41°30′16″N 81°43′21″W / 41.50444°N 81.72250°W
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Barge_104.jpg) 104 before she sank
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| History | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Flag_of_the_United_States_(1896%E2%80%931908).svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | 104 |
| Namesake | Her hull number |
| Owner | American Steel Barge Company of Buffalo, New York |
| Port of registry | Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Builder | American Steel Barge Company of Duluth, Minnesota |
| Yard number | 104 |
| Laid down | October 23, 1889 |
| Launched | February 6, 1890 |
| In service | April 21, 1890 |
| Out of service | November 10, 1898 |
| Identification | Registry number US 53257 |
| Fate | Sank on Lake Erie after striking the West Breakwater in Cleveland, Ohio |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Whaleback barge |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 36.1 feet (11.0 m) |
| Depth | 18.9 feet (5.8 m) |
| Propulsion | Towed by a steamship |
| Capacity | 3,300 tons |
| Crew | 7 |
104 (also known as Barge 104,[1] or No.104[2]) was an American whaleback barge in service between 1890 and 1898. The fourth whaleback constructed, she was built between October 1889 and February 1890, in Duluth, Minnesota by Alexander McDougall's American Steel Barge Company, for McDougall's fleet of the same name, based in Buffalo, New York. She was a whaleback, a class of distinctive, experimental ship designed and built by McDougall. The whalebacks were designed to be more stable in high seas. They had rounded decks, and lacked the normal straight sides seen on traditional lake freighters. 104 entered service on April 21, hauling iron ore from Two Harbors, Minnesota.
On November 10, 1898, while being towed out of Cleveland harbour with a cargo of coal bound for Duluth, she broke away from the tug Alva B. 104 crashed into Cleveland's west breakwater. She sank quickly, with her crew being rescued by the Cleveland United States Life-Saving Service. 104 was a total loss, becoming the first whaleback to be lost on the Great Lakes.