| National Museum of American History

Whalemen used long-handled bailers to remove hot whale oil from large try-pots into cooling tanks, and from those tanks into storage barrels.

Description: Whalemen used long-handled bailers to remove hot whale oil from large try-pots into cooling tanks, and from those tanks into storage barrels. They had long handles to prevent the handler from being splashed or burned with molten oil.; This example’s wooden handle has figures of whales whittled into its surface to indicate the number and species of mammals that crossed its greasy path. The “B.H.” refers to bowhead, “S” for sperm, “H.B.” for humpback, and “W” for right whale.

date made: 1828

ID Number: AG.055809
catalog number: 55809
accession number: 12284

The first step in catching a whale was throwing at least two sharp harpoons into its back, to ensure that the whaleboat was securely fastened to its prey.

Description: The first step in catching a whale was throwing at least two sharp harpoons into its back, to ensure that the whaleboat was securely fastened to its prey. Harpoon shafts were made of soft wrought iron, so that they would bend and not break off when twisted, which risked losing the wounded whale.; A line at the bottom of the harpoon’s wooden handle attached it to the whaleboat. Once in the whale’s flesh, the sharp toggle tip swiveled sideways, making it harder for the tip of the weapon to pull out. Whales normally dove deep after the first prick, to try and escape the sharp jab from the surface of the ocean. This harpoon shaft was twisted by a descending whale.

date made: 1882

maker: D. & D.

ID Number: AG.056237
catalog number: 056237
accession number: 012284

This model represents the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry, a side-wheeled steamer built by Howard & Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1880. This 180-foot-long vessel was built for service along the nation’s inland waterways.

Description: This model represents the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry, a side-wheeled steamer built by Howard & Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1880. This 180-foot-long vessel was built for service along the nation’s inland waterways. Lighthouse tenders served both coastal and inland areas by delivering supplies, fuel, news, and relief and maintenance crew to lighthouses and lightships. They also maintained aids to navigation, including markers identifying channels, shoals, and obstructions. Based out of Memphis, the Joseph Henry worked along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers until 1904.; The vessel’s namesake, Joseph Henry, was America’s foremost scientist in the 19th century. His expertise was in the field of electromagnetism. Henry was a professor at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) when he was named the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he held from 1846 until his death in 1878. He also served on the U.S. Lighthouse Board (1852-78), and implemented various improvements in lighting and signaling during his tenure. This lighthouse tender was named in his honor at its launching two years after his death.

Date made: 1880; 1962
used: late 19th century

ID Number: TR.321486
catalog number: 321486
accession number: 245714

The extreme clipper ship Challenge was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 Challenge was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons.

Description: The extreme clipper ship Challenge was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 Challenge was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons. The high length:beam ratio of 5.4:1 was what made the three-decker an extreme clipper, and it set a few speed records over the course of its working life.; The Challenge was expected to set a record on its maiden voyage, and Capt. Robert H. Waterman was offered a $10,000 bonus if he could drive the ship to San Francisco in under 90 days. He pushed his 60-man crew hard, but poor weather and a mutiny by 50 crewmen off Rio slowed the Challenge to a 108-day trip. The mutiny and the unrelated death of seven crew on that maiden voyage gave the ship a bad reputation. Capt. Waterman was relieved of his command after reaching San Francisco, but the next master had to pay a signing bonus of $200 to lure new crewmen aboard for a China trip. Another mutiny on this second leg of the maiden voyage occurred as well—testament to how driven these men were to sail hard and fast.; Over the next decade as a China clipper, an additional mutiny, widespread crew illnesses, frequent dismastings and leaks, and other events cemented the bad reputation of the vessel. It was sold to its captain for $9,350 in 1861. The Challenge changed hands a few more times before sinking off the Brittany coast in February 1877.

Date made: 1965
ship launched: 1851-05
ship sold: 1861
ship sank: 1877-02

designer: Webb, William H.
captained the ship on its maiden voyage: Waterman, Robert H.
maker: Arthur G. Henning Inc.

