Wyoming (schooner)
Encyclopedia
The Wyoming was a wooden six-masted
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, the largest wooden schooner ever built. She was built and completed in 1909 by the firm of Percy & Small in Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
. The Wyoming was also one of the largest wooden ships ever built, 450 ft (137.2 m) from jib
Jib
A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...
boom tip to spanker
Spanker (sail)
A spanker is either of two kinds of sail.On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. Almost all square rigs with more than one mast have one or two spankers, which evolved from the driver sail. Some also carry a topsail above the...
boom tip, and the last six-mast schooner built on the east coast of the US.
Because of the extreme length of the Wyoming and its wood construction, it tended to flex in heavy seas, which would cause the long planks to twist and buckle, thereby allowing sea water to intrude into the hold (see hogging and sagging). The Wyoming had to use pumps to keep its hold relatively free of water. In March 1924, it foundered in heavy seas and sank with the loss of all hands.
Description
It was 329.5 feet (100.4 m) long and 50 in 1 in (15.27 m) wide, with a draft of 30 in 5 in (9.27 m) . The Wyoming had a volume of 373054 cubic feet (10,563.7 m³), that is, a gross register tonnageGross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
(GRT) of 3730.54. After subtracting the volume consumed by the helm and crew quarters and other areas not suitable for cargo, it had a cargo capacity of 303621 cubic feet (8,597.6 m³), or a net register tonnage
Tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...
of 3036.21. Its deadweight was 6004 long tons, that is, the weight of the ship fully loaded, including the crew, cargo (6,000 tons), fuel, water and stores, less the weight of the ship when totally empty (4,000 tons), was 6,004 long tons. She could carry 6,000 long tons of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. The Wyoming was built of yellow pine with 6" planking and there were 90 diagonal iron cross-bracings on each side.
The Wyoming was equipped with a Hyde anchor windlass
Anchor windlass
A "windlass" is a machine used on ships that is used to let-out and heave-up equipment such as for example a ship's anchor or a fishing trawl.An anchor windlass is a machine that restrains and manipulates the anchor chain and/or rope on a boat, allowing the anchor to be raised and lowered. A...
and a donkey steam engine to raise and lower sails, haul lines and perform other tasks. The steam engine was not used to power the ship, but permitted it to be sailed with a smaller crew of only 11 hands. The ship was named for the state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
because Wyoming Governor Bryant Butler Brooks
Bryant Butler Brooks
Bryant Butler Brooks was an American businessman, rancher and politician. He was the seventh Governor of Wyoming from January 2, 1905 until January 2, 1911....
was one of the investors in the ship, which cost $175,000 in 1909 dollars. Another Percy & Small built (five-masted) schooner was the Governor Brooks, named after Bryant Butler Brooks himself (1907–1921).
History
- 1909 15 December. Launched at the Shipyard of "Percy & Small" with her masts stepped. First master: Captain Angus McLeod of Somerville, MassachusettsSomerville, MassachusettsSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
. - 1909 21 December. Maiden voyage to Newport News
- 1916 In Charter of "International Paper Co."
- 1917 April. Sold to "France & Canada Steamship Co." for about $350,000 (probably about $420,000). By 1 October 1919, she had earned more than twice that amount, and her owners chartered her to load coal at Norfolk for Genoa at $23.50 per ton.
- 1921 Sold to Captain "A. W. Frost & Co.", Portland, MainePortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. - 1924 Left Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, VirginiaNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, under command of Captain Charles Glaesel, for St John, New Brunswick, with a cargo of coal. - 1924 24 March. In order to ride out a nor'easterNor'easterA nor'easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada...
, she anchored off Chatham MA, in the Nantucket SoundNantucket SoundNantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on the west. Between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard it is connected to the...
, together with the five-masted schooner Cora F. CresseyCora F. CresseyCora F. Cressey was a five masted schooner built at Percy & Small in Bath, Maine, in 1902. Gained a reputation as "Queen of the Atlantic Seaboard". Damaged in a 1928 gale, she served as a night club in Glouchester, MA and Providence, RI...
which had left Norfolk at the same time as the Wyoming. Captain H. Publicover in the Cora F. Cressey weighed anchor at dusk and stood out to sea. The Wyoming is believed to have foundered east of the Pollock Rip Lightship and the entire crew of 14 was lost.