Steamboat Bill
Winter 2010 | No. 272
FALL 2009 | No. 271
Associate Editor Peter T. Eisele returns with his regular update to the highly popular Guide to Cruise Ships, providing details of new developments in the world’s ever growing cruise liner fleet.
Louis Cruise Lines operates a most interesting fleet of passenger vessels, including two of the very few steam-powered liners still in service. Rick Frendt has the history of the line with a focus on those two veterans.
Fifty years after the loss of the liner Morro Castle, retired naval architect William duBarry Thomas looks back at the safety at sea measures that have been implemented since that dark day.
More than 45 years have passed since the famous Old Bay Line steamer City of Richmond disappeared beneath the waves off the South Carolina coast. Dave Millhouser is one of the few people who have visited the wreck and shares his experiences.
SUMMER 2009 | No. 270
For the first time in many years, the Delta Queen is not steaming. She is, instead, being used as a floating hotel while her future is sorted out. Brian Hughes, editor of SSHSA’s Telegraph, has been close to the steamer for many years, knows her intimately, and has her fascinating story.
Early in the last century the French-flag Fabre Line operated an interesting fleet of steamers to Providence, Rhode Island, the city that is SSHSA’s home port. Pat Conley has long studied the line and takes us back for a look at its operations.
The steam yacht Cangarda is undergoing a meticulous restoration in California where SSHSA Executive Director Matt Schulte got a tour during SSHSA’s recent Vallejo conference. He brings us a nicely-illustrated preview of the project.
After many years of lying half-sunk in the harbor at Ensenada, Mexico, the "Great White Steamer" Catalina has come to the end of her career. Steamboat Bill West Coast Editor Paul Tully has her story.
STEAMBOAT BILL SPRING 2009 | No. 269
Come along with Stanley Haviland on the Queen Elizabeth 2’s final voyage to Dubai and get an update on her early time in Dubai from none other than her former commander, retired Cunard Commodore Ronald Warwick.
David Hendrickson takes an in-depth look at the Waterman Steamship Corporation’s C2-S-E1 class of cargo-passenger vessels that were called "the most economical and efficient vessels" of their type in the early 1940s.
William duBarry Thomas recounts a 1931 voyage on the Lykes Line freighter Genevieve Lykes that those who were aboard almost certainly wanted to forget.
In Heroes on the Hudson Peter T. Eisele has the story of the New York harbor ferries that came to the rescue of a downed airliner in the Hudson River in January 2009.
Captain Tom Colligan is one of those who knows the classic 1920s yacht Miss Ann the best and has her story as she embarks on a new career.
STEAMBOAT BILL WINTER 2008 | No. 268
She was the longest-serving Cunard Liner ever and was also flagship of the fleet longer than any other vessel. In November 2008 the fabled Queen Elizabeth 2 made her final sailing after nearly four decades under the Cunard houseflag. Come along with authors Tim Dacey, Roger Emtage, and David Walker as they document different facets of the vessel’s long career. These articles are among the most profusely illustrated to ever appear in Steamboat Bill. In addition, Alan Frazer provides a short article on the steamboat Sea Bird, one of the many hardworking, but anonymous steamers from the nation’s golden age of steam.
Steamboat Bill Fall 2008 | No. 267
Come along with Dan L. Smith as he turns back the decades to tell the story of a Florida river steamer in Voyage of the Alligator: The Story of an Ocklawaha Steamboat and Some of the History of the Lucas Line.
Fifty years after launching at Newport News, a former Grace Line passenger ship continues to sail under steam! Edmund Squire knows the ship well and shares his remembrances in S.S. Santa Rosa.
Peter T. Eisele’s Guide to Cruise Ships 2008 provides an unequaled in-depth look at the world’s cruise ships and the constantly evolving cruise industry. Get the latest on your favorite vessels!
Christopher Dougherty and Barry Eager have the results of the latest SSHSA awards, including the 100-year-old Sabino—Ship of the Year for 2008.
