G.L. 78

Type:
shipwreck, barge
Specs:
( 50 ft )
Sunk:
Saturday September 11, 1937
GPS:
40°18.834' -73°53.094' (AWOIS 2008)
Depth:
65 ft

This wreck is often referred to as a trawler, but it is really a self-propelled wooden dump scow of the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company.

from AWOIS: 4295

H10224/86 -- OPR-C121-WH-86; MAIN SCHEME HYDROGRAPHY AND SIDE-SCAN SONAR FOUND WRECK; DIVER INVESTIGATION REVEALED A WOODEN-HULLED VESSEL BROKEN INTO TWO SEPARATE SECTIONS, LAYING UPRIGHT ON A SAND AND GRAVEL BOTTOM; TWO SECTIONS SEPARATED BY 20-30 FT OF SCATTERED DEBRIS; EVIDENCE OF INTERNAL MACHINERY AND DRIVE SHAFTS; BEAM ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 50 FT; KEEL BLOCK AND INTERNAL FRAMING WERE MOSTLY INTACT; AT THE SOUTHERN END OF WRECK ONLY OCCASIONAL WOODEN RIBS WERE OBSERVED EXTENDING UPWARDS FROM WRECKAGE; NORTHERN SECTION OF THE WRECK WAS COMPOSED OF WOODEN AND METALLIC BEAMS, PIPES AND OTHER DEBRIS; POOR VISIBILITY; PNEUMATIC DEPTH GAUGE LEAST DEPTH OF 52 FT TAKEN ON TOP OF WOODEN POST STICKING 8-10 FT UP FROM BOTTOM; BELIEVED TO BE A MOTOR-DRIVEN BARGE OR SCOW WHICH BROKE APART AND SANK. (UPDATED MSD 4/91)


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steam-powered winch
A steam-powered winch on a schooner barge. Note the various drums for drawing up anchor chain, towing hawsers, etc, and the anchor chains themselves going down through the deck into the chain locker below.

Prior to steam power, the only force available on a sailing ship to perform all the necessary work was the men on board. For some tasks, such as raising the anchor, it might be necessary to yoke the entire crew to a multi-deck manual capstan. On the largest vessels, even with every available man, this might take several hours to complete. With the advent of steam power, a "donkey engine" and a single engineer could do the work of many men, in less time, and these were soon installed in almost all vessels.

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