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Term: S.S. Meteor: Last of the Whalebacks (Historic Marker Erected 1974)

Definition:

Whaleback Museum, Barker's Island, Superior, Douglas County

The Great Lakes whaleback fleet was the revolutionary result of Capt. Alexander McDougall's attempts to improve conventional ship design. Between 1888 and 1898, 43 whalebacks were launched and became forerunners of the bulk fleet on the Great Lakes today. Thirty-nine whalebacks were built in Superior-Duluth, and most of them were launched from a site about one mile west of here, now the Fraser Shipyards. The S.S. Meteor was launched at Superior in 1896 as the Frank Rockfeller to carry iron ore. Later, as the South Park, she carried such diversified cargoes as grain and automobiles. In 1943 she was converted to an oil tanker and renamed Meteor. She has been preserved as a memorial to her builder and a tribute to Superior. As a boy, Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Superior with his father to watch the launching of a whaleback. In his enthusiasm to get a good view, he was swept into the slip by waves. A member of the Superior Fire Department rescued him before he reached deep water.

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