Roanoke was one of the largest wooden ships ever constructed.

Service

Roanoke was a four-masted barque built by Messrs. A. Sewall and Co. in 1892 on the Kennebec River at Bath, Maine, in the United States. With the exception of Great Republic and the six-masted wooden schooner Wyoming (3,730.54 GRT, 450 ft length overall) she was the largest wooden ship ever built in an American yard. Her gross register tonnage was 3,347, but on a draft of 27 ft she could stow away 2,000 additional tons. Her length was 311 ft, her beam 49 ft, and her hold depth 29 ft. Her lower yards were 95 ft long, and her foremast truck was 180 ft from the deck. The keel was in two tiers of 16 in white oak, her garboards were 8 in thick, and her ceiling in the lower hold was 14 in. Into her construction went 1,250,000 board feet of yellow pine, 14,000 cubic feet (396.4 cubic meters) of oak, 98,000 treenails, and 550 hackmatack knees.

Loss

Roanoke left New York City on her final voyage in June 1904 and was involved in a serious collision with the British steamship Llangibby off the coast of South America in August 1904, requiring repairs for three months in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After delivering cargo to Australia, Roanoke was loading chromium ore near Nouméa, New Caledonia, when she was destroyed by fire on the night of August 10, 1905.