Pretoria (ship)

For the United States Navy troop transport, see USS Pretoria (1897).

Pretoria (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Bayfield, Wisconsin
Area
Architect	Davidson, James
MPS	Great Lakes Shipwreck Sites of Wisconsin MPS
NRHP Reference #	94000835
Added to NRHP	August 17, 1994

The Pretoria at dock.

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:

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, and steel arches. It was also diagonally strapped with steel. It needed a donkey engine to run a pump to keep its interior dry.

The Pretoria sank in a storm in 1905. The ship was sunk during the same storm which sank another notable ship, the Sevona. Ironically, the Sevona received her cargo load shortly after the Pretoria, at the very same dock in Superior. Both ships would be shipwrecked the very next day near the Apostle Islands, when a legendary gale would send them to the bottom of the lake.