{
  "title": "New Orleans",
  "era": "Rebuilt sidewheel passenger steamer, 1844–1849",
  "version": "1.1",
  "modelStatus": "Interpretive reconstruction; no original lines plan recovered",
  "detailLevel": "full",
  "units": "metres",
  "axes": {
    "up": "+Y",
    "bow": "-X",
    "starboard": "+Z"
  },
  "historicalDimensions": {
    "lengthFeet": 185.33333333333334,
    "beamFeet": 26.666666666666668,
    "depthOfHoldFeet": 12.833333333333334,
    "beamInferred": false,
    "holdDepthUnknown": false,
    "dimensionsSourceQuality": "Selected documentary baseline; see vessel research notes for length and beam conflicts"
  },
  "geometryReference": {
    "hullBowX": -28.2448,
    "hullSternX": 28.2448,
    "deckY": 3.8,
    "waterlineY": 2.4,
    "waterlineIsInferred": true
  },
  "bounds": {
    "min": [
      -33.347926790570924,
      -0.1199999999999997,
      -6.1331999999999995
    ],
    "max": [
      28.329800000000002,
      25.80335426286265,
      6.1331999999999995
    ]
  },
  "triangleCount": 49900,
  "trianglesByGroup": {
    "hull": 12950,
    "bulwarks": 9610,
    "fittings": 2692,
    "deck": 6684,
    "propulsion": 52,
    "anchors": 636,
    "deckhouses": 4728,
    "promenade": 3912,
    "pilothouse": 36,
    "steering": 412,
    "spars": 900,
    "standing_rigging": 1176,
    "headrails": 64,
    "machinery": 192,
    "paddle_wheels": 3592,
    "paddle_boxes": 320,
    "guards": 128,
    "ship_boat": 1816
  },
  "drawCalls": 51,
  "mastCount": 1,
  "supportsSails": false,
  "visibilityNodes": {
    "covers": "paddle_boxes"
  },
  "deployedSailCount": 0,
  "inferredFeatures": [
    "Two dark tubular forms can be read in the foreground steamer’s 1846 sketch, but the reproduction and smoke make their arrangement uncertain. Paired funnels are retained as an interpretation also consistent with the later McGreevy reconstruction; the painting is not a period portrait.",
    "Paddle diameter, fan-shaped box dimensions, guards, railings, cabin windows and small steering shelter are estimated. No exposed walking beam or screw propulsion is added."
  ],
  "configurationCaveat": "The enlarged 1844–1849 sidewheeler, rebuilt from Vermillion of 1838. The 1846 sketch guides the low cabin, open foredeck, sheer and guards. Two funnels and their spacing remain an interpretation; no walking beam is shown because the recorded engine was a crosshead type.",
  "revisedDate": "2026-09-08",
  "revisionNote": "Corrected the September 2026 audit findings and distinguished documentary evidence, interpretation and unresolved conflicts.",
  "documentedFeatures": [
    "NOAA records Vermillion built at Detroit by B.F. Goodsell in 1838, 151 ft long, burned in 1842 and rebuilt in 1844 with about 30 ft added. [NOAA](https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/neworleans.html).",
    "The published vessel history gives rebuilt dimensions 185 ft 4 in × 26 ft 8 in × 12 ft 10 in, 610 GRT and three decks, with a Buffalo Steam Engine Works crosshead engine. Three decks is not interpreted as three full-height exterior cabin tiers. [PS New Orleans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_New_Orleans).",
    "The foreground vessel in the 1846 sketch has a forward mast, low cabin, open foredeck and promenade, sheer and side wheels. [1846 sketch, unknown artist, Alpena collection via Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_ship.jpg).",
    "New Orleans grounded in fog on the reef between North Point and Sugar Island on June 13–14, 1849. All aboard were saved. NOAA describes about 130 ft of surviving hull in 15 ft of water. [NOAA](https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/neworleans.html)."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "NOAA vessel record and later interpretive artwork",
      "url": "https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/neworleans.html",
      "use": "See the cited evidence and uncertainty sections in the research notes."
    },
    {
      "title": "1846 sketch and attribution",
      "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_ship.jpg",
      "use": "See the cited evidence and uncertainty sections in the research notes."
    },
    {
      "title": "Alpena catalogue record",
      "url": "https://greatlakeships.org/2904774/data",
      "use": "See the cited evidence and uncertainty sections in the research notes."
    },
    {
      "title": "PS New Orleans dimensions and machinery",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_New_Orleans",
      "use": "See the cited evidence and uncertainty sections in the research notes."
    }
  ],
  "builder": "B.F. Goodsell, Detroit, 1838 as Vermillion; rebuilt 1844"
}