Last of the Schooners
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Some of the biggest and fastest schooners ever to sail the Great Lakes were built in Milwaukee in the early 1880s. Known locally as "Milwaukee's crack schooners," the vessels averaged almost 200 feet in length, and carried a half acre of sail.
"Them vessels is big and heavy-rigged," bragged one sailor, "and they drive 'em like express trains." But by the early 1880s a depression had halted shipbuilding in Milwaukee and across the Great Lakes. William H. Wolf, owner of the Wolf & Davidson Shipyard, saw a bleak winter ahead for his hundreds of carpenters and caulkers if something was not done. He decided to build a vessel on the firm's account, and he had a big three-masted schooner designed. Soon the deserted shipyard was a busy place again. After months of activity, the day for the launch of the James Mowatt had arrived. Crowds flocked to the shipyard to see the big splash. One spectator recalled the scene. "Resting on huge wooden blocks, the massive hull towered above the heads of the spectators. Slides or "ways," greased with tallow, had been placed under the keel. The workers began to knock out the blocks. Thick ropes, forward and aft, held the vessel to stout piles. When the last block was sent spinning from under the keel, the ropes stiffened. A hush of expectancy fell over the crowd. The last man scrambled out from under the mass of oak and iron. "It was a tense moment. Commodore Wolf stood at the bow of the vessel, and his partner, Tom Davidson, stood at the stern. Both were gray-bearded veterans of countless launchings. Standing beside each owner stood a husky ship carpenter, in his hands a broad ax whetted to a razor's edge. "As the immense pressure on the ropes reached the cracking point, Commodore Wolf swung his silk hat from his head and shouted 'Cut!' From the stern Tom Davidson shouted 'Cut!' "Steel flashed. Lines were severed. The ship was free to enter its element. A second of hesitancy. A beginning of movement. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, the tons of weight slid along the greased ways, faster and faster. The ship hit the water with an avalanche thrust that brought forth a report like the shot of a cannon. A mighty cheer went up from the throng that packed the yard. Steamers and tugs in 'the creek' blasted an accompaniment. "There was no more work that day in the shipyard. Merry-making was the order. The James Mowatt had been launched." The launch of the James Mowatt on June 28, 1884, marked the end of an era. She was the last schooner built in Milwaukee, and one of the last to be built anywhere on the Great Lakes.
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