#Paddle Steamer

[ltwilliammowett]

Independence, Wayne City Landing, 1842, by John Stobart (1929-2023)

[clove-pinks]

The paddle steamer 'Commodore' by William Clark, 1839.

[scotianostra]

On 16th June 1947 the Paddle Steamer Waverley made her maiden voyage.

The first photograph was taken 77 years ago today It shows the brand new Paddle Steamer Waverley approaching Dunoon for the second time in her long career. Having left her base at Craigendoran at 08:45 that morning she took the service run down to Rothesay, coming back up as far as Dunoon.

[blaze-aus-steam-lover]

PS Oscar W

Built in Echuca in 1908, for Oscar "Charlie" Wallin, who named the paddle streamer after his son Oscar William Wallin, who is reported to have died in WW1 or in the boer war. the PS Oscar W carried freight on the Murray–Darling River system until the PS Oscar W was taken over by the shipping firm Permewan, wright and co, as a wool carrier. in 1919 the Murray shipping company was formed because of the diminishing river trade. Permewan, wright and co was merged into the Murray shipping company and the PS Oscar W.

The PS Oscar W was sold in 1942 to George Ritchie of Goolwa to be used as a tourist vessel but wartime restrictions proved too difficult to justify a refit of the PS Oscar W. a year later the PS Oscar W was sold again to the government of south Australia highways department to service ferries along the river and the PS Oscar W was converted to an oil burning streamer in 1945. the PS Oscar W was sold to a Paddy Hogg in 1960.

The PS Oscar W was moved to Mildura in 1960 and was used as a tourist vessel. famously in 1962 the PS Oscar W towed the PS Gem for 8 months to the PS Gem to her current resting place, the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement. the PS Oscar W was sold to Allan Moritz, who started to restore the PS Oscar W. unfortunately Allan Moritz passed away before the project's completion and as a result to the PS Oscar W was sold to the South Australia Tourist Commission in 1985. The Oscar W was returned to the Murray River and was steamed back to Goolwa, NSW arriving on the 31st of March 1988.

photos from

Pinterest

PS OSCAR 'W' Friends Incorporated | Facebook

[i-love-books-because-reasons]

The Terrible Disaster of the SS ARCTIC (1854)

To quote Part-Time Explorer "This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is violent, graphic, and disturbing."

[spockvarietyhour]

Mackenzie River Transport boat Mackenzie River and barge passing Yellowknife Lumber Co. sawmill on Slave River, 1941

[telivanistoolateparty]

Fucking done with this thing. Time to do something else.

[seashorepics]

Day 20: The History and Construction of the Waverley Paddle Steamer

The Waverley Paddle Steamer is one of the most iconic ships ever to sail the waters of Britain. Built in 1947, it is a celebrated symbol of maritime engineering and a cherished link to the era of steam-powered vessels. As the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world, its legacy is deeply intertwined with the history of shipbuilding in Scotland and the broader narrative of…

[hensonp]

[ltwilliammowett]

A Royal Navy Paddle Steamer, Lieutenant Uniform, circa 1910

[clove-pinks]

'H.M. Steam frigate FIREBRAND and the Experimental Squadron': c. 1844-1845 print (NMM).

Detail, with the sails unsurprisingly furled under full steam. Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte referred to Firebrand as "this monster of a steam ship" in an undated 1844 letter to his sister Rose, when he briefly found himself aboard her before joining HMS Superb, also in the Experimental Squadron. Superb makes his official naval biography in O'Byrne (his last ship before joining HMS Erebus), and I believe this letter in the archives of Newfoundland and Labrador is the only proof he spent some time aboard Firebrand.

"ROSE" is written at top right, and Henry begins

My dear Sister, Mamma scolds me for not writing to all of you.  I hope my dear sisters will not attribute it to want of regard for them but first if I write to Papa I know that the letter will be read by all tho so often am I far removed not only from you but from all our friends that I have little to say which can interest nor in common. I have to thank you for some very kind letters while I was away from England, to which you will find I have returned not much improved in fortune but a good deal older yet I fear not much wiser. I am going again but I do not know exactly where. I have been of course anxious to be employed since my return for they sent me on shore on 4S a day.

He offers to sail "with a squadron of new vessels who were to have their respective qualities tested," and is sent to join Superb, but somehow ends up on Firebrand:

I found myself sent to Plyms. to join the Superb. On arriving there I was sent back to get men for her at Portsmouth and as soon as I got back again I was ordered to Plymouth to join the Firebrand steam ship of the first class. The vessel I had previously wished to go out in - this was done in a mistake Sir Wm. G who is good natured but blundering - having fancied that he had promised this appointment to me. I spent three days at Southampton and at [illegible] I might having remained as long as I dared do I left a childrens party at Mrs. Blanchards, I have heard Mamma speak of her, and came alone cold dispirited and miserable to this monster of a steam ship - where I now am.

(Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador)

[scotianostra]

PS Waverley heading out from Oban earlier tonight.

[blaze-aus-steam-lover]

PS Gem

Built in 1876 by Air and Westergaard in Moana for Elliot Charles Randell who is the brother of William Richard Randell, captain of the PS Mary Ann.  She operated as a cargo and passenger steamer, regularly cruising between Morgan and Mildura.

The ownership of the Gem was giving to Captain Hugh King in April 1879 (also known as the Grand Old Man of the River). King and fellow owners W L Reid and H Reid, trading as Hugh King and Company's Line of River Steamers, felt that the vessel had the potential to be a fine, large passenger steamer, though alterations would be necessary. By 10 February 1882, the Gem had reportedly passed through Mannum on her way to Goolwa, where she would "be cut in two and forty feet more in length added. Upon arriving at yards of W Gordon and Son, the Gem was cut in half, with each end being dragged apart by bullock teams. With the addition forty feet added to the center, the new length of the vessel was 40.69 m (133′6ft) making her the longest paddle streamer on the Murray River. During this transformation, full passenger accommodation was also added. in 1888 the PS gem under work under the River Murray Navigation Company, ran by Captain King and C Chaffey. the River Murray Navigation Company, had a large fleet which had the PS ellen and the Ps ruby, the PS gem’s sister. this only last 7 years before the company would go into liquidation, leaving Captain King the Gem's sole owner.

In 1909, the Gem Navigation Company was formed from King's Gem Line of Steamers and the Ben Chaffey Steamboat Company, with the Gem joining a fleet of 14 Paddle steamers and 20 barges. in 1919 she joined the Murray Shipping Company. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Ps Gem was as a tourist passenger vessel, regularly taking the 566.4 km (352 mile) journey from Morgan to Mildura. she also took the unofficial name of the Queen of the Murray.  in 1948, The Ps gem would hit a snag, sinking the Ps gem downstream from Mildura. out of the 60 passengers aboard, only one died, one mister C M Smith, aged 73. repairs were done to be able to refloat her back to Mildura to have her repaired at a cost of £3000 which is $225897.87 aud in today’s money.  

today you can find the Ps gem at swan hill’s pioneer village, on static display. the Ps gem was towed to swan hill in 1962, by the Ps Oscar w, a trip that took 6 months, as they were stranded by low river levels. 

https://www.pioneersettlement.com.au/

Photos are from google or from pioneer settlement.

[i-love-books-because-reasons]

The Disappearance of the SS Pacific (1856)

[postingcards]

paddle steamer on the willamette river postmarked 4 jan 1912

[saltlic]

Saltwater abstraction