Island Home (steamboat)

Last updated
Souv-Island Home.jpg
Island Home from an 1890s souvenir booklet
History
US flag 45 stars.svgUnited States
NameIsland Home
OperatorNantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Company
In serviceSeptember 1855
Out of service1895 or 1896
Fate
  • Sold
  • Struck ice floe and sank, 1902
General characteristics
TypePassenger ferry
Tonnage536 tons
Length184 ft (56 m)
Beam29 ft 8 in (9.04 m)
Propulsion1 × 120 nhp vertical beam steam engine
Island Home circa 1895. Hsl-mv5030-Steamer Island Home.jpg
Island Home circa 1895.
Captain Thomas Brown. Captain Thomas Brown.jpg
Captain Thomas Brown.

The Island Home was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Contents

Nantucket ferry service

Island Home was built in 1855 in Greenpoint, New York. [1] Its machinery was manufactured at the Morgan Iron Works in New York. Leonard Merritt, superintending engineer of the New Haven Steamboat Company, supervised the machinery construction. [2]

Island Home first arrived at Nantucket on September 5, 1855 under the command of Capt. Thomas Brown. It was the first purchase of the new Nantucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Co., which had been formed from the Nantucket Steamboat Co. earlier that year when the new railroad terminus wharf was built in Hyannis, Massachusetts. It was 184 feet long, with a 29'8" beam and measured 536 tons. It initially sailed the waters between Hyannis and Nantucket. [2] [3] [4] [5] Capt. Brown had previously commanded the island ferry steamers Eagle's Wing and Massachusetts. He was followed by Capt. Nathan Manter (1818–1897), who commanded the Island Home for thirty years. [2]

Island Home is listed in the American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping during 1859-1863 as a 450-ton, single-decked vessel. The 1858 New-York Marine Register lists the Island Home as a 536-ton vessel. [1]

Island Home sailed the Nantucket-Hyannis route until the completion of the Woods Hole branch of the Old Colony Railroad in 1872; it subsequently sailed between Woods Hole and Nantucket. [2]

Martha's Vineyard ferry service

In March 1886 the Island Home became one of the initial four steamers operating for the newly organized New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. [4] (The other three were River Queen , Martha's Vineyard and Monohansett .)

Later service

Island Home was sold by the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. in 1895 or 1896 (sources vary.) [4]

Records of the Island Home resurfaced in the 1897-1900 editions of Record of American and Foreign Shipping as a 184' long, 30-ton vessel. Its owner was listed as Mt. Vernon & Marshall Hall S.B. Co., its homeport as New Bedford, and its master as Capt. N. H. Manter. [1]

For six years or so, Island Home operated as a work barge for R.B. Little Co. of Providence. In 1902 it was damaged by an ice floe off New Jersey or Rhode Island (sources vary) and sank. [6] [7]

Reuse of name

In 2007, a new diesel-powered car ferry named MV Island Home started service between Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole. It was named after this 19th-century steamer.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woods Hole, Massachusetts</span> Census-designated place in Massachusetts, United States

Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyannis, Massachusetts</span> Village in Massachusetts, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nantucket Sound</span> A roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts

Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is 30 miles (48 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on the west. Between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard it is connected to the Vineyard Sound. Ports on Nantucket Sound include Nantucket and Hyannis, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steamship Authority</span> Regulatory body for ferry operations in Massachusetts

The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, doing business as The Steamship Authority (SSA), is the statutory regulatory body for all ferry operations between mainland Massachusetts and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, as well an operator of ferry services between the mainland and the islands. It is the only ferry operator to carry automobiles to and from the islands. The Authority also operates several freight vessels, thus serving as the main link for shipping any commercial goods that are not transported using the airports on Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard.

MV <i>Islander</i>

The M/V Islander was a 201-foot (61 m)-long ferry formerly operated by the Steamship Authority (SSA).

