Pretoria (ship)

Infobox_nrhp | name =PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site
nrhp_type =nrhp


caption =
nearest_city= Bayfield, Wisconsin
area =
architect= Davidson, James
architecture=
added = August 17, 1994
governing_body = State
mpsub=Great Lakes Shipwreck Sites of Wisconsin MPS
refnum=94000835 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2006-03-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The American ship Pretoria was one of the largest wooden ships ever constructed. The "Pretoria" was a schooner-barge, and 103 meters (338 ft) long, 13.4 meters (44 ft) wide and 7 meters (23 ft) in depth.

It was a barge built for use on the Great Lakes by James Davidson in West Bay City, Michigan. The Saginaw, Michigan newspaper the Courier-Herald described the "Pretoria"'s launch on July 26, 1900 in the following way:

quotation|The schooner Pretoria, the largest wooden boat ever built, was launched at Davidson's shipyard this afternoon, in the presence of a vast multitude.

The "Pretoria" will carry 5,000 tons of iron ore, 175,000 bushels of wheat, or 300,000 bushels of oats...

To strengthen its wooden frame and hull, the "Pretoria" included steel keelson plates, steel chords, steel arches, and also it was diagonally strapped with steel. It needed a donkey engine to run a pump to keep its interior dry. The "Pretoria" sunk in a storm in 1905. [ [http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_pretoria_serv.cfm "Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks: Pretoria"] University of Wisconsin-Madison Sea Grant Institute and Wisconsin Historical Society, 2003]

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