Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Army Ship Photo Archive

USED Towboat Penniman
ex
USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett (1921 - 1935)

International Radio Call Sign:
Whiskey - Yankee - Delta - Lima
WYDL

Sternwheel Towboat:

Built in 1921 by Howard Shipyard, Jeffersonville, IN. as Mamie Barrett for the Barrett Line of Cincinnati, OH.

Launched in 1921

Purchased by US Army Corps of Engineers in October 1923 and sent to Florence, AL.

Christened and and put into service as USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett in 1923

Reassigned to the US Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District in 1926 with dimensions then shown as 146.8 x 30 x 5.

Renamed USED Penniman in 1935 and used as an inspection boat

Retired from Army service and sold in 1947 to Vollmer Bros. Construction Co.

Re-sold in 1949 to Spencer Merrills, renamed Piasa, for use as a clubhouse and restaurant at Harbor Point Yacht Club, Weston Alton, MO.

Re-sold In 1981 to Dick and Kathy Oberle, moved to Eddyville, KY, renamed Mamie S. Barrett, underwent an extensive restoration and served as a restaurant at the marina on the Cumberland River on Kentucky Lake

Re-sold in 1987 to John and Mary Houseman, brought to Vicksburg, 5 November 1987, converted to a showboat with a 120 seat theater on the main deck and a restaurant on the second deck

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places, date unknown

Re-sold around 1990 for sue as a casino boat but never opened

During the flood of 1993 Mamie S. Barrett beached in a cut-off below Natchez, MS.

Moved in 1995 to Vidalia, LA.

In 1999 the boat was donated to the town of Rosedale, MI. But the town of Rosedale has no use for the vessel

In July 2001 the city of Jeffersonville, IN, showed an interest in the Mamie S. Barrett, but the project never materialized

The Howard Steamboat Museum of Jeffersonville, IN, was also interested in the boat and tried to acquire her 1994,

In 2017 Mamie S. Barrett caught fire and was completely destroyed after the Mississippi River rose into the area where it was sitting, Deer Park, LA, 10 miles away from the Mississippi River

Specifications:
Displacement 326 t.
Length 123.2'
Beam 30'
Hull Depth unknown
Draft 5.5'
Speed unknown
Crew unknown

Propulsion

two Barnes non-condensing compound steam engines, 10’s,17’s-7 ft. stroke

two Fowler-Wolfe oil burning return flue boilers.

stern-wheel

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
USED Towboat Penniman
303007210	78k	USED Towboat Penniman moored, date and location unknown University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Digital Library.	John Spivey
303007211	65k	USED Towboat Penniman working on a river, date and location unknown University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Steamboat collection	John Spivey
USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett
303007201	108k	USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett moored to a river bank, date and location unknown University of Wisconsin-Madison LaCrosse Digital Library.	John Spivey
303007202	96k	Ex-USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett moored at Eddy Creek Marina, Lyon County, Kentucky, circa 1981. US National Park Service	US National Park Service
303007203	110k
303007204	79k
303007205	77k
303007206	70k
303007207	100k
303007208	102k
303007209	514k	Ex-USED Towboat Mamie S. Barrett sitting, Deer Park, LA, 10 miles away from the Mississippi River National Register of Historic Places, US National Park Service reference number 830002811	©Wikipedia