The Weirdest Boats on the Great Lakes
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2023
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Whalebacks were a type of ship indigenous to the Great Lakes during the late 1880s and late 1890s. They were invented by Captain Alexander McDougall and revolutionized the way boats on the Great Lakes handled bulk commodities. Unfortunately, their unique design was one of the many factors which led to their discontinuation.
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Works Cited:
DALEY, MATTHEW LAWRENCE. “A VERY SUPERIOR WHALE: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McDougall’s Whalebacks.” The Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 102, no. 3, 2019, pp. 16-27. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26683190.
McDougall, Alexander. "Scrapbook of Alexander McDougall : Whalebacks, gunboats, patents, and rectangular ships 1880-1920."
"A Novel Craft - The Cigar-shaped Boat Now Building in This City," The News Journal, January 24, 1888, Page 3.
"Launch of a Peculiar Craft," Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1888, Page 13.
"The Turtle-Backed Tow Barge," Chicago Tribune, July 6, 1888, Page 6.
"Incorporated - The Certificate of the American Steel Barge Company Filed, Buffalo Courier, January 4, 1889, Page 5.
"Direct from Duluth to Liverpool," Portage Daily Register, June 13, 1891, Page 1.
"The Charles W. Wetmore - The Second Whaleback Steamer in Port," The Montreal Daily Star, June 24, 1891, Page 3.
"A Successful Voyage," The Tacoma Daily Ledger, July 22, 1891, Page 2.
"An Extraordinary - Arrival In the The Mersey," ShipLiverpool Mercury, etc., July 22, 1891, Page 6.
"A Remarkable Steamer," The Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, August 1, 1891, Page 3.
"Whaleback Gets It - Privilege of Carrying Passengers to the Fair Granted," Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1892, Page 10.
"The Whaleback Wrecked - She is High and Dry on the North Spit at Coos Bay," The San Francisco Examiner, September 9, 1892, Page 3.
"Steamships Carry Thousands," Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1893, Page 3.
"A Big Company's Mortgage," Buffalo Evening News, June 30, 1893, Page 23.
"Rockefeller's Latest - Now Controls The American Steel Barge Company," The Saint Paul Globe, February 16, 1894, Page 8.
"Launching Of the Rockefeller," The Chicago Chronicle, April 26, 1896, Page 4.
"Giant Whaleback Launched - Steel Steamer Alexander McDougall Christened at West Superior," The Inter Ocean, June 26, 1898, Page 4.
"Progress Steamship Co. Buys Steamer Clifton," Buffalo Courier, December 9, 1923, Page 75.
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You sound like you're from here in the Great Lakes region--yeah?
Started watching this because the boats looked cool in the thumbnail and then all of a sudden you're talking about these guys called Colby, Hoyt and Wetmore and I'm like, "'this is going in a weird direction, those are all the names of streets in my town." And then you said, "...Everett, WA..." and it turns out this is actually the origin story for the city I live in. Wild.
I remember reading a book on the history of Everett and it touched on this story. There were some pretty grandiose plans for Everett (it was supposed to be as big as Chicago.)
I did the same thing! I'm from farther south, but I didn't see the PNW connection coming!
I thought these were great lakes vessels so why is a city in Washington named after them?What did miss?
Just documented the monopolization of USA. Was this Gates fellow related to Bill? If so the "killer gopher" is still at it today.
I am from the puget sound as well and this is some great local history I had no idea about!
Later research discovered, that a submersible bulk carrier, uses half the energy to propel through the water than a conventional ship design. These whale backs were in some ways, very close to that concept.........
The submersible uses less energy because it doesn't deal with surface tension, (being under the surface). So the whale back might have been close, but not close enough to benefit one inch.
It has nothing to do with surface tension. It has to do with a ship making bow and Stern waves. Pls spread correct indo
@@87mitsLOL surface tension? Hydrogen bonding??? That force is crazy weak if you had paid attention in remedial chemistry.
The whaleback The Thomas Wilson, loaded with iron ore, was run over by another ship and sunk just outside the Duluth Mn harbor in the early 1900s. Normally currents and wave action keep the water so murky that divers can only explore the wreck by feel. One winter in the early 1990s, the lake froze over and the water cleared enough for divers to photograph the wreck. I remember there was a feature article in the sunday paper on it. I'm pretty sure anyone interested should be able to find it because it would be archived.
Eeeeey, I spent like 6 years working as a tour guide on the SS Meteor! They were really cool ships! Random fun fact: that ship still has about half a tank of bunker C fuel oil in its tank because the process of removing it from such a unique situation is so specialized and expensive no-ones ever been able to drum up the money for it!
