December 15, 1909 – The schooner Wyoming was launched on this day by the firm of Percy & Small in Bath, Maine, which built seven of the ten six-mast ships ever built in the U.S. The ship was named Wyoming because its principal investors were ranchers and businessmen from the state of Wyoming, including its governor Bryant B. Brooks.
Wyoming was one of the largest wooden ships ever built, 450 ft (140 m) from jib-boom tip to spanker boom tip, and the last six-masted schooner built on the east coast of the US.
Because of its 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 its hold relatively free of water.
Wyoming was 329.5 feet (100.4 m) long and 50 ft 1 in (15.27 m) wide, with a draft of 30 ft 5 in (9.27 m). It had a volume of 373,054 cubic feet (10,563.7 m3), that is, a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 3730.54. After subtracting the volume consumed by the helm and crew quarters and other areas not suitable for cargo, she had a cargo capacity of 303,621 cubic feet (8,597.6 m3), or a net register tonnage of 3036.21. Its deadweight was 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), was 6,004 long 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. It 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. Another Percy & Small-built schooner, the five-masted Governor Brooks, was named after Brooks.
Wyoming was lost along with her crew during a winter storm off Nantucket in March 1924.
Lost were; Captain Charles Glaesel, Boston MA; Mate Augustus Lundahl, Cambridge MA; Second Mate Orrin McIntyre, Boston MA; Engineer William Allen, St. John, New Brunswick; Seaman Edward Lawrence, Cambridge MA; Seaman John Lopes, Boston MA; Seaman John Medina, Norfolk VA; Seaman Frank Smith, Huntsville MO; Seaman Jacob O. Gammon, Boston MA; Seaman Antonio Santos, Norfolk VA; Seaman E. Covineau, Boston MA; Seaman Pedro Borrios, Boston MA; Seaman Richard Borden, British West Indies; and Boatswain An Mattsson, Sweden.
Resources:
Schooner Wyoming – Maine Maritime Museum
“Big Schooner is Launched” (pdf). The New York Times. 16 December 1909.
Six-mast schooner WYOMING setting sail off the mouth of the Kennebec River, 1909″. Maine Memory Network.
*Noteworthy
1791 – The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
1890 – Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
1939 – Gone with the Wind (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
1960 – Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet
1978 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.