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R. J. Hackett(steamer)

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Coordinates:45°21′28″N87°10′55″W/ 45.35778°N 87.18194°W/45.35778; -87.18194
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R. J. Hackettunder steam c. 1900, showing the second deck installed in 1881.
History
NameR. J. Hackett
OperatorNorthwest Transportation Company; Vulcan Transportation Company
BuilderPeck & Masters
LaunchedNovember 16, 1869
FateSank November 12, 1905
General characteristics
TypeGreat Lakes freighter
Tonnage749grossas built; 1,129 after 1881
Length208 feet 1 inch (63.42 m)
Beam32 feet 5 inches (9.88 m)
Depth12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m)
Installed power380 horsepower (280 kW)
PropulsionTriple-expansion steam engine
NotesAmerican #21934
R. J. Hackett(steamer) Shipwreck Site
R. J. Hackett (steamer) is located in Michigan
R. J. Hackett (steamer)
R. J. Hackett (steamer) is located in the United States
R. J. Hackett (steamer)
LocationWhaleback Shoal inGreen Bay,9.5 miles southeast of the Cedar River inMenominee County, Michigan.
Coordinates45°21′28″N87°10′55″W/ 45.35778°N 87.18194°W/45.35778; -87.18194
Area1.4 acres (0.57 ha)
Built1869
Built byPeck & Masters
ArchitectElihu Peck
NRHP referenceNo.92000464[1]
Added to NRHPMay 21, 1992

R. J. Hackett(official number 21934)[2]was a steamer built in 1869 inCleveland, Ohio,by Peck & Masters. When the ship was first launched, both its wide cross-section and long midships hold were unconventional. The design's clear advantages in moving cargo through the inland lakes quickly resulted in many imitators.

TheHackettis recognized as the firstGreat Lakes freighter,a vessel type that has dominatedGreat Lakesshipping for more than 100 years.[3]In 1905, theHackettcaught fire and sank on Whaleback Shoal inGreen Bay,9.5 miles (15.3 km) southeast of the Cedar River inMenominee County, Michigan.The wreck site was listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1992 because of the importance of this ship.[1]

Shipbuilder Elihu M. Peck[edit]

Elihu Monroe Peck (1822 – May 8, 1896) was a pioneer in shipbuilding and passenger and freight hauling.[4]He was born inButternuts, New York[4]in 1822.[3]

When Peck was 16, he began working in the profession of ship's carpenter.[4]He moved toCleveland, Ohioand apprenticed to shipbuilder Philo Moses.[3]

Early in his career, in 1845 Peck married Susan Ettling Rogers ofBedford, Ohio.The couple had two children, both of whom died young.[4]

In 1847, Peck at 25 started his own shipyard in Cleveland. He built one new ship (theschoonerJenny Lind), but focused on the repair of older ships.[5]The schoonerJenny Lindexpressed some of his innovative thinking: it had a blunt bow and almost square cross-section, unlike the more conventional sleek, raked schooners of the day.[3]This design resulted in more cargo space, giving the ship an advantage over competing schooners.[3]

Peck later captained his own ship, theFountain City,in transporting iron ore.[6]

In 1855, Peck formed a partnership with Irvine U. Masters, beginning the firm of Peck & Masters.[3]Their new firm focused on building new vessels.[5]When Masters died a decade later in 1866,[4]Peck kept the full name of the firm, as they had built a solid reputation.[3]

Peck also had business interests in Cleveland beyond shipbuilding. He served as president of People's Gas Light Company of Cleveland and a director of the Savings Loan Association.[5]In 1855 he served as a delegate to his countyRepublicanconvention; in 1867 he ran for public office and was elected a waterworks commissioner.[7]

Peck had a reputation as a brusque but fair man, with a streak of unconventionality.[3]When work was slow, he kept his builders employed by building ships on speculation;[3]these speculative builds were always eventually sold.[3]

Building theR. J. Hackett[edit]

By 1869, Peck & Masters was a highly regarded firm and had built more than 50 ships, including the 1867 package freighterNebraska.At 280 feet (85 meters) in length and almost 1,500gross register tons,it was the largest ship on theGreat Lakesat the time. Most of the ships built by Peck & Masters were of a relatively conventional design.