This is a very naive question, but why can't they just punch a hole on the bottom of the tank? It's not like they are going to use it ever again right?
@@refindoazhar1507 Fair! The bottom of the tank is about 30 feet underground, and the oil has a consistency like Jello at room temp; without heated pipes it doesn't flow, it just... Vaguely oozes. Plus, this particular batch has a bunch of sand mixed in that was used to try and make a "floor" on top of it for museum displays!
I love the Whalebacks! Being from Northwestern Wisconsin, I highly recommend touring the SS Meteor in Superior if you ever get the chance; the last of the whalebacks, it's now a museum ship and well worth it.
My family used to vacation in northern Wisconsin during the 70's. We always took a day trip to Superior and paid a visit to the Meteor Museum. I'm glad to hear that it is still there.
Even there. Awesome place. From eau Claire myself
I remember when they put the SS Meteor on Barkers island.
Thanks for the rec!
The SS Meteor is an amazing ship.
I had the privilege of being part of the cast when they did "haunted" tours on it in the mid 90s.
We were able to experience much more than the normal tours would allow.
It was a great experience being able to spend so much time exploring such an intriguing part of Great Lakes history.
Its nice to know there is one whaleback survivor. In the 1960s, the City of Toronto, Ont. Canada was developing an abandoned industrial shoreline site when excavators dug into a massive 'tank'. The workers realized it was a ship of particular design and sure enough it was the remains of a whaleback and it wasn't preserved. I don't remember its name (I was less than 10), but it was a story that was filed in my mind.
I remember as a young boy in the 1960s my father excitedly pointing out a whaleback coming into Toronto Harbour through the Western Gap. That must have been very near the last of them. I didn't know the history but I remember the event.
The history of the Great Lakes is such a specific ecosystem, like a remote valley or island with regular things adapted to the local conditions.
Anyway, reminder there is a video on the similar Hulett Unloaders on this channel.
Lakes actually act exactly like islands in the biological sense, but inverted.
So just like there are species that exist only in the isolated ecosystem of one remote island, there are many endemic species that only live in particular lakes. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Baikal are famous for this. The Baikal seal for example only lives in that lake and is one of the smallest seals, making it an example of insular dwarfism.
The Great Lakes are pretty young, though, so life didn't have that much time to adapt.
Valley carved out by Glaciers. I'm in/from Saginaw Valley, Michigan.
@@BrokenCurtain It's a pretty Temperate Climate too, so you're not gunna get too "wild" with it.
@StanHowse Evolution happens in all climates, so I'm not sure what you mean with "not gunna get too wild"?
Great video!! My grandma lived directly across the water/street from the SS Meteor, so I spent a lot of my childhood playing around it on Barkers Island. My grandma complained about it being a tourist trap, and an eyesore, but I always loved it. Both sides of my family have history with ship building in Superior, WI. So I can't help but love videos like this. Keep it up!!
I remember when there was no bridge to Barkers Island
My paper route ran along that stretch of US-2 so your Grandma was very likely one of my customers! They charged admission to tour the Meteor but the tour guides came to know us and we could tag along with one of the paying groups every now and then. Mostly we played on the dilapidated fishing boats that were placed on the lawn by the parking lot. If you were there before they put in the hotel over by the marina, we might have played together.
as some who has been playing world of warships for the better part of a decade now, I can confirm that the stuff the art department puts out is indeed the best part of the game.
Lamo. Remember doing bata for that game. For all its faults it was still the best naval game of the time
I loved that game until they started implementing so many paper ships.
World of warships sucks. Crappy kids game
@bobby ray of the family smith what would you recommend instead?
I’m old enough to remember a couple of these ships being tied up in the harbour here in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in the 1960’s. The John Ericsson was offered to the City of Toronto to be used as a maritime museum but the offer was refused. It was then offered to Hamilton which accepted it and tied it up in a lagoon not far from my home for a short while. The funding never materialized and it was eventually scrapped.
That’s a damn shame!
They should have sold them all to Oscar Myer, and turned them all into Weiner Mobiles!
Hamilton is fantastic at scrapping amazing history
Yes I remember a whale back moored in that lagoon basically at the end of Lake Ave, at the Water Park. Do you remember a restaurant called " The Cove" located around there at about the same time too?
Side note here. I am a Seattle guy, rather acquainted with Everett, an hour north on I-5. Colby Avenue is one of the main streets in the downtown core. When you mentioned the Colby brothers I wondered if they might have had something to do with Everett, and then you confirmed it 3 minutes later. Than you.