ID Number: TR.326530
catalog number: 326530
accession number: 255036

This model represents the type of small boat used for gill-netting salmon on the lower Columbia River around 1876.

Description: This model represents the type of small boat used for gill-netting salmon on the lower Columbia River around 1876. Known as sailing gillnetters, these vessels were well suited to the tasks of fishermen working drift nets, which were walls of netting set across the path of salmon swimming upstream. The round-bottom hull is sharp on both ends, a feature that allowed the boat to ride more easily while the net was adrift. Its sprit rig was used for sailing to and from the fishing grounds and was easily stowed while fishing. The boats ranged between 23 and 28 feet in length. This model represents a vessel of 25 feet 6 inches in length, 6 feet 3 inches abeam, and 2 feet 3 inches in depth.; The sailing gillnetter type was introduced to the Columbia River region between 1869 and 1872 and quickly replaced the smaller skiffs then in use. The early gillnetters were shipped north from boat builders in San Francisco, but by 1875 the type was being built locally. While a few fishermen purchased their own boats, the vast majority were owned by salmon canneries, which rented the vessels to local fishermen. When this model was made in 1876, there were about 500 sailing gillnetters on the river. By 1905 there were some 2,700.; This model was donated by Livingston Stone, an early advocate of fish hatcheries, who served as Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries for the Pacific coast from 1872 to 1898, and senior fish culturist of the U.S. Fish Commission from 1898 to 1903.

Date made: before 1876

ID Number: TR.22216
accession number: 5201
catalog number: 22216

The bugeye was a type of sailing work boat unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Designed for oyster dredging, it was also used for hauling freight in the Bay’s shallow waters. This model, like the bugeye it represents, was built in 1885 by E.

Description: The bugeye was a type of sailing work boat unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Designed for oyster dredging, it was also used for hauling freight in the Bay’s shallow waters. This model, like the bugeye it represents, was built in 1885 by E. James Tull, a boatbuilder in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Tull displayed this model of the Lillie Sterling at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as part of an exhibit organized by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He won a medal for the vessel’s practical design.; Bugeyes were first built after the Civil War, when the Maryland state legislature repealed an 1820 ban on oyster dredging. Dredges--heavy iron frames holding long mesh bags--were introduced in the bay by New Englanders seeking to replenish northern oyster beds with Chesapeake oysters. Maryland lawmakers banned dredging and restricted oyster harvesting to residents of the state. But as markets expanded in the 1860s, the ban was lifted to allow dredging in certain areas of the bay. Fearful that dredging would deplete the bay’s oysters, lawmakers sought to limit the dredge’s efficiency by restricting its use to sailing vessels. This law ensured that sailing craft, not steamers, would dominate the Chesapeake’s oyster industry. To this day, oyster dredging is still carried out by sail-powered boats in Maryland.; The first bugeyes were large log canoes, built of seven or nine logs that were hollowed out, shaped, and pinned together lengthwise. They were built with full decks, which provided a working platform for the crew to empty the dredges and sort through the catch. By the 1880s, bugeyes like the Lillie Sterling were constructed with full framing and planking instead of logs. Although bugeyes were widely used in the oyster trade for several decades, they were gradually replaced by skipjacks, an easier and cheaper vessel to build. The origin of the name "bugeye" remains unknown.

date made: 1885

maker: Tull, E. James

ID Number: TR.76256
accession number: 28022
catalog number: 76256

This model represents a typical Massachusetts whaleship of the mid-19th century, fully rigged and ready for a long cruise that might last for as much as four years. The name “U.S.

