The Light on the Hudson

by Dana Ferry

published by Ithaca Press

Whaleback Ships

In the 1800s, the Great Lakes consumed sailors with profound terror as they reluctantly journeyed upon them. The frigid waters of Lake Superior mingled with boat-shattering terrain and an eighty mile expanse of beach designated as “shipwreck coast.” Prone to hurricane-like gales dubbed “The November Witches,” endless ships were flippantly pitched about or swallowed by the lake waters. A newly designed ship called a “whaleback” may have been the only type of vessel equipped for the unpredictable waters of the Great Lakes.

Captain Alexander McDougall was the genius behind such an innovative ship design. He believed this design would elevate the skill of barges that trailed towing vessels in heavy seas. McDougall was born in Scotland in 1845 and immigrated to Canada in 1854. He was enamored by the sea and was working as a deckhand and porter by age sixteen and commanding ships by the time he was twenty-five. In the hearty Great Lakes, ships became defenseless once the waves went over the hull even just a few feet. McDougall, a ship’s master, inventor and entrepreneur conceived an idea to mold the ship’s framework to decrease the fight of the water as it plowed through the arrogant lakes.

The noteworthy whaleback was used chiefly to transport mass cargo on the Great Lakes. Its unique configuration was in the hull that steadily huddled above the waterline, vertically and horizontally. The bow and stern of the vessel were shaped like a cone. On top of the ship’s framework were circular columns similar to the gun houses used on today’s warships. On the whaleback, cabins and decks were anchored to these turrets. When the whaleback was packed with its main cargos of grain and ore, it left only the circular part of the hull with its “whaleback” just above the water. This revolutionary ship design resembled a nuclear submarine and sailors called it a “pignose” because of its appearance. Essentially, the whaleback was made so that the deck was water-tight and it yielded to the water that flowed over its top. The whaleback depended on the weightlessness of the leak-proof hull to make it unsinkable.

Because McDougall could not convince shipbuilders to try his unpopular design, he organized American Steel Barge Company in 1888 and began to build the whalebacks himself. Only thirty nine of these originally designed barges and steamers were constructed from 1887 to 1898. In 1893, hoping for recognition of his whaleback, McDougall built the “greatest marine wonder of its time:” the SS Christopher Columbus, a 362 foot excursion liner. It was the longest whaleback and the only one to serve passengers. At the outset, SS Christopher Columbus was used to ferry visitors to and from The World’s Columbian Exposition. SS Christopher Columbus was withdrawn from use during the Great Depression. Today, a preserved whaleback vessel, SS Meteor, is in Superior, Wisconsin sitting on Barkers Island as a museum ship that contains exhibits on ship building history and Great Lakes shipwrecks. This vessel is the only surviving whaleback.

Though the whaleback ships were agile and fit for the sea, they eventually failed due to flaws in their design. The unloading equipment was confined in its mobility. And the curved hulls sometimes caused cargo to spill during loading and unloading. Unloading a bulk carrier efficiently and speedily was crucial. With the start of the Depression of 1893, trade on the Lakes was depleted. Cargo steamers and barges were barely used. Bigger and quicker ships than the whaleback were built inexpensively, in the latter part of the 1890s. Brilliant sea captains like Alexander McDougall used his skills to improve boat designs to be more compatible with the Great Lakes. And when the whalebacks were in existence, they coasted with finesse through the impolite Great Lakes.

For more information about whaleback ships and Captain Alexander McDougall, visit www.DanaFerry.com.