The S.S. Meteor is a history steam ship located on Barkers Island in Superior.

The ship holds a big part of what the shipping industry was like in the early 1900’s, as it was built in 1896 and officially retired in 1969. It’s the last whaleback ship in existence.

The ship is called a whaleback ship because of it’s hull design. It’s rounded, painted black, and it kept a low profile in the water. To other ships the Meteor looked like a whale’s back.

For more information on how you can tour the ship you can visit their website here.

The ship was originally designed to be an iron freighter, but during it’s journey it also carried automobiles and petroleum too. The ship grew with the times as well as she was outfitted with World War II surplus technology, helping the crew navigate the lakes.

The design of the whale back ship became out of style when it couldn’t keep up with the demand for bigger ships. But Captain Alexander McDougall’s designed ship survived scrap and now stands to give us a look at the history on the Great Lakes.