In 1869 Peck decided to push his design toward unconventional for a new vessel. For this project, he took on an investing partner, Captain Robert J. Hackett ofDetroit.They designed and built theR. J. Hacketton speculation, launching the ship on November 16, 1869 in Cleveland. TheHackett,like theJenny Lind,had a boxy hull, increasing cargo capacity.[3]

When Peck and Hackett could not find a buyer for the new ship, they organized the Northwest Transportation Company, along with Hackett's brother and Harvey Brown, an agent for theJackson Iron Company.Hackett established the company headquarters in Detroit, and hired Captain David Trotter to sail theHackett.The ship was enrolled on March 31, 1870, in Detroit, and set off on her first voyage that spring.[3]

Description[edit]

TheR. J. Hackettwas a wooden-hulled propeller ship,[6]measuring 749 gross tons, with a length of 208 feet 1 inch (63.42 m), a beam of 32 feet 5 inches (9.88 m), and a depth of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m).[3]The ship was originally powered by a 475 horsepower (354 kW) steam engine[8]placed all the way aft and connected to a propeller.[3]In an 1883 retrofit,[8]a 380 horsepower (280 kW) compoundsteeple enginewas installed.

Thedeckhousewith galley and crew quarters sat aft above the engine room, and a second deckhouse containing the captain's cabin and apilothousesat near the bow of the ship.[3]TheHackettoriginally had two masts, which could be set with sail or used to supportblock and tacklewhen the ship was unloading. A line of hatches on 24 feet (7.3 m) centers, granting access to the hold, ran the length of the deck.[3]A third mast was added in a later retrofit.[9]

Significance of theHackett[edit]

The design of theR. J. Hackettwas innovative. With its boxy hull, hatch-lined deck, and placement of the deckhouses, the ship was ideally suited for moving cargo through inland waterways.[3]The fore and aft deckhouses gave theHacketta single immense hold that could be easily accessed and filled with cargo.[10]The boxy hull maximized cargo volume, and the hatch spacing lined the ship up perfectly with the ore dock chutes inMarquette, Michiganand elsewhere.[6][10]Since the center section was free of rigging, loading the ship was much easier than with previous designs.[6]The forward pilothouse gave the captain better vision and enabled quicker reaction to dangers in the water.[6]TheHackett's design combined the best aspects of steam and sailing ships into a new class of vessel.[10]

TheR. J. Hackettwas capable of running 12 miles per hour (19 km/h), faster than a comparable sail-powered cargo ship. Moreover, because of her design, the ship could carry a prodigious amount of cargo.[3]The construction of theHackettcoincided with the explosion of the iron industry in Michigan'sUpper Peninsulaand the corresponding jump in demand for freighters that could carryiron orefrom the mines to the distant smelters, many located in Lake Erie ports.[10]

The success of theR. J. Hackettimmediately spawned imitators,[3]completely altering the look of lake freighters thence forward.[6]Over the next 25 years, freighters based on theHackett's design (now calledGreat Lakes freighters) became the most common type of ship found on theGreat Lakes.Over the next 100 years, the design of theHackettwas the basis for nearly every bulk freighter built for use on the inland waterways ofNorth America.[3]Even as construction shifted in the 1880s from wooden to iron and steel hulls, the basic design of theHackettwas still followed.[10]

Later history[edit]

In 1870, Peck added an operational innovation by experimenting with using the freighter for towing. He used theR. J. Hackettto tow the schoonerForest City(of a similar design to theHackettbut without engines[3]); both ships were laden with ore.[4]This proved the utility of towing transport ships through the lakes, effectively doubling the cargo capacity of the single ship[4]without sacrificing maneuverability. In 1871, theForest Citywas outfitted with engines to run independently[3](and was assigned its own tow consort). After that theHacketttowed the schoonerHarvey H. Brown.