Description: This model represents a typical Massachusetts whaleship of the mid-19th century, fully rigged and ready for a long cruise that might last for as much as four years. The name “U.S. Grant, Edgartown” on the ship’s stern is fictional—no ship by that name ever sailed for the whaling fleet. The ship’s bottom is lined with copper sheathing, to keep out the teredo navalis, a tropical worm that bored into the wood of ship’s hulls and weakened the structure, as the termite does to wooden structures on land.; The whaleboats are the most prominent features. After whales were sighted by lookouts perched at the mast tops, the boats were dropped over the sides of the mother ship to chase them. Also over the side are the cutting stages, where the whale’s fat, or blubber, was sliced off the body in long strips.; The main feature on the ship’s deck is the try-works, or giant pots set into a brick framework, where the whale’s blubber, was boiled down into oil. After the blubber became liquid, it was drawn off to cool and then poured into heavy barrels and stored below in the ship’s cargo hold.; This model was purchased in 1875 at Edgartown, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; it was one of the first objects in the Smithsonian’s National Watercraft Collection.

Date made: 1875
model was purchased: 1875

ID Number: TR.025726
catalog number: 025726
accession number: 4353

Half hull ship models were carved by shipwrights to a shape negotiated with the future owners of the ship.

Description: Half hull ship models were carved by shipwrights to a shape negotiated with the future owners of the ship. Once finished, the builder lifted the curved shape of the outer hull off the model and scaled it up to the dimensions of the full-sized ship on the floor of the molding loft. Then the ship’s timbers were cut to fit the lines drawn on the floor and lifted into position in the ship’s framework.; African American shipwright and former slave John Mashow built the whaler Jireh Swift in 1853 at Dartmouth, Mass. near New Bedford. The vessel measured 122 feet in length and 454 tons. Its first voyage was to the northern Pacific and lasted nearly four years. The ship collected 45 barrels of sperm oil, 2,719 barrels of whale oil and 14,900 lbs of whalebone. Swift’s second voyage, to the same grounds, lasted more than four years and netted much more oil and bone for her owners. Nearly three years into her third voyage, on 22 June 1865 she was captured in the Arctic by the Confederate raider Shenandoah and burned, for a loss of more than $40,000.

Date made: 1853

maker: Mashow, John

ID Number: TR.076323
catalog number: 076323
accession number: 015358

This model of a Chesapeake Bay log canoe was built in 1880 and displayed at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. It shows a two-masted log canoe with a mustard-colored hull.

Description: This model of a Chesapeake Bay log canoe was built in 1880 and displayed at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. It shows a two-masted log canoe with a mustard-colored hull. Although this model may look more like a recreational sailboat than a traditional paddling canoe, its roots can be traced back to the dugouts built and used by American Indians. Native Americans along the bay used dugouts, made by hollowing out a single tree trunk, to spear fish, gather oysters, and travel from one village to another. Europeans adopted the log-canoe technology shortly after arriving in the region in the early 1600s. By the start of the 18th century, colonists had modified the standard, single-log dugout, by hewing and shaping several logs and fitting them together to enlarge the craft. They added masts and sails, providing the means to travel farther and giving the vessels their distinctive appearance.; Despite the widespread use of frame-and-plank shipbuilding techniques around the Chesapeake, watermen continued building and using log canoes well into the 20th century. The canoes were ideal for oyster tonging in the many protected creeks and rivers that flow into the bay. This model includes a pair of hand tongs of the sort made by local blacksmiths for oystermen. A waterman would anchor his canoe over an oyster bed and lower the tongs into the water. With a scissoring motion, he would rake the tongs together until the iron basket was full and ready to be lifted onboard.; In terms of construction, the log canoe is the forerunner to the bugeye, which is essentially an enlarged canoe built of seven or nine logs with a full deck added over the hold. While log canoes are no longer used in commercial fishing, they can still be seen in special sailboat races on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake.

date made: 1880
Date made: 1875

ID Number: TR.25003
catalog number: 025003
accession number: 4586

The steam whaler Orca was built at San Francisco in 1882 specifically for the Pacific and Arctic whale fisheries.