I grew up in Amherstburg Ontario, and saw a strange ship headed in from Lake Erie as a kid in the mid to late 1960s. It ended up to be a whaleback coming up past our house on the Detroit River. I only saw one a couple of times. Small, and very strange looking. Very unique!
I have a clear memory of seeing a whaleback in the Grang Haven, Michigan channel in the 60's. Must have been the Meteor then. We had a house right off the channel and we would watch the boats come in every day. The Meteor was very distinctive, and you couldn't miss it. I was too young to know it was the last of its kind.
Considering the huge and deadly storms on the. Great Lakes, these boats were a great idea.
Read in a book that if you learn to sail on Erie, then you can sail anywhere.
The family and I took a walk around a Whaleback in Superior many years ago. A plaque there mentioned that McDougals' main thought, having sailed the Great Lakes, was to have a ship profile that would allow storm water roll off the decks and not have time to seep into the hold. In that regard it was a success. The Emund Fitzgerald could back up that line of thought...
Great video-thanks.
No wonder that they came up with this design, an old skipper on the great Lakes with 20 years sailing the seas and another 15 the Great Lakes told me that the weather conditions on the Great Lakes could be as worse than on the Pacific in the cape Horn region.
I was a tour guide on the SS Meteor in Superior for a summer in the late 90's. The script we used was ok, but I wish I had all this information back then! Best part of the tour was letting guests pull the air horn(run through a compressor now) right when one of the mini golfers on Barkers were just about to putt 😂.
I have never once heard of these ships, nor did I know of the Everett angle, despite having worked in and around that city over the years. Thank you so much for your informative videos! From Liverpool to Everett in such a unique vessel. What a fascinating trip that must have been.
It seems like a good idea it's basically a semisubmersible,when you are dealing with storms and rough water a boat or barge that let's the waves and wind roll off its decks seems ideal
As little as I know about the entire shipping industry, I found this fascinating and am glad I took the time to watch it. Thank you for sharing this bit of history!
A few years ago I worked on a project for the MN State Historic Preservation Office digitizing their paper archaeological files. There were huge folders of info about the Duluth shipbuilding industry, including quite a bit about the whalebacks. Happy too see that info in a video like this.
Great to see Professor Daley! I had him for Michigan history at GVSU 15 years ago.
please dont take this in a bad way, but i got motion sick watching this because of the jiggling during the interview segments to the point of having to view it in windowed mode with other programs covering the side-borders.. just something to note for future proof-watching - it might be an idea to just do a wayyyyyyyy stronger gausian blur on the side (i know its probably just a setting and not a custom effect you made) because when its zoomed in, the jiggling is amplified.
really interesting, well researched, well sourced, and arguably most important - well narrated video. absolutely fascinating and please dont let my above comment discourage you or be taken in a negative light beacuse i emphatically LOVE this type of video and the effort you've gone through (especially how much you let the subject expert talk without cutting their speech to just the most poignant experpts). Also with it being a half hour video, i can only imagine how many times you watched video to make sure that everything made sense in the context of the whole video or the whole point, so again - this is a thoroughly enjoyable video and i cant wait to chug through your other productions :D
It makes me think of cylinder gramophones: they were groundbreaking but the market evolved because a disc is easier to store.
Rock on, Alpena County Library, for providing many of the pictures that were used! Long live the Great Lakes! 🤘🏻
idk how the hell I got here, but somehow I ended up watching the whole thing lmao
good job man
I am shocked the story didn't include one going turtle.. I was so ready for that to be the death of these things as boiancy just reaches a top at the freeboard. Those ship designers did a pretty good job undoing a new guys lack of understanding vessels
Whalebacks were surprisingly very stable. After the S.S. Eastland capsized at its dock in Chicago in 1915, the city of Chicago ordered many Great Lakes passenger ships to undergo stability testing. The Christopher Columbus was one of those selected and passed with flying colors. They simulated a passenger load on one side of the boat with sandbags and had a tug pulling on the same side trying to make it keel over. It never listed past 12 degrees.
@@RailroadStreet Thanks for the reply, but pulling with a tug on one end with a boat with limited freeboard, and then adding weight to that end is just a clear case of fraud.
If you pull close to the waterline your are introducing a righting force, so its not a weight AND a tug, its a weight AGAINST a tug. Just look how to do stability calcinations in some simple explainer and draw it out, you wil see how thats a clear case of fraud.
Those were different times, but the fact that news paper articles were straight up lies, well that never changed and never will..
I beleave the reason it did not tip far was the bottom being flat as it starts to leave the water suddenly has all the weight in the air. But I never caught what the bennifit of the design was?
