Moran sternwheelers

Last updated
Moran sternwheelers under construction.jpeg
Moran sternwheelers under construction.
General characteristics
Class and type: 1898 Moran sternwheelers
Displacement: 718.68 gross; 409.06 regist. [1]
Length: 176.1 ft (53.68 m) [1]
Beam: 35 ft (10.67 m) [1]
Draft: 4.0 ft (1.22 m) [1]
Depth: 5.9 ft (1.80 m) depth of hold [1]
Installed power: twin steam engines, horizontally mounted; cylinder bores 20 in (50.8 cm); stroke 84 in (213.4 cm), 26.6 NHP, 700 IHP [1]
Propulsion: sternwheel

The Moran sternwheelers were a set of 12 almost identical sternwheel steamboats built in 1898 by the Moran shipyard in Seattle, Washington to run on the Yukon and tributary rivers in Alaska.

Robert Moran (shipbuilder) American politician

Robert Moran was a prominent Seattle shipbuilder who served as the city's mayor from 1888 to 1890. Today he is primarily remembered for Moran Brothers Co. shipbuilders, his work as mayor to rebuild after the Great Seattle fire, and his large estate on Orcas Island, which became a resort and Moran State Park.

Yukon River river in the Yukon territory of Canada

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The river's source is in British Columbia, Canada, from which it flows through the Canadian Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi) long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,430 m3/s (227,000 ft3/s). The total drainage area is 832,700 km2 (321,500 mi2), of which 323,800 km2 (126,300 mi2) is in Canada. The total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

Contents

Construction

The Moran sternwheelers were built to take advantage of the huge demand for inland shipping that was caused by the Klondike Gold Rush. All the vessels were launched the same day, April 23, 1898, every one with steam up in the boiler. The vessels were all complete by about May 25, 1898. [2]

Klondike Gold Rush 1890s migration

The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896, and, when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in photographs, books, films, and artifacts.

Transfer to Alaska

All twelve vessels were assembled at Roche Harbor to clear customs, that being the most northerly customs house from which to begin the transfer north, which they were to make under their own power. Robert Moran himself was on the lead boat, Pilgrim, which was under the command of Capt. Edward Lennan, a highly skilled Alaska pilot. Accompanying the flotilla were the steam tugs Richard Holyoke and Resolute, the steam schooner South Coast, and six supply barges. [2]

<i>Richard Holyoke</i> (steam tug)

Richard Holyoke was a seagoing steam tug boat built in 1877 in Seattle, Washington and which was in service on Puget Sound and other areas of the northwest Pacific coast until 1935. The vessel was considered to be one of the most powerful tugs of its time.

The long voyage to the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea was difficult and one of the vessels (Western Star) was wrecked en route. [2]

Bering Sea Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska, Eastern Russia and the Aleutian Islands

The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves.

List of vessels

Name Registry(ies) Year Built Where Built Builder Volume (gross tons) [3] Hull Length Remarks
D. R. Campbell U.S.A. #1575091898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #10)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Seattle-Yukon Transportation Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Sold by White Pass and abandoned by new owner at St. Michael Canal, Alaska in 1927. Named for David Rae Campbell (1830–1911), a Maine wool manufacturer who financed the Seattle-Yukon Transportation Co.
F. K. GustinU.S.A. #1210711898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #11)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Alaska Exploration Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned at St. Marys, Alaska in 1917.
J. P. LightU.S.A. #77296 (1898–1900 & 1905-1927);

Canada #107860 (1900–1905)

1898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #9)

785176 feetOriginally owned by British America Corp. Sold to Dawson White Horse Navigation Co. in 1900. Sold to Tanana Trading Co. in 1905. Sold to North American Transportation & Trading Co. in 1906. Sold to Northern Navigation Co. in 1911. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Sold by White Pass and abandoned by new owner at St. Michael Canal, Alaska in 1927. Named for James P. Light (fl. 1898), a citizen of Chicago, IL, who originally organized the Seattle-Yukon Transportation Co.
Mary F. GraffU.S.A. #92856 (1898–1900);

Canada #107839 (1900–1928)

1898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #17)

864177 feetOriginally owned by Blue Star Navigation Co. Sold to Alaska Exploration Co. in 1899. Sold to Canadian Development Co. in 1900. Acquired by White Pass in 1901. Last used in 1903. Abandoned at Dawson City, Yukon in 1928. Named for Mary F. Graff (b. 1874), sister of Alaska pioneer Samuel M. Graff, and daughter of Philadelphia financier John F. Graff, Jr.
Oil City U.S.A. #1553181898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #20)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Standard Oil Co. of California. Sold to Charles W. Adams in 1904. Resold to partnership of Adams, the Dominion Commercial Co., and Mersereau Clark in 1905. Resold to Northern Navigation Co. in 1908. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used as a boat under White Pass ownership. Used by White Pass as an office and warehouse at Holy Cross, Alaska. Abandoned in 1943.
PilgrimU.S.A. #1507781898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #18)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Blue Star Navigation Co. Sold to Columbia Navigation Co. in 1900. Resold to British-American Steamship Co. in 1899. Resold to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned across the bay from St. Michael, Alaska in 1917.
St. MichaelU.S.A. #1168161898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #15)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Empire Transportation Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned at St. Marys, Alaska in 1943. Village of St. Michael, Alaska named for Capt. Mikhail Dmitrievich Tebenkov (1802–1872), governor of Russian America.
SeattleU.S.A. #1168171898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #12)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Empire Transportation Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned across the bay from St. Michael, Alaska in 1917.
TacomaU.S.A. #1457731898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #13)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Empire Transportation Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned at St. Marys, Alaska in 1927.
VictoriaU.S.A. #1168111898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros.

(hull #14)

718176 feetOriginally owned by Empire Transportation Co. Transferred to Northern Navigation Co. in 1901. Acquired by White Pass in 1914. Not used under White Pass ownership. Abandoned at St. Marys, Alaska in 1927.
Western StarU.S.A. #816031898Seattle, Washington Moran Bros. 718176 feetWrecked near the mouth of Cook Inlet en route to St. Michael, Alaska, total loss.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Affleck, Century of Paddlewheelers, at pages 71-85.
  2. 1 2 3 Newell, ed., McCurdy Marine History at 27-28.
  3. ↑ Gross Tons represents the sum of the number of cubic feet in the hull plus the number of cubic feet in enclosed spaces above the hull, divided by 100. It is not the actual weight of the boat. See, Tonnage.

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References

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