HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-30, Page 68r
•
whalebacks
•
It is only a doien years
since there werethree
whalebacks calling regularly
into Goderich port with grain.
and there was one survivor of
the "pig boats" in the United
States, but all have been
scrapped. Alexander Holley
and Barge 137, part of the
fleet of Upper Lakes Ship-
ping. were scrapped at
Hamilton in .,l965. It was
proposed to turn ' John
Ericsson into a museum. hut,
that never was carried out.
and it also was scrapped.
Altogether. 39 whalebacks
were built for commerce on
the lakes. and four for salt
water. Many left the lakes for
salt water between 1903 and
1912. Capt. Alexander
McDougall. born in Scotland
and reared in the Collingwood
district, designed and built
these vessels. which at, first
excited ridicule. He named
one for himself. and it was.
'among the last survivors. The
Charles W. Walters carried
wheat from Duluth to
England. The only whaleback
not built for freighting was
the Christopher Columbus,
which accommodated 5.000
deck passengers 'and served
as an excursion ship for the
World's Fair in Chicago in
1903.
The whalebacks were 'not
tubular. as pictures might
indicate: all had flat bottoms,
almost to the sides. and this
shape gave good stability.
Their grain cargo. in the case
of Holley, was 210;000
bushels, Barge 137 about
Turn to page 290
it
The whaleb k stean 'r Henry Cort weathered the great storm of 1913. (Ship -Shore News)
If%hn Ericsson. (top) shown here at Upper Lakes Sid;
ping dock in winter. was the last of the type built by
inventor. Capt. Alexander*McDougall and was Iaunehd
at West Superior yards in 1896 for Bessemer Steamsgi
f'o. The whaleback was named for a Swedish engineer.
•lexander Holley (bottom) is pictured unloading grain
here. (Illustrations courtesy of Stratford Beacon Herals)
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