Description: The steam whaler Orca was built at San Francisco in 1882 specifically for the Pacific and Arctic whale fisheries. By the late 19th century, the Atlantic whale was too scarce due to overhunting, and whaling had moved almost completely to distant western waters to exploit the remaining whales.; Measuring 177 feet in length and 628 tons, Orca had a 280-HP steam engine for propulsion. It also had a full suit of auxiliary sails for backup and fuel conservation. When built, Orca was the largest auxiliary steam whaler in the United States.; The bark-rigged vessel was heavily built and braced, with a strongly raked bow to work in the Arctic ice pack. The heavy timbers and bow shape allowed it to be driven up onto the ice, where its weight helped to break through. Orca’s propeller had two blades so it could be aligned vertically with the stern timbers when not in use in order to protect it from the ice.; Information collected by Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Conn. indicates that Orca, along with many other Pacific whalers, resorted to shanghaiing, or acquiring crewmen from agents ashore who forced potential crewmen onto their ships in various ways. With around two dozen whaleships clearing San Francisco each year for the Pacific whaling grounds, the need for crewmen was great.

Date made: 1894

reference material: Mystic Seaport Museum

ID Number: TR.076237
catalog number: 076237
accession number: 028022

This patent model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office by Francis D. Lee, an architect in Charleston, South Carolina, to illustrate his idea for a shipboard water tank that would float free of a sinking ship if drained in time.

Description: This patent model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office by Francis D. Lee, an architect in Charleston, South Carolina, to illustrate his idea for a shipboard water tank that would float free of a sinking ship if drained in time. Passengers would cling to its exterior while a “treasure safe” suspended below the tank would save “bullion, mails, and other valuables.” If the tank itself sank, a smaller cork buoy would float out of the turret at the top to “mark the location of the lost treasure.” Lee’s first design of this invention was patented in 1857. This is the model for his revised version, also awarded a patent, in 1858.; The model is made of brass and measures 5” square and 6” high. A collar faced in wood separates the buoy’s square upper portion from its pyramidal lower section. Aboard ship, the square portion would sit exposed on the open deck, while the inverted pyramid would extend below. A strongbox, now missing from the model, would attach to the very tip of the pyramid. In an emergency, crew would stand on the wood-faced collar and hold fast to the rope lifelines. One man would turn a handle on the buoy’s side to open the hatches in the faces of the pyramid and drain the interior of its store of water. A small amount of water would remain in the bottom of the tank to act as ballast. If all went well, the buoy and its passengers would float away from the foundering ship.; In the 19th century, the U.S. Patent Office granted hundreds of patents for a wide variety of lifepreserving boats, rafts, clothing, and other gear. The surge in interest in lifesaving at sea was triggered by an increase in the number of passengers crossing the world’s oceans and by the expanded distribution of print media, which brought shipwreck details into more family parlors than ever before.

Date made: 1858
patent date: 1858-04-17; 1858-04-27

patentee: Lee, Francis D.
inventor: Lee, Francis D.

ID Number: TR.308537
accession number: 89797
catalog number: 308537
patent number: 20,072

The three-masted wooden propeller Edward Smith was built in 1890 by F.W. Wheeler & Co. at West Bay City, Michigan. The 201-foot bulk freighter is best known for rescuing crew from the old wooden steamer Annie Young on 20 October 1890 in Lake Huron.

Description: The three-masted wooden propeller Edward Smith was built in 1890 by F.W. Wheeler & Co. at West Bay City, Michigan. The 201-foot bulk freighter is best known for rescuing crew from the old wooden steamer Annie Young on 20 October 1890 in Lake Huron. The Young was transporting a cargo of coal from Buffalo to Gladstone, MI when a fire began somewhere in the vicinity of the boiler.; Upbound from Marine City, Smith’s Captain Mitchell saw the Young on fire, dropped the two barges he was towing and began circling the burning ship, rescuing 13 crew and the captain. Nine men were lost when their lifeboat swamped and sank. Capt. Mitchell was awarded a lifesaving medal for his efforts; Annie Young had been insured for $55,000.; In 1900, the Smith was renamed Zillah, when transferred at Port Huron, MI to new owners. On 29 August 1926, Zillah was transporting a cargo of heavy limestone when it sailed into a summer storm in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior. The old steamer began to take on water, and the crew removed their belongings while Zillah coasted in a circle. The crew was rescued without loss by the steamer William B. Schiller, with assistance from the Coast Guard. Shortly afterwards, the ship rolled over and sank. The Zillah’s wreck was located in 1975.

