Mediator

Version 1.1. Metadata and presentation revised September 8, 2026; original evidence review retained.

Selected appearance

Photographed later three-mast career, circa 1890. The named stern photograph guides the square stern, aft cabin and later three-mast arrangement. Records also describe an earlier two-mast form. Hidden bow, hatch layout and stowed rigging are inferred. She was launched in 1862 on the bottom of the older schooner Sinbad and rebuilt again around 1883; the 1898 stranding led to abandonment and later sinking.

Documented evidence

The account records a 127×26×11 ft vessel launched in July 1862 at Clayton, New York by S.G. Johnson, built on the bottom of the older schooner Sinbad; it records a separate rebuild around 1883. Brendon Baillod — Mediator dimensions, rebuild and rig history

Its rig changed from two to three masts before later towbarge service; the earlier hull identity remains disputed. Brendon Baillod — Mediator dimensions, rebuild and rig history

Reasonable interpretation

Underwater hull lines and draft

Exact colors, fittings, hatch layout and rigging routes

The later three-mast career, approximately the era of the surviving stern photograph, is selected. Baillod records a 127 × 26 × 11 ft vessel launched in July 1862 at Clayton, New York by S.G. Johnson, built on the bottom of the older schooner Sinbad, rebuilt again around 1883, later changing from two to three masts and eventually serving as a towbarge. The Mining Gazette's 2020 report reproduces a photograph credited to Baillod and dated approximately 1890. Its named stern and visible spars support the squared stern, low aft cabin, skylight and later rig. Much of the forward deck is hidden in that oblique view.

The bow shape, short bowsprit, forward hatch arrangement, spar heights, remaining stowed canvas and rigging routes are reconstructed from period schooner practice consistent with the documented later rig. These are inferences about Mediator, not features all visible in its photograph. Neutral colors, hull lines and loaded draft are approximate. The hatches toggle exposes only simplified hatch wells; there is no hold interior. No deployed sails are asserted for this towbarge-era interpretation.

Unresolved uncertainties

No complete original lines plan is claimed. Exact loaded draft, concealed surfaces and fine fittings remain interpreted. The earlier research context below retains the source distinctions used for this reconstruction.

Earlier hull history conflicts: the detailed account describes a rebuild from Sinbad, while Baillod's later presentation names Signal and an 1848 origin. Thus 1862 is labeled Rebuilt, not an unqualified original construction date. The 1898 stranding led to refloating, abandonment and sinking reported by 1902; 1898 is labeled Stranded, not the precise sinking date. Exact rig reduction dates are uncertain. No as-built claim or archaeological hull trace is supplied.

Sources

• Brendon Baillod — Mediator dimensions, rebuild and rig history
• Mining Gazette, January 2020 — survey and circa-1890 stern photograph
• Brendon Baillod — Shipwrecks of the Keweenaw Waterway, conflicting earlier hull identity

Illustration conditions

Lake, shoreline, lighting and weather are artistic staging, not evidence of a specific historical voyage. AI artwork is supplemental; the GLB and direct renders establish the delivered geometry.