For an amateur, the guy had a sound design concept. It just needed some tweaks.
@@jeffbybee5207 1: easy to build because of the less complicated shape
2: less resistance since rough waters can flow over the rounded top
I served aboard a whale back boat when I was a kid growing up on the Great Lakes. It was already really old and falling apart. My job was to grease the cable winches, monitor the leaks, and feed the captain's parrot. Later that year the boat sank in a squall with the loss of all hands. Luckily I lived from being sick and not being aboard during that voyage. The captain's parrot was found washed ashore several days later, a note clutched in its claws, but the ink had run and was illegible but for the last word - "rosebud."
As an ex-Clevelander (now in TX) I always enjoy your videos. Well researched and presented, keep up the good work.
I miss getting a good Cleveland Steamer.
Man sailing across the Atlantic in one of those most have been badass
I went on a bit of a whaleback phase myself a little while ago. I even made one for the Steam Workshop on the game stormworks! Great to see other people giving these interesting craft the recognition they deserve
Reminds me of the Thai barges where, under load, only had a bow and stern island above the waterline.
27:50 You say it wasn't widely adopted, but i get the feeling certain engineers looked at these ships during the worlds fair and such and figured, maybe it would be a good design for a submarine since it was stable enough as a bulk carrier
A video on the history of whalebacks?? My prayers have been answered!
These things look like a cross between a sub and aircraft carrier.
A depression is not a more serious recession. The graph of an economic downturn always features three overlapping stages to said downturn. Recession (downturn), Depression (the bottoming out of the economy and the beginning of an upturn), Upturn (recovery).
The choice to cease using the term depression by governments in favour of the word recession is because the problem occurs long before the depression stage. Thus, to refer to the 1929 Stock market crash as the beginning of the depression is quite wrong, it was the trigger to the Recession. The Depression didn't start until the economy had nearly tanked in 1933.
I hope this is some help.
I’m just shocked this type of vessel made it all the way to Washington around the cape…. Impressive!
I grew up driving by that boat in Superior, WI, and it always caught my eye due to the unique design. It's super cool to learn about its unique history. Now I want to tour the SS Meteor next time I pass through that area.
Very cool! Ive been hoping to learn about whale backs! Super funky looking barges. Thanks sir.
HEY! THEY’RE NOT WEIRD! THEY’RE SPECIAL!
hehe "4 feet of freeboard and leaky hatches" This was a fascinating deep dive into the history and technology of a significant part of maritime history that I was not aware of. Awesome!
I loved these things growing up when I was obsessed with Great Lakes shipping (grew up in MN). I’ve seen the SS Meteor but unfortunately have not visited it yet. Should do that this summer.
Hope you get to see it this summer, Rolf.
@@timfagan816 Thanks Tim! I tried to get my parents to take me as a kid but they never saw the appeal so we stuck to the main area and the SS William A. Irvin, but I am an adult now so no excuse not to go.
@Rolf Anderson good luck mate, I'll never get a chance to go see it, I live in New Zealand. So definitely make sure you do it, seen as your much closer, Rolf.
Glad to hear one still exists, will definitely have to see it.
Wow those ore unloaders are so cool you need to do a video on those. The operator rides in the arm that's crazy!
I remember seeing the Meteor come into Grand Haven in the 1960's. She tied up and delivered to the Citco Terminal.
During my childhood, my family and I visited the S.S. Meteor on one of our trips to see my grandparents.
I’ve been to the SS Meteor in Superior, WI several times, but never knew this much of the story. Very cool!
I didnt expect a connection to the PNW! Very interesting and cool!
PNW 4 the win
I’m watching this in the city of Everett. All the sudden I start hearing very familiar names and this video became so much closer to home. You had my interest but then grabbed my undivided attention. I want to see one of these!
Yeah the whaleback is a revolutionary design for the time! Great job with the video 👍🏻
This was a great story! The history of transformation is about accepting a challenge to become a cause in the matter of change in a longer series of changes. Gaining agreement was a mind-opening challenge with many factors extending beyond their control. The best part of the story about relationship with other segments of their industry, such as finance, shorework loading, and passenger services, because ultimately the challenge was to prove useful.
Thank you for filling the void the history channel has long left behind
Very appropriate title. Thanks for the interesting video about an unusual boat. Well done! Glad to see that one was saved.
I just stumbled across this video today and it was fantastic, thanks for making it! I had seen the occasional picture of these ships but never knew where to begin to find out more about them so this really satisfied my curiosity.
