# Ss Sagamore



## CEYLON220 (Feb 19, 2006)

I came across a photo of the SAGAMORE at an exhibition and this gave a brief discription of the ship,apparently she was commanded by a Captain ***mings and was torpedoed on her way back from Boston to the UK,her position was W.N.W.of Fastnet on March3rd 1917 when the German sub,U49 sank her with the loss of 52 crew members and her Captain, only 7 members survived, what baffles me is the design of this vessel, it was described as a Whaleback or Turret design which when in rough weather the waves would flow over and off the ship without flooding the cargo holds, I`ve searched the web to get a photo of the ship but none existed,although the previous SAGAMORE with the same design came up but her service ended before WW1, was any others designed in the same way apart from the submarines of the navy

Dave.(ceylon220).


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## Keltic Star (Jan 21, 2006)

I am not sure but I believe the whaleback design was a US contribution to naval architecture. I remember seeing a couple trading on the Great lakes back in the sixties. I understand that the Sagamore was the only British built whaleback.
For more info see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Christopher_Columbus


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## vmr (May 25, 2008)

,Hi Dave , Have A Look At Some Great Lakes Maritime Web sites, Or A good lead Into some Info Is BOAT NERD There Were Some LAKERS Of similar Design.Regrds Jim.


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## Dinosaursoupman (Aug 24, 2009)

Hello Dave,

The Whaleback, Sagamore for which you have the picture posted is not the Sagamore sunk by U-Boat in 1917. The Whaleback Sagamore was built in 1892 as a barge and was unpowered, being towed throughout the Great Lakes. She never left the Great Lakes though a number of the Whalebacks did. Most were used in Coastal service and one, the Charles Whetmore sailed to England then around the tip of South America to Everett, Washington USA. I believe I have a picture of the Sagamore you are talking about but I'll need to find it and since it is copyrighted I will find the link to it and post the link.

Randy


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## Dinosaursoupman (Aug 24, 2009)

Not the picture I was looking for but a picture none-the-less; http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hstchg/docks1.htm 
Just found these also; http://www.forestprints.co.uk/ss_sagamore.htm
and; http://www.modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1938&sid=768e7a11e919b0d35b91c89720d4eb3f

Randy


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## Dinosaursoupman (Aug 24, 2009)

Dave,

If you are interested in the history of the ship you've actually posted, she is one of 42 Whalebacks built by Alexander McDougall between 1888 and 1896. Of the 42, most were unpowered barges like the Sagamore. 17 were powered like the Charles W. Wetmore. 1 was built as passenger vessel to service the 1893 Chicago World Fair, the Christopher Columbus. Only one is still in existence, the Meteor outside of Superior Wisconsin. The idea behind the unusual hull shape was that the vessel would cut through waves and without the excessive upper works or slab sides, they would not be influenced by wave action. Despite their short period of existence they were successful ships. The problem was that loading and unloading technology was advancing at a rate that quickly made them obsolete. Due to the construction design of the Whalebacks it was impossible to increase the hatch size without compromising the integrity of the hull. Despite their shortcomings, a number of them continued in service into the '60s.

Randy


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