Gay Head (steamboat)

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Mv5035-Steamer Gay Head.jpg
The Gay Head, circa 1897.
History
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Name:Gay Head
Namesake: Gay Head, Massachusetts
Operator: New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co.
Launched: 1891
Out of service: 1924
General characteristics
Type: Paddle steamer
Displacement: 701 long tons (712 t)
Length: 203 ft (62 m)
Beam: 34 ft (10 m)
Draft: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion: Pusey and Jones steam engine

The Gay Head was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. It was named after the town of Gay Head, Massachusetts, later renamed Aquinnah.

Paddle steamer steamship or riverboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.

Ferry type of ship

A ferry is a merchant vessel used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.

Marthas Vineyard island in the United States of America

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts that is known for being an affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the smaller Chappaquiddick Island, which is usually connected to the Vineyard, though storms and hurricanes have separated them, as in 2007. It is the 58th largest island in the United States, with a land area of 100 square miles (260 km2), and the third-largest on the East Coast of the United States, after Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Martha's Vineyard constitutes the bulk of Dukes County, Massachusetts, which also includes the Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land.

Contents

Construction

The Gay Head was built in 1891 in Philadelphia for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. [1] It was 701 tons, 203 feet long, 34 foot beam, a draft of 5½ feet, with encased paddlewheels. The engine was built by Pusey & Jones Co. in Philadelphia. [2] It was the largest sidewheeler ever operated by the company. [3]

Philadelphia Largest city in Pennsylvania, United States

Philadelphia, sometimes known colloquially as Philly, is the largest city in the U.S. state and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the sixth-most populous U.S. city, with a 2017 census-estimated population of 1,580,863. Since 1854, the city has been coterminous with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the eighth-largest U.S. metropolitan statistical area, with over 6 million residents as of 2017. Philadelphia is also the economic and cultural anchor of the greater Delaware Valley, located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within the Northeast megalopolis. The Delaware Valley's population of 7.2 million ranks it as the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.

According to a 1961 Vineyard Gazette article:

"Her social hall, ladies' saloon and toilet rooms were "all fitted in the Neapolitan style, with gold trimmings." The woodwork was of cherry, and the side seats in the cabins were covered with maroon plush upholstering. The social hall deck was laid with black walnut and maple - its size, too, was imposing, for its length was 50 feet. Above the main deck were the forward promenade and upper saloon, reached fore and aft by "richly carved staircases." Five state rooms on each side were furnished with willow furniture. The Gay Head could boast a hurricane deck extending from the stern to the pilot house; this was something earlier steamers had lacked." [3]

Career

Postcard image of the Gay Head Hsl-pc-Steamer Gay Head.jpg
Postcard image of the Gay Head

Gay Head was commanded initially in 1891 by Capt. A. P. Bartow and Capt. G. L. Daggett, and later by Capt. Charles H. Fishback of Nantucket, Capt. Charles H. Coulter (resigned 1909), and Capt. J. W. Merriman. [2]

In July 1898, the Gay Head collided with the steamer Nantucket while crossing Vineyard Sound in a dense fog. The Nantucket's bow was badly damaged in the accident. [2]

Nantucket (steamboat) paddle steamer

The Nantucket was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. On the Vineyard it docked at Cottage City, Vineyard Haven, and the West Chop Wharf.

The Gay Head operated until 1924, after 33 years of operation. [4]

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The following is a timeline of the history of Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA.

References

  1. Banks, Charles E., The History of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Volume I. (Dukes County Historical Society, 1911)
  2. 1 2 3 Turner, Harry B. The Story of the Island Steamers (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910)
  3. 1 2 Vineyard Gazette Online Archived November 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine .
  4. The Dukes County Intelligencer. Vol. 24, No. 4. May 1983