Date made: 1966
ship transferred to Michigan: 1900
ship sank: 1926-08-29
ship wreckage located: 1975

built ship, Edward Smith: F. W. Wheeler & Co.

ID Number: TR.326655
catalog number: 326655
accession number: 265603

Built in Jeffersonville, Ind. in 1966, the 157’-6” long Jack D. Wofford works as a towboat on the Mississippi River. Unlike earlier towboats, the Jack D. Wofford has 5,000 horsepower turning twin screw propellers instead of a paddle wheel for propulsion.

Description: Built in Jeffersonville, Ind. in 1966, the 157’-6” long Jack D. Wofford works as a towboat on the Mississippi River. Unlike earlier towboats, the Jack D. Wofford has 5,000 horsepower turning twin screw propellers instead of a paddle wheel for propulsion. To avoid running aground on sandbars in the Mississippi, it was built with a very shallow hull.; River towboats on the Mississippi transport cargo. Before the railroads, river towboats were the fastest means of moving freight. Today, towboats are used to move cargo that is too heavy or expensive to send by rail. Although they are called towboats, these vessels don’t actually tow the cargo barges. Instead, towboats push them—sometimes up to fifteen at once—up and down the river. Workers attach cables to the stern of the towboat from the corners of the barge. Once the towboat and the cargo set sail, the towboat acts as a rudder, carefully steering the barges along the river.; When pushing freight, the Jack D. Wofford pushes two steel “knees” up against the sterns of the barges to steer and stabilize them. In 2007, the Wofford was still in service between St. Louis, Mo. and Minneapolis, Minn.

Date made: 1977

ID Number: TR.336154
catalog number: 336154
accession number: 1977.0638

Abraham Lincoln had considerable maritime background, although it is usually eclipsed by his political heritage.

Description: Abraham Lincoln had considerable maritime background, although it is usually eclipsed by his political heritage. At the age of 19 in Anderson Creek, Ind., he built a flatboat for $24, loaded it with a local farmer’s produce, and floated it 1,000 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, where he sold both the boat and its cargo. When he was 22, he was hired by an Illinois store owner to take some goods down the Mississippi and sell them in New Orleans. Lincoln built another flatboat and successfully piloted it from New Salem, Ill. to New Orleans over a three-month period.; In the mid-1840s, as a lawyer in Springfield, Ill., his law partner William Herndon recalled watching Lincoln working on a large boat model with a local craftsman. A Springfield resident recalled Lincoln demonstrating the idea for his model in public. His model embodies an idea Lincoln had for raising vessels over shoal waters by increasing their buoyancy. That idea became patent #6,469 in May 1849—the only patent ever obtained by an American president. After he became president in 1860 and moved to Washington, he visited his model in the nearby Patent Office at least once. He also enjoyed reviewing naval vessels and ideas, and he personally approved inventor John Ericsson’s idea for the ironclad warship Monitor.; Lincoln’s original patent model was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1908 and has left the Mall only once since then, for an exhibit at the US Patent Office. This replica was built by the Smithsonian in 1978 for long-term display to preserve the fragile original.

date made: 1978

ID Number: TR.336769
accession number: 1978.2284
catalog number: 336769

The abundance of timber along the shores of the Great Lakes gave steamboats a ready supply of fuel. Partly burned logs from Indiana's boiler grate indicate that the boiler had been stoked just before the steamboat sank.Pound for pound, coal provides more energy than wood.

