Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks - Explore Shipwrecks


	board foot
	A unit of quantity for lumber equal to the volume of a board that is 12 by 12 by 1 inches.


	stern
	The aftermost part of a ship.


	bow
	The forward part of a ship.


	mast
	A long wooden or metal pole or spar, usually vertical, on the deck or keel of a ship, that supports spars and sails. On a sailing ship, supported on the keelson.


	beam
	The width of a ship at its widest point.


	depth of hold
	The measurement from beneath the deck to the bottom of the hold; the vertical space in the cargo hold.


	gross tonnage
	The overall volume of a ship's hull, including crew cabins, storerooms and machinery spaces. A ton equals 100 cubic feet. The calculation of tonnage is complex, and a major revision in tonnage calculation laws occurred in 1864. The term "old measurement" reflects measurements before this change. See also net tonnage.


	net tonnage
	The volume of cargo a ship could carry, equal to gross tonnage minus the crew cabins, storerooms and machinery spaces. One ton equals 100 cubic feet.


	keel
	A steel beam or timber, or a series of steel beams and plates or timbers joined together, extending along the center of the bottom of a ship from stem to stern and often projecting below the bottom, to which the frames and hull plating are attached.


	rail
	The railing around the deck.


	schooner
	A sailing vessel with two or more masts rigged fore and aft . The foremast is shorter than the other mast(s).


	consort
	An unpowered Great Lakes cargo vessel, usually a schooner-barge, towed by a steam barge or a steamer. A large steamer could tow several consorts, each fully loaded with bulk cargo. The consort system began in the 1860s on the Great Lakes and persisted to around 1920. "Consort" can refer to a pair of such vessels or just the towed vessel.


	steamer
	(A steamship.) A ship propelled by a steam engine.

Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks - Explore Shipwrecks - Noquebay

NOQUEBAY

The Noquebay was built in 1872 by Trenton, Michigan, shipbuilder Alvin A. Turner. The vessel was large enough to carry 1,024,000 board feet of lumber or 1,350 tons of coal -- almost as much coal as 14 railroad cars hold. It had a square stern , plain bow , and two short masts . The vessel was 205.2 feet long, 34.7 feet in beam , and 12.5 feet in depth of hold . Its gross tonnage was 684.39 and net tonnage was 652.05. It was built of wood from keel to rail .

The ship's name (pronounced "NAHK-bay") came from two Michigan bays: Little Bay de Noc and Big Bay de Noc.

A schooner-barge is a modified schooner . After the Civil War, ship owners began experimenting with towing ships. A consort system evolved in which steamers towed schooner-barges. Ship owners found it was economically beneficial to tow instead of sail heavily laden vessels through hard-to-navigate channels where variable winds could be a problem. Schooner-barges could carry more cargo than schooners, and they required fewer crew members because of their smaller sails. These sails provided power when the wind was favorable and were used if the vessel broke free from its tow.

The Noquebay was enrolled at the Port of Chicago on July 13, 1872, for owner Thomas W. Beebe, president of the Peshtigo Company, Peshtigo, Wisconsin. In 1876, the vessel was valued at $23,000. The Noquebay changed hands a few times, and Elizabeth Madden became its final registered owner on Jan. 19, 1899.

Read the tale of the Noquebay's final voyage.



	Copyright © 2003 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute If you have trouble accessing this page or wish to request a reasonable accommodation because of a disability, contact us.