The American ship Appomattox was a wooden bulk steamer, and one of the largest wooden ships ever built. The Appomattox had a length of 319 feet (97.2 meters) and a beam of 42 feet (12.8 meters). It was built in 1896 by James Davidson of West Bay City, Michigan. It had a triple expansion steam engine. Because of its immense length, the Appomattox used metallic cross bracing , a metallic keelson, metallic plates , and multiple metallic arches. Several syphons and steam-driven pumps were required to keep the Appomattox afloat.
The Appomattox operated mainly on the Great Lakes, carrying Lake Superior iron ore on her eastward voyages, and then returning westward with a load of coal. The ship usually towed the steamer barge Santiago, which had a length of 324 feet (98.8 meters), to increase the amount of cargo carried each trip. The Appomattox alone could carry more than 3000 tons of iron ore, and in combination with the Santiago, the pair had a capacity approaching 8000 tons. The Appomattox went aground in a fog on the Great Lakes in 1905.