The Madeira is a schooner-barge that sank off the coast of Minnesota in Lake Superior on November 28, 1905. A schooner-barge is a little-documented type of ship that functions like a barge, in that it is towed by a steamship, but also has sails like a schooner. This type of ship evolved from wooden sailing ships that were cut down into barges and towed behind wooden steamships, a practice which originated in the late 1880s in coastal areas. This design was used in the Great Lakes for transporting grain, iron ore, and other products.