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Captain Alexander McDougall (1845-1924), whose unconventional ideas enabled him to develop dozens of patents in several different countries led to the creation of the whaleback steamer.
McDougall envisioned a ship whose sleek, steel hull would enable her to carry a maximum amount of cargo at a minimum depth. The whaleback would also be a seaworthy vessel with a low, rounded hull that minimized resistance from fierce wind and waves Their rounded deck and turreted superstructures were well adapted to heavy seas and allowed the vessel to operate under such conditions without reducing speed Captain Alexander McDougall's concept for a cheap, cylindrical hulled steamboat to carry bulk freight on the Great Lakes initially met with great reluctance on the part of Lakes shipbuilders. In 1887-1888, McDougall built his first whaleback, barge 101 at the Robert Clark Shipyard in Duluth, Minnesota. The 428-ton barge was 191 feet long and 21 feet in beam. It had a cargo capacity of 1,200 tons. The 101's conoidal bow and stern were fabricated at the Pusey & Jones Shipbuilding Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The following year, McDougall obtained financial backing from New York interests and formed the American Steel Barge Company with a yard in Duluth, Minnesota. The company launched two 253-foot long barges in 1889. In 1890, McDougall built his first whaleback steamer, the Colgate Hoyt, named for one of the company's directors. The Hoyt cost $120,000, a little more than twice the cost of a whaleback barge. It was reputed to travel at 16 miles per hour, surpassing many of the conventional steamers of the day.
THE JOHN ERICSSON AT THE HARBOUR WALL IN PORT COLBORNE ON MARCH 29, 1938 The whaleback's simple design also was cheap and easy to build. In 1893, the cost of operating one whaleback freighter with two whaleback consorts was estimated at $33.33 per ton. An His whaleback, also known as a pigboat, was a cigar-shaped vessel with conoidal ends and the superstructure set above turrets mounted on the main deck. Nineteen whaleback steamers, one passenger vessel, and 23 consorts were built by McDougall between 1889 and 1898. The design influenced most shipbuilding modifications introduced on the Great Lakes during that period, including "turtlebacks," "monitors," and "straightbacks... All but two of them were built at McDougall's American Steel Barge Company in Superior, In 1893, McDougall built his only passenger whaleback, the Christopher Columbus. The Columbus was built to carry passengers from Chicago to the World's Fair The whalebacks became obsolete when their design proved incapable of adapting to developments in cargo handling machinery The only surviving whaleback The S.S. Meteor, formerly the Frank Rockefeller, was converted into a tanker in 1943. It was retired from service in 1969, purchased by the city of Superior in 1972 and set on Bakers Island in the Superior Harbor in 1973 as a museum vessel. Christopher
Columbus The world's only whaleback passenger vessel, Christopher Columbus was built for the Chicago World's Fair commemorating the quadricentennial of her namesake's transatlantic voyage in 1492. The intent of her designer, Alexander McDougall, was to publicize his radical new whaleback hull design. The whaleback was so called because with its rounded deck and conoidal bow, which offered little resistance to the elements, the hull resembled a breaching whale. Observers looking at them head-on called them pig boats. Built with four decks—a fifth was added later—Christopher Columbus carried nearly two million passengers on the six-mile run between Randolph Street in downtown Chicago and the exposition grounds at Jackson Park. When the fair ended, she was acquired by the Hurson Line for the 170-mile passenger run between Chicago and Milwaukee. Sold to the Goodrich Transit Company in 1909, in 1932-33 she was featured at the Century of Progress exhibition in Chicago. It is estimated that in her forty-four years of service, she carried more passengers than any other Great Lakes passenger vessel ever built before being broken up by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in 1936. Although more than forty whalebacks were built—including the Meteor, preserved in Superior, Wisconsin—McDougall's concept never gained widespread acceptance. Wilterding, McDougall's Dream. Inkster, "McDougall's Whalebacks.
"Christoper Columbus," 1893. Captain Alex McDougall American Steam Barge Co. Superior, WI Lot 1487 More information is avaiable on the following Web Sites |
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