Wyoming (schooner)

Wyoming was an American wooden six-masted schooner built and completed in 1909 by the firm of Percy & Small in Bath, Maine.[1] With a length of 450 ft (140 m) from jib-boom tip to spanker boom tip, Wyoming was the largest known wooden ship ever built.[4]

Wyoming
Schooner Wyoming in 1917
History
NamesakeWyoming
Launched15 December 1909[1]
FateFoundered on 11 March 1924
General characteristics
Tonnage
Displacement10,000 short tons (9,100 metric tons) approx.
Length
  • 450 ft (140 m) overall
  • 350 ft (110 m) on deck
  • 329.5 ft (100.4 m) between perpendiculars
Beam50.1 ft (15.3 m)
Draught30.4 ft (9.3 m)
Depth of hold33 ft (10 m)
PropulsionSail
Sail plansix-masted schooner: 22 sails: 6 gaff main sails (No. 1 to 5 of equal size, spanker sail of larger size), 6 gaff topsails, 5 staysails, 5 foresails with 39,826.8 sq ft (3,700 m²) sail area
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement13[2] (last voyage), 16[3] (captain, 1st & 2nd mates, engineer, cook, cabin boy, 7 - 10 abs)

Because of her extreme length and wood construction, Wyoming 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. Wyoming had to use pumps to keep her hold relatively free of water. In March 1924, she foundered in heavy seas and sank with the loss of all hands.

Description

Wyoming was designed by Bant Hanson with Miles M. Merry, the master builder for the Atlantic coastal trade, under the Percy and Small house flag with intended cargo being coal.[5]

Wyoming was 450 ft (140 m) overall, 350 ft (110 m) on deck, and 329.5 feet (100.4 m) between perpendiculars. She was 50 ft 1 in (15.27 m) wide, and had a draft of 30 ft 5 in (9.27 m). Her gross register tonnage (GRT) was 3730, equivalent to an internal volume of 373,000 cubic feet (10,600 m3). Her net register tonnage (NRT) was 3036, reflecting a cargo capacity of 303,600 cubic feet (8,600 m3) after subtracting the volume consumed by the helm and crew quarters and other areas not suitable for cargo. She had a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 6,004 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). It could carry 6,000 long tons of coal. Wyoming was built of yellow pine with 6" planking and there were 90 diagonal iron cross-bracings on each side.

Wyoming was equipped with a Hyde anchor windlass 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. She was named for the state of Wyoming because Wyoming Governor Bryant Butler Brooks (1907–1921) was one of the investors in the ship, which cost $175,000 in 1909 dollars ( approx $5,849,000 US Dollars 2023 ). Another Percy & Small-built schooner, the five-masted Governor Brooks, was named after Brooks.

History
A sculpture representing the Wyoming at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine, site of the Percy & Small shipyard where the ship was built

References
  1. "Big Schooner is Launched" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 December 1909. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  2. WYOMING on shipmodelersassociation.org
  3. WYOMING on schoonerwyoming.com
  4. Leinhard, John H. "The Schooner Wyoming". The Engines of Our Ingenuity. Episode 2492. KUHF-FM. University of Houston, College of Engineering.
  5. "The Six-Masted Schooner Wyoming". International Marine Engineering. New York: Marine Engineering. 15 (1): 1–2. January 1910. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  6. "Six-mast schooner WYOMING setting sail off the mouth of the Kennebec River, 1909". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  7. "Location of Wyoming Wreck". Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  8. "American Underwater Search and Survey finds 'Wyoming', six-masted wooden giant of the sea". Archived from the original on November 21, 2003.
  9. "The Lightships of Nantucket Sound". Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  10. "Wreck of Wyoming found off Cape Cod; Largest wooden cargo ship sank in 1924". Bangor Daily News. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2003-11-10.
  11. "Wooden giant of sea is found". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 2003-11-08.
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