The six-masted schooners were the oil tankers of their day. The scale of these ships solved a problem for investors, but created problems for shipyards in building so large.
The trend would be brought to its maximum in 1909 with the Wyoming, the biggest six-master and wooden ship ever built. The hull measured 350' length overall. From the tip of the jibboom to the tip of the spanker boom she was 450'. Her capacity was 6,000 tons of coal, many times that of the three-masted schooner. Building the hull consumed more than 2,400 tons of southern longleaf yellow pine, 700 tons of white oak, 300 tons of iron and steel for fittings and fasteners. The lower masts were 123 foot long Douglas fir, the heavy duck sails on them totaled 12,000 yards. The ground tackle was 240 fathoms of anchor chain and two cast-steel anchors that weighed 60 tons. The development of these ÒgreatÓ schooners came at a time when metal ship and steam power technology were also developing. Some critics in the industry questioned the construction of these huge wooden ships. Steam powered hoisting engines did made it possible to raise the heavy sails and massive ground tackle these giants used as engine and brakes.
But other forces were changing the shipping business that favored what seemed a contradiction to some. The square rigger was being forced out of the Cape Horn trade by steep increases in insurance rates and a decline in freight rates. At the same time, industrial development in the Northeast was demanding more coal from mid-Atlantic states. Shipments of coal to Boston went from 500,000 tons in 1864 to more than 5 million tons in 1909. These changes led the Maine shipyards to shift from square rigged Down Easters to schooners. The three-master gave way to the four-, five- and finally the six-masted schooners.
The staggering volume of wood required to build these giants is apparent in old photos. The enormous frames are less than their own thickness apart, almost a solid vertical wall of timber. Over this was 4" planking on the outside. One 4"x14"x45' plank could weigh half a ton. The thicker inside planking, the ceiling, ranged from 4" to 12" thick and provided considerable hull strength. Then there was the 14"x14"x36" high keelson, and deck beams, deck, deck houses, spars, etc. The Wyoming was 17 stories high from the keel to the mast truck, where the lower mast was attached to the top mast.
Almost as staggering as the amount of materials, is the fact that a four-masted schooner was built in six months and a six-master in eight months. Most of this work was done using hand tools, which included drilling thousands of holes, some through 30 inches of hard wood and shaping timbers with adze, slip, plane and hand saw.
Ships had been built along the Kennebec since the early days of settlement. There were many highly skilled boat builders who worked in the yards that lined the shore south of Bath. These were shipyards, but as often, the backyards of homes. The builders lived in the neighborhood, saw from their windows the giants rising from the river bank. The ships were built outdoors on ways at the riverÕs edge. Some builders worked at the same yard for years, leaving after a ship was finished and returning whenever another was started. But various jobs were also done by crews of subcontractors who specialized in planking or caulking, mast building, framing, finish carpentry in the deck houses, etc.
Other than the no smoking rule for fire safety, working conditions in the yards would hardly be recognized by modern industrial workers. Today any of these yards would be shut down in five minutes by ten different government agencies. But for a work place with very sharp tools everywhere, chunks of wood constantly under foot, ropes running here and there, heavy objects being moved about and many men using tools in small areas or working from scaffolding, there were relatively few injuries recorded.
Work days were traditionally from dawn to dusk, 6 days a week, in the cold of winter, heat of summer and often rain otherwise. By 1850 the 10-hour day was established in some yards. But ship orders were not continuous and weather could intervene, so some crews often worked as much as they could, when they could.
Working conditions at the Percy and Small yard were fairly typical. There was one source of running water for drinking near the fire hydrant and a drafty outhouse at the wharf. The men ate outside under the shade of the hull in summer, and if the plank steamer was running in winter, they were around its heat.
Lumber was custom sawn, ideally in the winter when the sap was down and ordered well before it would be needed. Frames were laid out on a flat surface, both sides assembled then stood up in a ÒUÓ shape one after another, from the stern forward.
Rough cut lumber was shaped into planks, while ÒdubbersÓ trued and smoothed the frames to receive the planks. Two crews of 8 to 10 men planked both sides of the ship at the same time. A bevel was planed on the edge of the plank to take the oakum caulking crews would drive in. The planks were attached to the frames with treenails (trunnels). These were oak or locust dowels that were driven into undersized holes drilled through the plank and frame. They were then cut off flush with the planks and a wedge then driven into the end to flare and secure it.
