The New International Encyclopædia/Whaleback

WHALEBACK. The name applied to a type of freight steamer developed on the Great Lakes and largely used on them. The sides of a ‘whaleback’ are curved in to meet a narrow flat deck several feet above the water line. Circular hatchways rise above this deck and support small deck-houses and (in some instances) a flying fore-and-aft bridge. The whaleback is well suited to the lake trade, but the poor accommodations for the crew on long voyages have prevented its general adoption in ocean traffic. The first whaleback to cross the Atlantic was the Charles W. Wetmore, of 3000 tons, which made the voyage to Liverpool in 1891. The shape of the ‘whaleback’ makes it particularly steady at sea, and it is possible that vessels of this type may have increased use in carrying ore and similar heavy cargoes. A modification of the type, called the ‘turret-deck,’ has been brought out in England. The sides are curved inward as in the ‘whaleback,’ but at about one-fourth the beam from the side they are curved up again to form a narrow superstructure, which extends from stem to stern. A typical lake ‘whaleback’ passing through the lock at the Sault Sainte Marie Canal is shown on the Plate accompanying the article Canal.