The Old Boat Column in The Waterways Journal has been a fixture in the magazine for many years. I’m not sure exactly when it started, but it was… Read More
Author: Capt. David Smith
The Dravo Contracting Company experimented in building a steam prop towboat in 1919 that it named Peace. Following the construction of this vessel, the company built mainly sternwheel vessels,… Read More
As mentioned previously in these columns dealing with early diesel towboats, the Charles Ward Engineering Works of Charleston, W.Va., was an early proponent of prop-driven vessels. However, in 1927,… Read More
By the early part of the 20th century, railroads had all but decimated river transportation, in particular barge towing. Other than certain trades, such as the steel industry in… Read More
By 1929, great strides had been made in the Western Rivers towing industry regarding diesel propulsion. Many small diesel sternwheel boats were in operation, as well as the… Read More
We will take a break from the evolution of the diesel towboat with this writing, in order to present a subject perhaps more compatible with this special Gulf Intracoastal issue… Read More
The Howard Shipyard & Dock Company, Jeffersonville, Ind., as well-described in The Waterways Journal Old Boat Column now authored by Keith Norrington, was one of the most celebrated… Read More
The Charles Ward Engineering Works, Charleston, W.Va., was a pioneer in the advent of the screw propeller as a means of providing thrust to towing vessels. The James Rumsey,… Read More
In 1923 the Nashville Bridge Company, Nashville, Tenn., launched a vessel that was a “first.” It was the sternwheel towboat Harvey, built for T.L. Herbert & Son. The boat… Read More