Steamboat Bill Summer 2008 | No. 266
The men who bore the responsibility for the world’s great liners often have fascinating stories to tell about their experiences. In Captain of the Line, Larry Driscoll introduces us to Captain John Tucker, sometime master of the United States in the 1960s. His story is illuminating and often amusing.
Long-time SSHSA member Ben Lyons provides a fond look back of one of the last classic American liners in Remembering the Independence. Now chief officer on the Queen Mary 2, Ben began his passenger ship career as a cadet on the Independence and here shares those experiences.
California Maritime Academy Assistant Professor Timothy Lynch relates the story of the Victory Ship Red Oak Victory, now undergoing restoration in Richmond, California, and the role academy students are playing in the restoration.
It has been nearly fifty years since the Old Bay Line—the last to operate overnight passenger and freight steamers in the U.S.—ceased operations. W. Robert Lange has had a passion for the old steamers since childhood and writes fondly of them in The Old Bay Line: A New Perspective.
Spring 2008 | No. 265
Take part in two once-in-a-lifetime events—the January 2008 tandem crossing of the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Queen Victoria and the meeting of all three Cunard Queens in New York. Authors Roger Emtage and Steven Loveless have both stories, illustrated by the dramatic photos of several eminent photographers.
Come along to Lake George for Matthew Dow’s tribute to the steamer Mohican, which continues in active service on the lake in this, her centennial year. Ann Eberle also has the story of Captain Bill Huus —Sandy Hook pilot and Lake George skipper.
Built in the 1950s to haul sludge to the open sea, the steamer Shieldhall steams on today as an operating museum ship in England. Graham Mackenzie has her story.
Fredrick Gary Hareland provides an affectionate look back at the storied liner Norway a) France as scrappers slowly dismantle her on a beach in Alang, India.
And editor Jack Shaum looks back on the multi-faceted career of the school ship Texas Clipper, once the liner Excambion, as she begins her final career as an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.
Steamboat Bill Summer 2007 | No. 262
When the Canadian Pacific passenger steamer Keewatin was launched in 1906, who would have thought she would still be around a century later? Bob and Cindy Zimmerman have a centennial tribute to this wonderful od vessel, a museum in Michigan now for nearly 40 years. A special color section on the vessel as she is today is also included.
As World War II approached, the American-flag Robin Line introduced six passenger-carrying freighters that caused a stir inside and outside the maritime community. In Freighters Deluxe: The Robin Line's C2-S Cargo Ships of 1941, David Hendrickson tells their story.
Marine architect Philip Thiel's long and interesting career has put him in touch with some interesting ships and shipyards over the year. In A Lifetime's Memories of Some Special Ships and Shipyards, he relates those experiences.
The sinking earlier this year of the cruise ship Sea Diamond made headlines around the world. Michael Hipler was on the scene and shares his impressions and photographs of the event.
Go along with radio officer Fredrick Gary Hareland for a trip around Cape Horn on a modern cruise ship in Cape Horn Fails to Live Up to its Billing.
As always, our network of regional editors and columnists have news and commentary on various maritime fronts around the world.
Spring 2007 | No. 261
How much bad luck can a steamship line have in one year? Find out in A Bad Luck Year for the Fall River Line by the late Long Island Sound steam boat expert Edwin L. Dunbaugh.
In Passenger Lists and Temporary Communities: Who was on the North Atlantic in the Interwar Period? Douglas Hart takes a detailed look at the many different people who made up the passenger lists on the likes of the Berengaria and her fleetmates.
Much has been written about the demise of the venerable tugboat New York Central No. 16. In New York Central No. 16: Personal Recollections, Alan Frazer recounts his personal dealings with this beautiful old boat.
A century has passed since the first voyage of the tugboat Baltimore. Steven Loveless has the story of her long career and the anniversary tribute recently held for her in The Steam Tug Baltimore: Municipal Maritime Ambassador.
Florida steamboat historian Edward A. Mueller, a former editor of Steamboat Bill, brings us the story of a little-known coastal enterprise in The Georgia and Florida Inland Navigation Company and the Steamboat Florida.
Plus... meet Matthew Schulte, the Steamship Historical Society of America's new executive director.