Description: The abundance of timber along the shores of the Great Lakes gave steamboats a ready supply of fuel. Partly burned logs from Indiana's boiler grate indicate that the boiler had been stoked just before the steamboat sank.; Pound for pound, coal provides more energy than wood. Coal was found in the vicinity of the boiler in the hold, and historical sources indicate that it was a common fuel on upbound (northerly) voyages, while wood was the principal downbound fuel.

ID Number: 1979.1030.07
accession number: 1979.1030

On 6 June 1858, the propeller Indiana sank in Lake Superior transporting its owner, three passengers and 280 tons of iron ore from Marquette, MI to Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The ship was insured for $9,000; the ore was insured separately for an undisclosed amount.

Description: On 6 June 1858, the propeller Indiana sank in Lake Superior transporting its owner, three passengers and 280 tons of iron ore from Marquette, MI to Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The ship was insured for $9,000; the ore was insured separately for an undisclosed amount. One contemporary newspaper stated that it was the “first cargo of Lake Superior iron ore ever lost on the lakes.”; The ship landed upright and slightly bow down on the lakebed in 120 feet of water; the bow split open and ore spilled out onto the sandy bottom. The deck of the shipwreck remains covered with iron ore today, and the cargo hold is filled about three feet deep with ore as well.; Samples of the ore were recovered in 1979; upon analysis, they revealed that a high percentage of pure iron.
Location: Currently not on view

date propeller Indiana sank: 1858-06-06
samples of the ore were collected: 1979

ID Number: 1979.1030.12.01
catalog number: 1979.1030.12
accession number: 1979.1030

This book of navigation charts for the Upper Mississippi River was published in 1972 by the U.S. Army Engineer Division, North Central Corps of Engineers, in Chicago. It was owned and used by Capt.

Description: This book of navigation charts for the Upper Mississippi River was published in 1972 by the U.S. Army Engineer Division, North Central Corps of Engineers, in Chicago. It was owned and used by Capt. Jack Libbey, a river pilot from Lansing, Iowa, who steered tows on the Mississippi for over 25 years. He piloted many types of tows, but among the largest he handled on a routine basis were those made up of 15 barges, each measuring 200’ long, 35’ wide, and carrying about 1600 tons of cargo. Overall, these tows measured 1200’ long and 105’ wide, and took a great deal of skill and knowledge to pilot safely.; The chart book reflects Libbey’s working knowledge of the Mississippi River, still the nation’s major conduit for transporting grain and other bulk commodities. To become a pilot, Libbey was trained, tested, and licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard. But like virtually all river pilots (including Mark Twain in the 1850s), he learned the ways of the river and the skills of the pilot from his elders and from experience.; That experience is revealed on these worn and weathered charts. Virtually every page has Libbey’s own markings and notations. In bold, red ink, he meticulously printed the names of major aids to navigation on both sides of the river, as well as the distance in miles from each marker to Cairo Point, the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers. Libbey’s handwriting stands out from the official markings and mapmakers’ symbols, and suggests the complex history of life along the river. Names like Winnebago, Muscatine, Maquoketa Levee, Zollicoffer, Pomme de Terre, and Wabasha reflect the region’s many cultural layers.; Captain Libbey also made navigational notes on the pages as a way of reminding himself to take special care in tricky situations. Steering under bridges in the shallow waters separating Iowa and Illinois inspired a number of notes, such as this one from December 10, 1975, concerning the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Highway Bridge near Fort Madison, Iowa: “SB [Steering bridge] Keep stern on light and head on tank. When pilot house passes black bouy [sic] bring jackstaff around to 3rd pier out from channel span. Hold until red bouy below bridge opens up ½ way. Keep jackstaff on red bouy and stern 100 yds over from first Miss stacks. Slow ahead until lined up.”; Captain Libbey discussed being a pilot in an interview for the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife in 1996. He said, “ . . . you’re moving at a pretty good clip, you have all this momentum, and you can’t just steer it on a dime. And what we do, we send the deckhands out to talk us through the bridge . . . . That’s why you have marks also, so you know, you can kind of double check what they’re saying to you. Very, very important. And that’s what makes a good pilot . . . is being able to get through the bridges.”

