Ships from the Age of Sail and Steam

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Search result for any reference to: schooner
Alma: Scow Schooner; Length: 59 ft; Beam: 22.6 ft; Depth of hold: 4 ft; 41 grt; Hunters Point, San Francisco Bay; 1891

Apart from her cross-planked bottom, Alma was a typical North-American scow schooner. After being dismasted in 1918 and used for different tasks than she was built for, Alma was bought in 1959 and restored by the State of California. She is part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum and is moored in San Francisco.

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Arethusa: Schooner; Length: 38.8 m; Crew: 20; United States; 1907

The North-American fishing schooners of the early 20th century were the fastest and largest of their day, competition was intense. The Arethusa was so fast that she was used as a rum runner (smuggler) during the Prohibition.
Bee: HMS Bee; Gaff Topsail Schooner; Length: 79 ft; Beam: 15 ft; Draft: 5 ft; 30.5 displacement tons; Sail Area: 1,275 Square Feet; Nottawasaga, Canada; 1817

HMS Bee was one of the supply schooners, together with HMS Mosquito and HMS Wasp, stationed at the Penetanguishene Naval base from 1817 to 1831. HMS Bee was designed for duty on the Great Lakes and ferried goods and men between Nottawasaga and Penetanguishene with occasional trips to the Northwest in between.
Bellaventure: S.S. Bellaventure; Steel-hulled steam screw driven schooner-rigged two-masted vessel; Length: 241 ft; Beam: 36 ft; 1133 gross registered tons; 466 net registered tons; D&W Henderson & Co. Glasgow, Scotland; 1908

Registered in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Bellaventure was engaged in the sealhunt from 1909 to 1915. She was one of the vessels involved in the rescue of sealers from the SS Newfoundland having been left out on the ice in the 1914 Newfoundland sealing disaster. Sold to the Russian Government in 1917 and renamed Alexander Sibririakov, she made the first successful crossing of the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation without wintering. She was sunk during WWII by the German cruiser Admiral Scheer near Belucha Island on the 25th of August 1942.

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Bluenose: Schooner; 285 displacement tons; Comp.: 25; Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; 1921

Bluenose was a Grand Banks schooner designed specifically to race. She was also a working vessel and spent the bulk of her career in the cod fisheries on the Grand Banks, racing only when fishing season was over. She won numerous races and after her loss the government of Nova Scotia had a replica of the original built; Bluenose II.
Charlotte: Schooner;

Charlotte was a Confederate schooner captured by Federal forces in 1862 and used until 1867.
Coolangatta: Schooner; re-rigged as a Brig; 88 tons; Shoalhaven River, NSW; 1843

Named by the first European settler of the Australian Shoalhaven area, Scotsman Alexander Berry, for his estate, meaning "splendid view" in Gaelic. The Coolangatta ran ashore on the 8th of August 1846 off the Queensland Gold Coast north of the Tweed river (Australia - NSW) while under command of Captain Steele. Two prisoners held onboard were released and crew and "passengers" walked seventy miles to Amity Point, where they were picked up and transported to Sydney. Any subsequent attempts to salvage the Coolangatta failed.
David Dows: Barkentine; Length: 278 ft (260 ft keel); Beam: 37 ft; Draft: 18 ft; 1,481 net registered tons; Toledo, Ohio, United States; 1881

David Dows is most often referred to as a five masted schooner, as she would have appeared after her square rig on the foremast was removed, leaving a fore-and aft rig on all masts. She was dubbed "The Queen of the Lakes" because of her sheer size and appealing shape. After having been reduced to a barge, she was abandoned during a winter storm on November 30th, 1889 and sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan near Whiting Indiana.

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Ellen Austin: Schooner; Length:210 ft; 1,812 tons; Damariscotta, Maine USA; 1854

She was a London to New York packet ship surrounded in mystery for finding and subsequently loosing a ghost-ship in the Bermuda-triangle in 1881.
F. Townsend: Schooner; 165 gross tons; Port Grenville, Nova Scotia Canada; 1882

The F. Townsend was beached and subsequently burned at Wards Brook, Port Grenville, Bay of Fundy on August 7, 1884.
Fannie A. Gorham: Three-masted Schooner; Length (LOA): 196 ft; Belfast, Maine, United States; 1881

