[2] The design, created by Scottish captain Alexander McDougall, enabled her to carry a maximum amount of cargo with a minimum of draft.

[2] Eventually repaired and put back into service, she sailed as a "Tin Stacker" (so called because of the silver painted funnels) until 1927.

In 1969, Meteor was the last of the original 43 whalebacks, but that season, she ran aground on Gull Island Shoal off Marquette, Michigan.

Because Meteor was the last surviving whaleback, she was bought, repaired and taken to Superior, Wisconsin in 1971 for use as a museum ship.

Meteor is the last extant example of an experimental class of lakers, other than wrecks such as the Thomas Wilson and the barge Sagamore, a favorite dive site in Whitefish Bay.

With the turn of the 21st century, Meteor was in a delicate state; her hull was rusting in places and the interiors were in serious need of repair.

Meteor, along with her sister whalebacks, (with one exception, the John Ericsson), were the first major boats on the Great Lakes with all accommodations aft and only a small room for the anchor windlass at the bow.

In 2001,[8] the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS), Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association (WUAA), Lake Superior Maritime Museum Association (LSMMA), and the Superior Public Museums (SPM) started the S.S. Meteor Preservation and Stabilization Project.