Largest wooden sailing ship ever

The largest wooden sailing ship ever built was the Wyoming, a six-masted schooner constructed by Percy & Small in the port town of Bath in Maine, USA. Launched on 15 December 1909, the Wyoming was 140 m (450 ft) long, 15.3 m (50 ft) on the beam, and had a gross tonnage of 3,730.

Wyoming was designed to cheaply haul cargo up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada. It was constructed at a cost of $175,000 (equivalent to around $5.5 million in 2022), and featured a hull built from yellow pine and a small steam engine which allowed her rigging to be operated by a crew of just 11.

Although impressive, the Wyoming was not a successful design. Soon after she began sea trials, crews reported that the long ship flexed and twisted in rough conditions (a phenomenon known as "Hogging"), buckling deck planking and causing leaks. Despite several rounds of structural reinforcement, this problem did not go away, and the ship had to run its bilge pumps continuously to counteract her tendency to take on water.

Wyoming was lost with all hands during a nor'easter on 11 March 1924. She foundered in the Nantucket Sound, and sank off Monomoy Island.