She was a purpose built coastal cargo schooner, carrying cargo from New England to southern ports such as Jacksonville, Florida. In 1886 she rescued passengers from the sinking four-masted steamship Oregon, after Oregon collided with a another three-masted schooner off Fire Island, New York.
Fram: Polar exploration ship rigged as a three-masted topsail Schooner; auxiliary 220hp steam engine; 400 tons; Crew: 12; Larvik, Norway; 1892

She was arguably the strongest (not the prettiest) vessel of her time and advanced further north and south than any other surface vessel had. Fram was specifically built for polar expeditions, the 70cm thick sides consisted of two innermost shells of oak and an outermost shell of greenheart. The hull was further strengthened with sheets of metal fore and aft. Her rudder and propeller could be raised. She was used for three arctic expeditions: 1. Fridjof Nansen 1893-1896 2. Otto Sverdrup 1898-1902 3. Roald Amundssen 1910-1912. She is on display as part of the Fram museum in Oslo, Norway.

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Lady Prevost: Schooner; Length: 68 ft between perpendiculars; Beam: 18 ft 6in; Depth of hold: 8 ft; Draft: 9 ft 6 in; 230 displacement tons; Comp: 86; Armament: 10x12pdr carronades, 1x9pdr pivoting, 2x6pdr; Amherstburg, Ontario; 1812

Captured by an American fleet under the flag of Oliver Hazard Perry on September 10, 1813 during The Battle of Lake Erie near Put-In-Bay. The battle gave the US full control over Lake Erie. She was commissioned into US service as USS Lady Prevost and sold in 1815.
Lewis R. French: Schooner; Length: 101 ft (65 ft OD); Beam: 19 ft; Draft: 7.5 ft; Christmas Cove, Maine United States; 1871

Lewis R. French was a typical Maine schooner and for over 130 years carried a variety of cargo for a number of different owners. She was named for the father of the French brothers who built her and still sails today, albeit not carrying cargo but vacationing passengers. She is also a National Historic Landmark as she is the oldest commercial schooner in the United States.

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Courtesy of Garth Wells - Schooner Lewis R French
Nonsuch: Schooner; Length: 86 ft; Beam: 21 ft; Depth of hold: 9 ft; Comp.: 61; Armament: 14 guns; Baltimore, Maryland, United States; 1812

The Schooner Nonsuch started her career as a privateer in the War of 1812 and was bought by the U.S. Navy in December 1812. She was used in several active roles by the U.S. Navy until December 1825. The Nonsuch was sold and broken up in 1826.
Pickle: HMS Pickle; Topsail Schooner; Length On Deck: 73 ft; Beam: 20 ft 7 in; Depth of Hold: 9 ft 6 in; 127 bm tons; Comp.: 40; Armament: 6x12pdr carronades; Bermuda

Originally built as the schooner Sting and purchased as an armed tender by Lord Hugh Seymour in 1801, Sting was renamed Pickle. There is some confusion as to whether this was the same vessel as Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere's HMS Pickle, bringing the news of the victory and the death of Nelson at Trafalgar in 1805 back to England.

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Quaco Queen: Schooner-rigged single-screw steam ship; Length: 159 ft; Beam: 35 ft; 523 gross tons; St. Martin's, New Brunswick Canada; 1919

She was abandoned at sea, 300 miles east of Bermuda on January 30, 1929.
Tecumseth: HMS Tecumseth; Topsail Schooner; Length: 124 ft; Beam: 24 ft; Draft: 8 ft; 150 displacement tons; Sail Area: 4,700 Square ft; Chippewa, Canada; 1814.

Stationed at the Penetanguishene Naval base in 1817, HMS Tecumseth and her sister ship HMS Newashwas were used to transport troops and supplies in the aftermath of the War of 1812.
Wabash: USS Wabash; Three-masted steam screw driven frigate; Length: 301 ft 6 in; Beam: 51 ft 4 in; Draft: 23 ft; 4,808 tons; Philadelphia Navy Yard, United States; 1855

Among the USS Wabash's accomplishments is her taking part in the capture of Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina and Port Royal, South Carolina in 1861, the same year she captured a number of Confederate brigantines and schooners, and her participation in the assaults on Fort Fisher, North Carolina in 1864/65.

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Western Union: Schooner; Length: 130 ft; Key West, Florida, United States; 1939

The Western Union was built as a cable ship for, as its name indicates, the Western Union Telegraph Co. and operated as such from 1939 to 1974. She is still in service today albeit not in its former role but as a tour ship for the 'Historic Tours of America'.
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