands Mather & Company of Cleveland, Ohio.[9] In 1900, 129 and the entire American Steel Barge Company fleet was sold to the Bessemer Steamship Company of Cleveland. When sold, 129's home port was changed to Duluth, Minnesota.[1][11][12] 129 and the Bessemer Steamship Company fleet merged into the Pittsburgh Steamship Company of Duluth, managed by Augustus B. Wolvin.[1][11][12]

Maunaloa

Final voyage[]

On October 13, 1902, while in tow of the 452 feet (137.8 m) steel bulk freighter Maunaloa, 129 was downbound, with 2,300 tons of iron ore in her cargo hold.[1][10][11][13] Maunaloa and 129 encountered rough seas while about 30 miles (48.3 km) northwest of Vermilion Point on Lake Superior.[1][9][10][11] In the gale, the towline between 129 and Maunaloa was severed.[1][9][10][11] Maunaloa turned around and attempted to retrieve 129. However, the heavy seas pushed Maunaloa against 129; her port anchor sliced into 129's starboard side.[1][9][11] 129 took on water quickly and rapidly sank. There was no loss of life, as Captain Bailey and his crew were picked up by Maunaloa.[1][9][11] Maunaloa sustained no major damage in the collision.[9] 129 was a total loss, being valued at $60,000, while her cargo was valued at $10,000.[9][10] Her enrollment surrendered on March 25, 1903, in Duluth, Minnesota.[9][11] She was the fourth whaleback to be lost on the Great Lakes.[8][A]

The wreck of 129 has not been located.[21] Maritime historian and author Cris Kohl has described her as one of the "100 most hunted Great Lakes shipwrecks".[22]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In total, eight whalebacks wrecked on the Great Lakes. Four of them 104, 115, Sagamore and 129 were barges, while a further four, Thomas Wilson, James B. Colgate, Clifton and Henry Cort were steam powered.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zoss (2007), p. 43.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ebeling (2001).
  3. ^ a b About the Great Lakes (2007).
  4. ^ a b Minnesota Historical Society (2008).
  5. ^ a b Croil (1998).
  6. ^ Duerkop (2007).
  7. ^ Oakley (2005).
  8. ^ a b c Leonard (1983).
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Toronto Marine Historical Society (2000), p. 9.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1902).
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Berry (1) (2021).
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Bowling Green State University (2021).
  13. ^ a b c d e Swayze (2001).
  14. ^ Berry (2) (2021).
  15. ^ Berry (3) (2021).
  16. ^ Berry (4) (2021).
  17. ^ Berry (5) (2021).
  18. ^ Berry (6) (2021).
  19. ^ Zoss (2007), p. 44.
  20. ^ a b Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (2020).
  21. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2017), p. 11.
  22. ^ Kohl (2005), p. 473.

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 (2020). "129 (1893, Barge)". Alpena, Michigan: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (1), Sterling (2021). "129". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (2), Sterling (2021). "130". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (3), Sterling (2021). "131". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (4), Sterling (2021). "132". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (5), Sterling (2021). "133". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Berry (6), Sterling (2021). "134". Detroit, Michigan: Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Bowling Green State University (2021). "0129". Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • 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?". American Heritage of Invention & Technology. American Heritage Publishing. 17 (2). ISSN 8756-7296. OCLC 11638224. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2021.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Kohl, Cris (2005). The 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks – Volume II. West Chicago, Illinois: Seawolf Communications. ISBN 978-0-9679-9766-7. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  • Leonard, John (1983). "A Whaleback Quiz". Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Marine Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  • Maritime History of the Great Lakes (1902). "No. 129 (Barge), U53277, sunk by collision, 13 Oct 1902". Ontario, Canada: Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Minnesota Historical Society (2008). "Thomas Wilson – Whaleback freighters". Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2017). "Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Proposal" (PDF). Washington D.C.: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  • Oakley, Janet (2005). "Charles W. Wetmore arrives". Washington, United States: Washington State online history encyclopedia. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  • Swayze, David (2001). "Great Lakes Shipwrecks – B". Port Huron, Michigan: Boatnerd. 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: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5143-2. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
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