Lake steamers of North America

Last updated

Lake steamers of North America include large, steam-powered non-government vessels with displacement hulls on American freshwater lakes excluding the Great Lakes. They may have served as passenger boats, freighters, mail-boats, log-boom vessels or a combination thereof. The construction of such vessels posed unique problems on water bodies located away from established dry-docks and marine railways, or connecting canals to such facilities.

Contents

In some countries such as Switzerland, lake steamers may have been preserved in their original configuration. In the United States with its dynamic economy and changing cultural mores, the survival of such boats often depended on reuses and power plant changes. The MS Mount Washington, with four different power-plants and changes from side-wheeler to screw steamer to diesel power, provides a fine example. Few such vessels survive in the US where the first commercial steamers were launched.

Smaller steamers

Surviving vessels in near original condition:

Dieselized steamer hulls

MS Mount Washington MS Mount Washington 02.jpg
MS Mount Washington

Notes

  1. "M/S Mount Washington Gets Major Engine Upgrade: New Engines Lighter, Cleaner, More Powerful". WMUR.com. March 3, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  2. "Cat C32 ACERT Repowers M/S Mount Washington". Marinelink.com. June 18, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2010.

Related Research Articles

Yacht Recreational boat or ship

A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applies to such vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and may have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities.

Steamship Type of steam-powered vessel

A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.

Steamboat Smaller than a steamship; boat in which the primary method of marine propulsion is steam power

A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS ; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.

Lake Winnipesaukee Lake in New Hampshire, U.S.

Lake Winnipesaukee is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately 21 miles (34 km) long (northwest-southeast) and from 1 to 9 miles wide (northeast-southwest), covering 69 square miles (179 km2)—71 square miles (184 km2) when Paugus Bay is included—with a maximum depth of 180 feet (55 m). The center area of the lake is called The Broads.

Paddle steamer Steam-powered vessel propelled by paddle wheels

A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat 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.

Lake Champlain Transportation Company Ferry company in the United States

The Lake Champlain Transportation Company provides car and passenger ferry service at three points on Lake Champlain in the United States. From 1976 to 2003, it was owned by Burlington, Vermont, businessman Raymond C. Pecor Jr. who is Chairman of the company's board. In 2003, he sold the company to his son, Raymond Pecor III.

TSS <i>Earnslaw</i>

The TSS Earnslaw is a 1912 Edwardian twin screw steamer based at Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand. It is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago, and the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere.

MS<i> Mount Washington</i>

The MS Mount Washington is the flagship vessel of the Winnipesaukee Flagship Corporation. Its home port is on Lake Winnipesaukee in Laconia, New Hampshire, in the United States. The historic ship makes several ports of call around the lake during her scenic cruises in the spring, summer and fall months. Ice-Out is declared when the Mount Washington can get to all of its ports of call.

<i>Ticonderoga</i> (steamboat)

The steamboat Ticonderoga is one of two remaining side-paddle-wheel passenger steamers with a vertical beam engine of the type that provided freight and passenger service on America's bays, lakes and rivers from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Commissioned by the Champlain Transportation Company, Ticonderoga was built in 1906 at the Shelburne Shipyard in Shelburne, Vermont on Lake Champlain.

Steamboats of the Willamette River

The Willamette River flows northwards down the Willamette Valley until it meets the Columbia River at a point 101 miles from the Pacific Ocean, in the U.S. state of Oregon.

Steam yacht

A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts.

SY Gondola

The steam yacht Gondola is a rebuilt Victorian, screw-propelled, steam-powered passenger vessel on Coniston Water, England. Originally launched in 1859, she was built for the steamer service carrying passengers from the Furness Railway and from the Coniston Railway. She was in commercial service until 1936 when she was retired, being converted to a houseboat in 1946. In 1979, by now derelict, she was given a new hull, engine, boiler and most of the superstructure. She is back in service as a passenger boat, still powered by steam and now operated by the National Trust.

The River Dart Steamboat Co Ltd (RDSC) and its predecessors, the Dartmouth Steam Packet Company and the Dartmouth and Torbay Steam Packet Company, were the major ferry and excursion boat operators on the River Dart in South Devon for 120 years, until the company's demise in 1976. The company was famous for its distinctive paddle steamers, which were a familiar sight on the river until the late 1960s.

<i>Rosinco</i> Diesel-powered luxury yacht that sank in Lake Michigan

Rosinco was a diesel-powered luxury yacht that sank in Lake Michigan off the coast of Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1928. The yacht was built in 1916 as Georgiana III and served during World War I as USS Georgiana III, a Section patrol craft, under a free lease to the Navy by her owner and commanding officer. After the war the yacht was sold and renamed Whitemarsh in 1918. In 1925, after sale to Robert Hosmer Morse of Fairbanks-Morse, the yacht became Rosinco. She was sunk following a collision in 1928 and the wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Steam-powered vessel Boat using steam pressure for propulsion

Steam-powered vessels include steamboats and steamships. Smaller steamboats were developed first. They were replaced by larger steamships which were often ocean-going. Steamships required a change in propulsion technology from sail to paddlewheel to screw to steam turbines. The latter innovation changed the design of vessels to one that could move faster through the water. Engine propulsion changed to steam turbine in the early 20th century. In the latter part of the 20th century, these, in turn, were replaced by gas turbines.

<i>Katahdin</i> (Lake Boat) United States historic place

The Katahdin is a historic steamboat berthed on Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine. Built in 1914 at the Bath Iron Works, it at first served the tourist trade on the lake before being converted to a towboat hauling lumber. It was fully restored in the 1990s by the nonprofit Moosehead Maritime Museum, and is again giving tours on the lake. One of the very few surviving early lake boats in Maine, and the oldest vessel afloat built at Bath, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The Minne-Ha-Ha is a sternwheel steamboat on Lake George, New York, and is owned and operated by the Lake George Steamboat Company.

Windermere Lake Cruises Company operating ships and boats on Lake Windermere in the English Lake District

Windermere Lake Cruises is a boat company which provides leisure trips on Windermere in the central part of the English Lake District. It is based in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria.

SY Tern

SY Tern, now operating as MY Tern, is a passenger vessel on Windermere, England. Launched in 1891 she was built for the steamer service carrying passengers from the Furness Railway. She underwent several changes in owner as companies were merged throughout the twentieth century, and spent time as a sea cadet training ship during the Second World War. Refitted several times, her original steam engines have been replaced with diesel engines. Tern is the oldest vessel operating on Windermere, and is a member of the National Historic Fleet. She is currently operated by Windermere Lake Cruises as the flagship of their fleet.

References