Labadie's drawing of the elevation shows a side view of the keelson. Below the keelson are the ends of the cross planking. Above it are the mast step and the lower portion of the centerboard trunk. No deadrise here. The bottom was utterly flat, adding to the box-like appearance of the vessel.
The photo above shows the ends of the planks with the garboard (the lowest plank on the side of the scow) lying beside them. The holes in the planks where bolts passed through have been enlarged by weathering. Close examination shows one of the spikes that were driven edge-to-edge through the side planking ( much like rebar used in modern concrete construc-tion) making frames unnecessary. Edge bolts can also be seen in the remaining boards of the centerboard trunk in the photo to the upper-right.
To the right, Labadie's drawing of the cross-section of the hull shows the hull reconstructed to appear as it would have when first built. The chine-logs, longitudinal bulkheads and keelson are drawn in. Note the hard chine (a 90 degree angle!).
In the spring of 2000, when the water of Lake Michigan and its tributaries was unusually low, the remains of Algoma's scow-schooner Lady Ellen emerged from the bottom of the Ahnapee River where it had been resting for over a century. Underwater archaeologist and marine historian, C. Patrick Labadie made a special trip to Algoma to see the wreck. What he found was a valuable specimen illustrating the construction of a Great Lakes scow-schooner. The photographs and drawings are part of Labadie's field study of the Lady Ellen.
The Lady Ellen was "cross- planked" on the bottom. Instead of the bottom planks running fore-and-aft, they went from beam to beam. Strong timbers ran fore-and-aft on either side of the keelson, and chine logs (placed where the bottom and sides met) gave the vessel extra rigidity and strength. This method of construction made it unnecessary to have the frames and bulkheads seen in the plank-on-frame built vessels. Labadie refers to the Lady Ellen's construction as "gun-
whale built."
Algoma's Scow-Schooner Lady Ellen
Anatomy of a Christmas Tree Ship
Special thanks to C. Patrick Labadie for permission to use his drawings, photogaphs and words on this page.
Special thanks to Jag Haegle of Algoma
for permission to photograph
Capt. Henry's tool chest.
Edge bolt in garboard strake
Bolt hole in
cross plank
Edge bolts in sides
of centerboard trunk
Heavy timbers
forming longitudinal
bulkheads
Mast step
What remains of the
centerboard trunk
Labadie's "Plan View" provides
a top-down look at the Lady Ellen.
Note how the keelson widens to
accomodate the centerboard trunk
and the step for the mast.
Centerboard trunk
Chine
The tools which Captain William Henry used to build the Lady Ellen, and perhaps other vessels, are all contained in a wooden chest no larger than 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 2.5 feet high. Some of the tools such as a draw knife and a wooden block plane can be seen in this photograph.
