Sagamore
Steel unpowered whaleback barge in its 1892–1901 working form
An interpretive 3D reconstruction of the vessel afloat, in the form named above and from before its loss in Whitefish Bay. It is informed by the historical record set out under History below, where the documented evidence and the interpretation are kept apart; rigging, colours and fittings are partly inferred. It is not a survey of the wreck.
Nobody knows the exact spot where this ship went down, so the marker shows the general area.
Starboard bow · complete vessel · drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom, right-drag to pan. Hiding a part shows what sat beneath it; it does not recreate the wreck.
What the model represents
From the model specification. Two lists, kept apart on purpose.
Documented
- The wreck inventory records a steel whaleback built in 1892, US 57932, with dimensions 308 × 38 × 24 ft. 3 DShipwrecks.
- The 1892 photograph shows a rounded turtleback, low end turrets, an accommodation house at the lettered end and three rings there. The hailing-port board reads SAGAMORE OF ASHTABULA. Ashtabula Archive photograph.
- On July 29, 1901 Northern Queen struck Sagamore near the after turret in fog while the barge lay off Point Iroquois with Pathfinder. Captain E. Joiner, the cook and a sailor were lost. Sagamore history.
Inferred
- Twelve small low hatch covers are an interpretation of whaleback practice; the photograph does not establish their exact count or spacing.
- Underwater lines, concealed fittings, exact turret measurements, paint pigments and name-board lettering geometry are interpreted.
Configuration caveat. 308 ft steel whaleback; a single photo caption says 328 ft without an established reconciliation. The lettered end with three rings and accommodation is the stern. Small low hatches, hull lines and fittings remain interpreted; this is an unpowered barge.
Two numbers that are not the same thing. The waterline toggle sits at 4.80 m above the keel, a display assumption, not a measured draft. The wreck lies in about 72 ft of water; that describes the site, not the ship.
Renders from the model
History, evidence and limits
The research notes behind the reconstruction, reproduced with their citations.
Version 1.1. Revised September 8, 2026.
Selected appearance
Steel unpowered whaleback barge in its 1892–1901 working form. The corrected hull baseline is 308 ft. The aft accommodation turret and three stern tow rings follow the inspected 1892 photograph.
Documented evidence
The wreck inventory records a steel whaleback built in 1892, US 57932, with dimensions 308 × 38 × 24 ft. 3 DShipwrecks.
The 1892 photograph shows a rounded turtleback, low end turrets, an accommodation house at the lettered end and three rings there. The hailing-port board reads SAGAMORE OF ASHTABULA. Ashtabula Archive photograph.
On July 29, 1901 Northern Queen struck Sagamore near the after turret in fog while the barge lay off Point Iroquois with Pathfinder. Captain E. Joiner, the cook and a sailor were lost. Sagamore history.
Reasonable interpretation
Twelve small low hatch covers are an interpretation of whaleback practice; the photograph does not establish their exact count or spacing.
Underwater lines, concealed fittings, exact turret measurements, paint pigments and name-board lettering geometry are interpreted.
Unresolved uncertainties
The Flickr caption gives 328 ft. The model follows the corroborated 308 ft value; no source establishes an overall-versus-between-perpendiculars explanation.
Depth descriptions differ: catalogue 72 ft, 3 DShipwrecks 60 ft, Wikipedia 45–65 ft. Whitefish Point names the preserve region; the loss site is off Point Iroquois.
The lettered, three-ring end is treated as the stern, consistent with the hailing-port marking and aft accommodation. A second captioned afloat photograph was not inspected, so the cross-check is not claimed.
Sources
Illustration conditions
Supplemental AI artwork is made from the revised model render where the model changed; the provenance records the actual input files. Lake, shore, sky and weather are artistic staging, not evidence of a final voyage or a measured location. The actual GLB and its direct renders are the geometry reference.
Sources used for the model
Rights and respect
Removing or disturbing wreckage on Great Lakes bottomlands is a felony under Michigan Part 761, 1994 PA 451, at a fair market value of $100 or more. Positions are historical reference only — not navigation and not dive-planning data. Wreck records are published by the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council.
Treat these as graves. Lives were lost on many Great Lakes wrecks and human remains may still be present. Look, photograph, and leave everything exactly as you found it.
Model and renders were newly made for this project (2026). Three.js r160.1 is used under the MIT licence; its notice ships with the vendored files. Wreck position, depth and dates: Michigan Underwater Preserve Council. The model specification (version 1.1, revised 2026-09-08) is published beside the assets (model-spec.json).