Date made: 1972

river pilot, owned and used chart book: Libbey, Jack
trained Captain Libbey: United States Coast Guard
publisher: U. S. Army Engineer Division, North Central Corps of Engineers

ID Number: 2006.0103.03
accession number: 2006.0103
catalog number: 2006.0103.03

Indiana's propeller was manufactured by Spang & Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, as stamped on one of the blades.

Description: Indiana's propeller was manufactured by Spang & Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, as stamped on one of the blades. This firm, a large iron manufacturing company centered in Pittsburgh, PA, was founded in 1828 and was one of the earliest and largest manufacturers of iron products in the United States.; The hub of the propeller is cast iron; the blades are rolled iron. One of the intact blades is chipped and dented, suggesting a collision. Another blade is missing outside the yellow line, which marks where a large section broke loose, probably from hitting an object in the water. This piece struck the Indiana's sternpost, literally “shivered her timbers,” and started the leak that sank the ship. The blade broke off completely when the ship struck the lakebed and was found at the wreck site, buried in the sand under the stern post. It is reproduced here in fiberglass.; The closest design is by Richard Loper of Philadelphia, who registered three propeller-related patents in 1844 and 1845 and licensed his ideas to shipbuilders Reany, Neafie & Co., also of Philadelphia. Contemporary accounts state that Loper’s design was the most popular in the Great Lakes region, and some Lakes propeller manufacturers even advertised his design as the “Philadelphia Wheel.”

Date made: 1848

possible patentee: Loper, Richard
maker: Spang & Company

ID Number: 1979.1030.05
catalog number: 1979.1030.05
accession number: 1979.1030

In this ca.

Description: In this ca. 1814 scene by artist Thomas Birch, the American privateer brig Warrior has just captured the English schooner Hope, which was en route from Glasgow, Scotland to Buenos Ayres, Brazil with a cargo of English manufactured goods.; A bitter offshore battle has left large jagged cannonball holes in the sails of both vessels. The Warrior's crew has removed the Hope's cargo, and is placing a prize crew aboard the Hope via the two small craft going between the two ships. The prize crew will sail the Hope to an American port, where the prize can be formally registered and auctioned off, with the proceeds shared among the Warrior's owners and crew. Prize crews manned captured enemy ships, which could otherwise escape too easily.; Contemporary sources indicate that the 430-ton armed privateer brig Warrior was built on the swift pilot boat model and carried 21 guns and 150 crew during the War of 1812. Large crews were required by privateers not only to fight enemy shipping, but to provide prize crews if successful. The Warrior's captain Guy R. Champlin was one of the American sailors most feared by the British, as he had a remarkable record of bold action, great bravery and fearless aggression.; Anglo-American artist Thomas Birch (1779-1851) began painting marine scenes in the early 19th century. He is known to have painted several War of 1812 engagements based upon eyewitness accounts—this is a rare preserved example. The British schooner Hope was insured by the oldest marine insurer in North America, the Insurance Company of North America (INA), which bought the painting. It was donated to the Smithsonian in 2005 by CIGNA, INA’s successor corporation.

Date made: ca 1814
Associated Date: early 19th century

captained the ship depicted: Champlin, Guy R.
purchased and donated the painting: CIGNA
maker: Birch, Thomas

ID Number: 2005.0279.021
accession number: 2005.0279
catalog number: 2005.0279.021

The Ocean Monarch was one of nine large packet ships built by the famous shipbuilder Donald McKay in Boston for Enoch Train’s White Diamond Line of Boston-Liverpool vessels. The Monarch measured 179 feet in length and 1,301 tons and was launched in July 1847.