Elihu Peck gradually withdrew from shipbuilding, and dissolved his shipbuilding business in about 1872, before some of these changes.[7]Within a few years, he moved from Cleveland to Detroit to concentrate on theNorthwest Transportation Companyand its freighters.[4][7]Northwest eventually owned one of the largest transport fleets on theGreat Lakes.[4]Peck remained president of Northwest until his death on May 8, 1896.[4]

In the early 1870s, theR. J. Hackettwas valued at $48,000. In 1881, the ship had another mast and a second deck installed, raising its height by 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m).[9]at a cost of $8000.[11]In 1883 the engine was replaced with a steeple compound engine[8]by theDetroit Dry DockEngine Works. In 1889, the ship's boiler was replaced; at this time it was still valued at $50,000.[9]

In 1892, Northwest Transportation sold theHackettto the Vulcan Transportation Company of Detroit.[8]In the spring of 1905, Vulcan in turn sold the ship to Captain H. C. McCallum.[12]

Wreck[edit]

In November 1905, theHackettwas on its way from Cleveland toMarinette, Wisconsincarrying a load of coal. On the morning of November 12,[13]a fire started in theHackett's crew quarters.[9]The fire soon spread to the oil in the engine room.[9][14]

Captain McCallum ran the ship aground on Whaleback Reef off Washington Island inGreen Bay,[14]and the crew of 13 escaped in the lifeboats. A nearby fishing tug picked up the crew and took them ashore. Flames from the fire were seen by men from the nearbyPlum Island Life-Saving and Light Stations,who headed for the ship. By the time they reached theHackett,fire had consumed the aft of the ship, and soon the entire vessel was gone,[13]down to the waterline. The ship at this time was valued at $20,000 but insured for only $12,000.[9]

The wreck has slipped slightly off the reef; today it sits in 10–14 feet (3.0–4.3 m) of water. The wreck consists of large sections of hull along with the steeple engine, shaft, propeller and boiler,[9]cargo coal, and miscellaneous artifacts.[14]The wreck site was listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1992.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^abc"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
  2. ^"R. J. Hackett (Propeller)".Maritime History of the Great Lakes.RetrievedFebruary 29,2012.
  3. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvMark L. Thompson (1994),Queen of the Lakes,Wayne State University Press, pp. 22–26,ISBN0-8143-2393-6
  4. ^abcdefghijCyclopedia of Michigan, Historical and Biographical,Western Publishing and Engraving Company, 1900, pp. 153–154
  5. ^abcMaurice Joblin (2004),Cleveland Past and Present,Kessinger Publishing, pp. 163–164,ISBN1-4191-1340-2
  6. ^abcdefW. Bruce Bowlus (2010),Iron ore transport on the Great Lakes: the development of a delivery system to feed American industry,McFarland, pp. 108–109,ISBN978-0-7864-3326-1
  7. ^abc"PECK, ELIHU M."The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.RetrievedFebruary 29,2012.
  8. ^abcd"R. J. Hackett".Great Lakes Vessel History.RetrievedFebruary 29,2012.
  9. ^abcdefgJon Paul Van Harpen."The First Bulk Freighter on the Great Lakes".Jon Paul's Maritime Diaries.RetrievedFebruary 29,2012.
  10. ^abcdeMark L. Thompson (2006),Graveyard of the Lakes,Wayne State University Press, pp. 32–33,ISBN0-8143-3226-9
  11. ^"R. J. Hackett".Cleveland Herald.May 18, 1881.
  12. ^"Steamer Hackett Burns in Green Bay".Buffalo Evening News.November 13, 1905.
  13. ^abJon Paul Van Harpen (2006),Door Peninsula Shipwrecks,Arcadia Publishing, pp. 82–84,ISBN0-7385-4014-5
  14. ^abc"R. J. HACKETT Shipwreck Site".Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online.RetrievedMarch 13,2011.
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