Behind the planking crew came the caulking crew. They drove a thread of cotton and then a thread of oakum over it into the seams with an iron that looked something like a putty knife. It was struck with a long headed maul not unlike a large croquet mallet. The caulking came in strands and in some of the large ships 12 miles of it was used. With a few tons of oakum and cotton being driven into a schooner to make it watertight, it was the ring of these ÒironsÓ being struck that filled the air of shipbuilding towns. Other crews did decking, ceilings, etc., as the production schedule progressed. Decking was pine, fastened to beams, holes bunged, seams caulked and tarred.
Between 1879 and 1921 there were 526 great schooners built along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Three-fourths of these great schooners were built in Maine. The Percy and Small yard in Bath produced the most and the largest ships. These included the three six-masters, the Wyoming (329'), the Edward J. Lawrence (320') and the Edward B. Winslow (318'). While subcontracting crews went from yard to yard, Percy and Small used neighboring yards to build the many ships they built for others and themselves. They used innovations in design and production to push the limits of the wooden ship. Percy and Small was also a shipping company, which owned and operated many of the ships it built.
The first Percy and Small schooner, the 219' Charles P. Notman, was started during a depression in 1893, the same year the company was established. The project was financed in the traditional way by taking up shares. Typically a share was 1/64 the cost of building, but as the size of schooners and costs grew, shares were 1/256 in some cases. A 1/64 share in the Notman, a four-master, was a little over $1,000 in 1894. A captain was typically required to buy a considerable number of shares to reinforce his careful handling of the ship and cargo. Family, friends, community members, business associates and subcontractors were often investors. While investing in this known, understood and visible enterprise was comfortable for many, a look at the profits from the first Percy and Small schooner explains the motivation for most. The total profit for a $1,000 (1/64) share was $1,963 or about 195% in a six-year period.
This was a somewhat better than average return, especially since some ships didnÕt return at all. Handling one of these very large, very heavy when loaded, ships was a new variable for the experienced captains. The six-masted, E.B. Winslow, with a depth of 29' was said to twist enough over its 318' length to make turning the rudder post impossible at times. The long hulls and large sail area made some ships fast. But stopping a hull loaded with several tons of coal required a little planning.
One of the most famous of the schooner captains was Lincoln "Link" Jewett. He had the fine-tuned instincts for the sea and navigation that set him apart. His skills and experience let him bring his ships in on time and intact, through conditions others waited out. The good returns of the Notman were in no small way a result of his abilities.
Heading north with 2,400 tons of coal aboard the Notman on June 11, 1900 Link was drifting slowly through thick fog off New York. With his wife aboard, this was to be their last trip before the captain sold his shares. The NotmanÕs mechanical fog horn sounded at intervals. The watch heard a steamer whistle in one of those intervals. Again he sounded the foghorn and shipÕs bell. An instant later, out of the fog, the steamer bore down on them, its bow crashing broadside and cutting them down to the waterline. The steamer captain pressed his ship against the 3' by 6' deep v-shaped hole to slow the flow of water into the hull. Sixteen minutes later the Notman sank, its heavy load of coal dragging it to the bottom.
No lives were lost and the owners of the steamer Colorado paid for the loss of the schooner Notman. A good captain made a lot of difference in the success of a ship, a good ship increased the chances of success, but this incident illustrates that there were no guarantees for investors in the best of circumstances.
While greater caution was urged in the operation of these huge ships, there was on the other hand, pressure to arrive early. In the coal trade, it was to reduce the amount of time waiting in line to unload. This delay could add days and weeks to the trip and cut into profits. Unloading coal from a big schooner could take 7 or 8 days when things went well, time spent with deck houses sealed as much as possible against the clouds of coal dust.
The Wyoming hauled coal almost continuously. In the period while under the Percy and Small flag, 1909-1917, she made 83 trips north with coal. The giant Wyoming, 350'x50'x30', under the command of Captain Angus McLeod managed to avoid the problems of many of the coal schooners. These included groundings, lost anchors, strained hulls and blown out sails. McLeod who had spent 40 years at sea before taking command of the Wyoming considered her a good sailer, easily handled and responsive.
But the shipping industry had slipped into a decline, before the Wyoming had slid down the ways, which would continue until World War I provided a temporary boost. However, the emergency ship building measures the government started for the war effort led to a shortage of wood for the yards. This combined with the continued development of the metal ship and steam power made a comeback for the wood schooner less likely. Many of the big ships spent months and years at anchor waiting for charters that never came.
The awe and fanfare of the launchings were by now history. The majestic Edward Lawrence had been at its mooring in Portland Harbor for months, poorly maintained and without charters. Few readers of news reports would have seen the significance of this great schooner burning at its mooring the day after Christmas 1925, from a fire started by an illegal still.