Whaleback steamer <I>Frank Rockefeller</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1961
label: date the Frank Rockefeller was built
content: 1896
name: label: patentee of whaleback ships
content: McDougall, Alexander
label: company that built the Frank Rockefeller
content: American Steel Barge Company
notes: label: Description
content: Scotsman Alexander McDougall (1845-1924) was a ship captain on the Great Lakes when he patented the idea of a “whaleback” ship in the early 1880s. With low, rounded hulls, decks and deckhouses, his invention minimized water and wind resistance. Between 1887 and 1898, 44 whalebacks were produced: 23 were barges and 21 were steamships, including one passenger vessel.
label: Description
content: <I>Frank Rockefeller</I> was the 36th example of the type, built in 1896 at a cost of $181,573.38 at McDougall’s American Steel Barge Company in Superior, WI. One of the larger examples of the type, <I>Rockefeller</I> measured 380 feet in length, drew 26 feet of water depth and had a single propeller.
label: Description
content: Although it belonged to several different owners over its 73-year working life, the <I>Rockefeller</I> spent most of its early life transporting iron ore from mines in Lake Superior to steel mills along the shores of Lake Erie. In 1927, new owners put it in service as a sand dredge that hauled landfill sand for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. From 1936-1942 the old ship saw service as a car carrier for another set of owners. In 1942 the ship wrecked in Lake Michigan, but wartime demand for shipping gave the old ship repairs, a new name (<I>Meteor</I>) and a new life as a tanker transporting petroleum products for more than 25 years. In 1969 <I>Meteor</I> ran aground off the Michigan coast, Instead of repairing the old ship, the owners sold it for a museum ship at Superior, WI. In poor condition today, <I>Meteor</I> is the last surviving example of McDougal’s whaleback or “pig boat”.
place: label: where the Frank Rockefeller was built
content: United States: Wisconsin, Superior
label: Frank Rockefeller sailed
content: Superior, Lake
label: Frank Rockefeller sailed
content: Erie, Lake
label: Frank Rockefeller wrecked
content: United States: Michigan, Lake
label: renamed ship, Meteor, on display in museum
content: United States: Minnesota, Minnesota
topic: label: related event
content: World's Columbian Exposition
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
label: related event
content: The Emergence of Modern America
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Work
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content: Energy & Power
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.318433
label: catalog number
content: 318433
label: accession number
content: 236171
objectType: label: Object Name
content: steamship, whaleback
label: Object Name
content: model, steamship, whaleback
label: Other Terms
content: steamship, whaleback; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part: lines and fittings material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (flag material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 1/2 in x 48 in x 5 1/2 in; 34.29 cm x 121.92 cm x 13.97 cm