Captain Alexander McDougall (March 15, 1845 – May 27, 1923) was a Scottish-born American

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

who built the

whaleback ] A whaleback was a type of cargo steamship of unusual design, with a hull that continuously curved above the waterline from vertical to horizontal. When fully loaded, only the rounded portion of the hull (the "whaleback" proper) could be seen a ...

style of cargo and excursion ship. In 1880, he designed a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

that he felt could withstand the worst lake water and carry the greatest

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

in the least depth of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. In 1917 he founded McDougall Duluth Shipbuilding Company to build

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ships.

Early life

McDougall was born on March 15, 1845, on the island of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

, Scotland. He was the eldest son of parents Dugald and Ellen McDougall. In 1854, when McDougall was ten, he

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

with his parents to the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-Scots settlement of Nottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, now part of Collingwood. In 1862, at the age of seventeen, McDougall shipped out on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

after limited schooling. He had time to pursue his hobby of designing ships of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, and his experience with the violent

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

s of the Great Lakes prompted him to design the whaleback.

Whaleback

McDougall built his first whaleback

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

on his property in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, on a site now occupied by Jeff Foster Trucking (formerly Superwood Corp). A whaleback was made of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

with an unusual design: when fully loaded, only the round portion of the hull could be seen above the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

. It had a rounded neck so that water would not stand on board, and a spoon shaped

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...

to reduce water resistance. Because of its rounded hull, it was also easier to load and unload goods. McDougall conceived of a whaleback that could withstand the worst lake weather with maximal capacity of cargo. At first, he designed it to carry

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

, but later it carried almost every

commodity In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. The price of a comm ...

freighted by cargo ship. Between 1890 and 1893 McDougall built fifteen whalebacks, in collaboration with

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

. Among them was the famous steamer ''Christopher Columbus'', the only passenger carrier. The ''Meteor'', the last whaleback in operation, was constructed as the ''Frank Rockefeller'' in 1896. In all, McDougall built 44 whalebacks. He died on May 27, 1923, at the age of 78.

Drawbacks

The primary problem of the whaleback design was its hatches. The edges of the hatch openings and their covers would get bent, destroying the watertight seal. Collisions between unloading equipment and the hatch edges also often occurred, resulting in slow loading and unloading.

References

General References

*Kucera, Barbara, U.S. Maritime Hall of fame to honor whaleback creator, Duluth News Tribune, May 5, 1982, 2 *Sanders, Carol, Shipping giant was a pioneer, Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, March 10, 1993 *S.S Meteor Designer Hall of Fame Inductee, Superior Evening Telegram, April 12, 1982 *Wilterding, John, McDougall's Dream: The American Whaleback, Printed by Badger Bay printers, Green Bay Wisconsin Jr. Lakeside Publications Ltd, Copyright 1969, {{DEFAULTSORT:McDougall, Alexander 1845 births 1923 deaths American shipbuilders *