MV <i>Island Home</i>

The MV Island Home is a ferry built by VT Halter Marine in 2005 for the Steamship Authority. She replaced the MV Islander on the Authority's route between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven. She has been serving the Woods Hole–Martha's Vineyard route since her maiden voyage on March 5, 2007.

<i>River Queen</i> (steamboat) Sidewheel steamer

The River Queen was a sidewheel steamer launched in 1864. It soon became closely associated with President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant while operating on the Potomac River, and was used for an unsuccessful peace conference in 1865 during the last year of the American Civil War. Later it operated as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the late 19th century. Late in its career, it returned to the Potomac as an excursion vessel, and in 1911, it was destroyed in a fire.

<i>Marthas Vineyard</i> (steamboat)

Martha's Vineyard was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the second half of the nineteenth century.

<i>Uncatena</i> (steamboat)

Uncatena was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the beginning of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nantucket (steamboat)</span>

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.

<i>Monohansett</i> (steamboat)

Monohansett was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the late nineteenth century. She was named after Monohansett Island, a tiny 12-acre (4.9-hectare) island off Naushon Island.

<i>Gay Head</i> (steamboat)

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.

<i>Sankaty</i>

Sankaty was a propeller-driven steamer that served as a ferry to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts; in Rockland, Maine; Stamford, Connecticut and Oyster Bay, Long Island in the United States from 1911 to 1940. During World War II, the ship was requisitioned by the Royal Canadian Navy for service as a minelayer and maintenance vessel along the Canadian Atlantic coast. Following the war the ship returned to a ferry, working the Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia route in Canada from 1947 until 1964. While being towed to the breaker's yard, the ship sank off the coast of Nova Scotia on October 27, 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hy-Line Cruises</span>

Hy-Line Cruises is a family owned and operated Massachusetts ferry and cruise company. The company currently operates the second largest passenger ferry service between mainland Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The company also operates sightseeing cruises and fishing charters. The company's main office is located at 22 Channel Point Road in Hyannis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyannis Transportation Center</span>

The Hyannis Transportation Center (HTC) is an intermodal transportation center in Hyannis, Massachusetts, operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA). It is the terminus for several CCRTA bus lines and its CapeFLYER passenger train that operates on summer weekends between Boston South Station and Hyannis. It is also used by the Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and Greyhound via CapeBus intercity bus services. The Cape Cod Central Railroad uses a separate station building across the tracks for its excursion services. A rail yard used by the Cape Cod Central is located north of the station, along with a former roundhouse.

<i>Nobska</i> (steamship)

The Nobska was a steamship that plied the waters of Nantucket Sound as part of The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority's fleet between 1925 and 1973 as a ferry. She was eventually scrapped in 2006 despite efforts to save her. She was America's last East Coast coastal steamer, had been on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland, and had been considered one of America's 10 most endangered maritime resources by the National Maritime Alliance and National Trust for Historic Preservation.

SS <i>Nantucket</i> (1956)

The SS Nantucket was the last steam-powered ferry in regular operation on the East Coast of the United States. She was owned and operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority between 1957 and 1987.

SS <i>Marthas Vineyard</i>

SS Martha's Vineyard was a ferry that operated in New England for much of the 20th century.

MV <i>Lady Martha</i>

MV Lady Martha is a high speed catamaran ferry operated by Hy-Line Cruises out of Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Uncatena may refer to:

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 Ship and Yacht Register Search Archived 2007-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 Turner, Harry B. The Story of the Island Steamers (The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1910)
  3. By the Sea: Folk Paintings by Janet Munro
  4. 1 2 3 Vineyard Gazette Online [ permanent dead link ]
  5. "Marie Fox Folk Art – Fine Prints & Paintings: Nantucket Island". Archived from the original on 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  6. By the Sea: Folk Paintings by Janet Munro
  7. "Marie Fox Folk Art – Fine Prints & Paintings: Nantucket Island". Archived from the original on 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
Bibliography