About Revisions Appomattox Milwaukee, WI Max Depth: 16-20ft/5-6m Entry Type: Shore Bottom Composition: Sand/Rock 11/14/2012 8:57 PM Free_Flow 5/16/2012 8:05 AM

At 319 feet, the Appomattox was the largest wooden bulk steamer ever constructed on the Great Lakes, possibly in the world. It was the innovative use of steel cross bracing , keelson plates , and arches that made such a massive oak hull possible. These features, her triple-expansion steam engine, and other first-class marine equipment made the Appomattox a thoroughly modern vessel when she was built in 1896. They also vividly illustrate the momentous transition between using wood and using steel to build large boats. The Appomattox was one of a series of remarkable vessels built by Captain James Davidson of West Bay City, Mich. For seven decades, Davidson worked on the lakes as a ship captain, maritime entrepreneur, and innovative shipbuilder. The Appomattox’s career was relatively short for a Davidson vessel. She was operated by the Davidson Steamship Company from August 1896 through September 1899. Davidson initially enrolled her in Port Huron, Mich. In the late 1890s, the Davidson Steamship Company reorganized as a Minnesota corporation, and in the spring of 1899, the Appomattox’s port of enrollment shifted to Duluth, Minn. Her captain, at least for part of this time, was G.A. Tomlinson, James Davidson’s son-in-law. Tomlinson was also a vice president of the Davidson Steamship Company, and he was fast becoming a major force in the Great Lakes Shipping Industry. Late in the 1899 season, the Boston Coal Dock and Wharf Company purchased the Appomattox. The firm was based in New Jersey but operated out of Duluth. Managed by Pickands, Mather & Company, the Appomattox continued to haul Lake Superior iron ore on her eastward voyages, bringing coal when she returned westward using steel to build large boats. The steamer’s iron ore capacity exceeded 3,000 tons. Like Davidson’s other huge steamers, she generally towed a large wooden schooner barge. (Examples of schooner barges include the Pretoria, Noquebay, and the Bullhead Point wrecks.) Under the ownership of Boston Coal Dock and Wharf, the Appomattox towed the 324-foot schooner barge Santiago, also built by Davidson. Working in tandem, the two vessels could carry up to 8,000 tons of iron ore, significantly more than the larger and more expensive steel bulk carriers of the period. The cost of building a Davidson steamer and consort in the late 1890s was perhaps 50 to 70 percent that of constructing a steel vessel with a comparable cargo capacity. However, a steamer and schooner barge consort had one significant drawback. Safely maneuvering two large vessels connected by a single line could be challenging—sometimes impossible. For example, in early August 1905, the Appomattox-Santiago team was involved in a serious accident on the narrow St. Clair River, between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Traveling in light fog, the Santiago veered off course and smashed into the schooner barge Fontana. The Fontana immediately sank, taking the life of one of her crew.