Surreal to see this, I live like a mile from the Minnehaha Creek... on you guessed it, the Great Lakes
here's a great idea: build a ship which gains proportionally less buoyancy from it's shape, the more you load it and is easier to roll over, because there's no buoyant lever effect (not sure about the actual terms, but I hope you get it)
i love the design of these ships
Fascinating. I knew almost nothing about the whalebacks but now I know one heck of a lot more. Amazing images too and a thoroughly enjoyable vid. Thank you.
Ha, I live in Everett, didn't know this would be a hometown history lesson as well. 😁
Up in Superior WI, theres a surviving Whaleback on display with tours. It's on the ground though.
Excellent video. I've seen some of your earlier videos and you have really progressed your presentation!
Thank you for this video ! I never heard of whaleback ships before. Weird designs bring enthusiasm to my mind, especially those whose lifespan were so short.
Beautiful old illustrations and pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Thank You a lot for this excellent presentation of an important piece of history!
The Meteor is one of my favorite museums I have visited, and sparked my interest in ships for the first time since I was a kid.
That PhD is an excellent communicator! Cool to hear his enthusiasm
I live in Everett, Washington, and starting at 13:12 the last names of the people mentioned starts to sound like you're reading street names from a map of Everett.
Thank you, very informative.
Wonderful video! Love all the photos of these unique boats!
Been waiting years to learn about these. Thanks.
these things start looking like a 1000 foot lake boats
Professor Matthew Daley! I had his class on history years ago at Grand Valley! You found a great source for maritime history.
What a well thought out and well executed documentary. I enjoyed it a lot.
Many thanks. I really enjoyed this!
Interesting video. I've seen the Meteor parked in Superior all my life and never knew the background of this uniquely looking vessel. Now I know.
Absolutely fascinating, cheers.
Just one comment about your sponsor world of warships, I love that game, and I play it on every platform that it’s available on, but none of those platforms cross over with each other so technically none of them are even the same game, I just want people to be aware
18:00 wait, you’re telling me there’s a Great Lake whaleback that previously crossed the Atlantic and it’s just sunk in front of Coos Bay?
That’s some meta northwest history of weird Great Lake boats helping build up Everett Washington, sink one outside coos bay and all before the Panama Canal.
For those of you who dont know what a Schooner is, a Schooner is what you call a Sailboat with 2 sails
In 1971 I saw two whale back river boats pulled up on the river bank.I think that we were in South Dakota.The river may have been the Platt or perhaps the Missouri.
OMG I know so very little about boats. Never heard or seen these before in my life. The thumbnail suggested to me a precursor to the submarine, that's why I watched it.
Thank you for your work My Fathers Company was Cleveland Tankers so I went in many trips She still had many cast iron hull plates I am kind of glad the old timers are dead sparing them from seeing the death of the Great Lakes shipping . Cheers
I do love Whaleback ships because they are just so odd looking. This summer, I'm planning a trip up to Duluth and Superior with friends. One of my only goals is to see the SS Meteor.
I wonder how the ventilation and riding experience was down below.
How bad did the hull sweat?
USS Mold? lol
Awesome video. So interesting
Excellent video!
Growing up in a neighborhood where the majority of family's were Irish-Americans working as "Scoopers", on the nearby grain elevators, here in Buffalo, NY.. I've enjoyed watching the comings and goings of those grand old lake freighters filling the elevators while fishing.
Cool video thanks for sharing
I’m from Cleveland and the history here is crazy
The Edmond Fitzgerald is gloating over those secure hatches.
WoWarships...It is worth mentioning that the ships in the game are true renderings done from research into blueprints or in many cases they went to the ship and actually spent a lot of time taking very precise measurements of the entire ship exterior. Yes, all of it.
The renditions of the ships are imho the best part of the game. The attention to detail is insane and zooming into a ship from a mile way you can count rivets when you get up close. The battle action is fun and engrossing. No, I don't work for Warships but I've played it for several years now and enjoy it thoroughly each time. Now back to the vid at 1:39.
That's wild, I recently moved to Duluth, and just drove past that whaleback earlier today and thought it looked weird for a boat! TIL
Thank for this some what obscure history that was pivotal in the North American industrialization.. Perhaps they could have used these barges in WW1 (and WW2) to obscure and segregate cargoes crossing the North Atlantic.
Absolutely fascinating 👍
Very interesting. Could the Edmund Fitzgerald have benefited from such a design ?
This looks like the same type of vessel batman and robin where fighting the penguin and joker. Pow! Bam!
Excellent!
Very interesting stuff!
cool ships. I heavily modified a kayak to deal with the same issues and it worked well.
What issues did it help with please?
@@jeffbybee5207 for kayaking through big hydraulics and their waves