Description: The Ocean Monarch was one of nine large packet ships built by the famous shipbuilder Donald McKay in Boston for Enoch Train’s White Diamond Line of Boston-Liverpool vessels. The Monarch measured 179 feet in length and 1,301 tons and was launched in July 1847. On August 24, 1848 the vessel cleared Liverpool for Boston with 396 passengers, including 322 Irish emigrants. Just a few hours later a few miles off the coast of Wales, a fire around the mainmast was reported, probably started by a passenger smoking. The Monarch stopped and dropped two anchors to gain control of the fire, but it spread too quickly, starting a panic among the passengers.; Commander Thomas Littledale of the yacht Queen of the Ocean was first on the scene. Returning to Liverpool with a group of friends after the Beaumaris regatta, he managed to rescue 32 people from the burning ship, including Captain Murdoch. Other ships picked up another 188 persons; the ship and 178 passengers were lost when the ship sank at its anchors in 85 feet of water.; The painting shows the middle stage of the fire, with one mast down and red flames at the stern and amidships. Panicked people are crowded forward of the smoke and flames, overflowing out on the bowsprit and to the very tip of the jib-boom. Some survivors can be seen in the sea clinging to the wreckage of the mizzenmast. To the right is the yacht Queen of the Ocean and a sailboat.; This painting is believed to have been commissioned by Capt. Littledale to feature his heroic rescue. The Museum owns another Walters painting of the disaster that features another vessel in the foreground, and two other Walters paintings in different collections highlight still other vessels’ rescue of the passengers and crew.; The dramatic loss of the Ocean Monarch and so many of its passengers so close to shore so soon after departure, as well as its thrilling rescue, touched off an international wave of sympathy and a media storm on both sides of the Atlantic.

Date made: 1848
ship launched: 1847-06
ship burned and sank: 1848-08-24

shipbuilder: McKay, Donald
ship captain and possible patron of painting: Littledale, Thomas
ship owners: Enoch Train's White Diamond Line
maker: Walters, Samuel

ID Number: 2005.0279.066
accession number: 2005.0279
catalog number: 2005.0279.066

These hand tools were found in the engine and boiler space belowdecks in Indiana’s hold, indicating that they were used for the machinery.

Description: These hand tools were found in the engine and boiler space belowdecks in Indiana’s hold, indicating that they were used for the machinery. The crew used the shovel to add coal to the fires.; The hand truck—virtually identical to modern examples—is one of four found aboard Indiana and used for moving cargo into, out of, and around the cargo hold of the ship. This hand truck was the artifact that actually identified the vessel when it was located in 1972, for the words “PROPR INDIANA” were stamped into its handle. The other three had different ships’ names stamped on them, indicating that they were secondhand or borrowed equipment.

Date made: ca 1858
when the Indiana was found: 1972

ID Number: 1994.0033.01
catalog number: 1994.0033.01
accession number: 1994.0033

Transportation

Whaler's Carved Bailer Handle

Whaler's Harpoon with Toggle Head

Ship Model, Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry

Rigged Model, Extreme Gold Rush Clipper Challenge

Ship Model, Columbia River Salmon Boat

Ship Model, Bugeye Lillie Sterling

New England Whale Ship

Shipbuilder's Half Hull Model, Whaleship Jireh Swift

Ship Model, Chesapeake Bay Log Canoe

Pacific Steam Whaleship Orca

Patent Model, Life and Treasure Buoy

Ship Model, Steam Barge Edward Smith

Rigged Model, Towboat Jack D. Wofford

Abraham Lincoln Patent Model Replica

Coal from Propeller Indiana

Propeller Indiana’s Cargo of Iron Ore

Chart Book, Upper Mississippi River

The Propeller Indiana’s “Philadelphia Wheel”

Oil Painting, The Privateer Brig Warrior Capturing The Schooner Hope

Oil Painting, The Queen of the Ocean Going to the Rescue of the Ocean Monarch

Ship Tools from the Propeller Indiana, Hand Truck