Sagamore (barge)
46°31.085′N 84°37.935′W / 46.518083°N 84.632250°W
Sagamore underway in 1892 shortly after its launch. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | Sagamore |
| Owner | Huron Barge Company (Pickands, Mathers, & Co, Mgrs.) |
| Port of registry | Marquette, Michigan |
| Builder | American Steel Barge Company |
| Completed | 1892 |
| Fate | Sank near Iroquois Point, Whitefish Bay 29 July 1901 in a collision with the Northern Queen |
| Notes | Official No. 57932 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steamer, whaleback, barge |
| Tonnage | 1601 Gross Register Tonnage 1557 Net Register Tonnage |
| Length | 308 ft (94 m) |
| Beam | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Depth | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Notes | Sank with the loss of 3 crewmembers |
The Sagamore is reported to be the best example of a whaleback barge among Great Lakes shipwrecks. Only 44 whalebacks were ever built, and out of the 26 that sank, only 8 sank in the Great Lakes, most of them being blown up for blocking shipping channels. She sank in 1901 in the shipping lane near the Soo Locks when she was rammed by the steel steamer Northern Queen in one of Whitefish Bay's notorious fogs. Her captain and two crew members went down with her. Artifacts from her wreck were illegally removed in the 1980s. Her artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of the Sagamore is protected as part of an underwater museum in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.